The real difference shows up when you are towing heavy or have a large payload.

The stock shocks just don't have the capacity to keep the load under control.

BTW shocks are a wear item just like brakes. They have great amount of influence on tire wear and suspension wear.

When I took my stock shocks off at 60k mi. When I pulled them off you could stand them on end and they would collapse on their own.

I try to replace them every second set of tires.

 

BINGO!

My stock FX4 shocks did not keep highway speed bounce under control when towing my 13000+lb 5th wheel. Empty/unloaded they were fine. Towing = Nope.

Upgraded to Rancho RS9000XLs and run them on 8 or 9 when towing and even the biggest dips are stopped with only one slight bounce of the suspension instead of the never ending... rear tires coming off the ground... feeling I got with the stock shocks.

 

My stock shocks were absolutely shot at 70k which they should have been shot. On the other hand the new Bilsteins do make a stiff ride, but pulling the 5er, it is a whole lot better of a ride. Even my wife noticed. The old wore out stock shocks had no rebound what so ever, the front shocks, well were not shocks anymore, just taking up space, the rears were broken, I mean in the sense that where they mount on the top to the frame were broken. All in all, better stability and a lot more firm ride with the Bilsteins....

 

I haven't had any issues with the stock shocks on my dually while towing. Unloaded the rear end will bounce sideways on rough roads but all my past trucks did the same.

With the trailer hooked up I'm at 5080lb frt, 7640lb rear, 11620lb trlr

 

I just got done replacing my stock shocks just regular all black ones over this past weekend to Bilstein 5100s as well. I put alittle over 50k miles on the stock shocks and really wish I would have done more research on the Bilstein shocks and changed them out earlier. When I pulled off the stock shocks there was nothing left of them in terms of resistance. I live in wv and the roads I take to work are really crappy so it's not like the stock ones didn't take a beating. But just took the truck out for my 4hr ride to work on the same roads today for first time with the 5100s and overall handling and ride quality was so much better it's not even in the same league. Rear end still has alittle bounce when hitting the man-size potholes but with the stock ones that happened on every last little bump. I'm very impressed with these 5100s and very appreciative of the people posting about how awesome they were on here or I probably wouldn't have gone with them

 

I posted this in the RS9000 thread a couple days ago but it seems to be more relevant here in this thread. THe main difference I noticed from the other posters in this thread is the mileage at which point I changed my shocks out. I was actually under 10k miles on my 2016 F250 when I swapped them about three weeks ago. All in all I am very glad I did.

I took the stock "Rancho Branded" shocks off the 2016 F250 at 9000 miles. We were about to leave on a vacation up to Washington State, pulling out 23' toy hauler with both Harleys inside.

I didn't care much for the ride of the stock shocks and really disliked the bump steer even on paved roads. I went with the bilstein 5100 and a procomp dual steering stabilizer.

When I removed the stock shocks it was amusing to see the fake ranchos had a motorcraft part number and stamp on the bottom as well as fake boots on the front shocks. The rears dont even have the boots, lol.

The ride was much better with the bilsteins and the truck stayed reasonably level while towing. this was our first trip with the new toy hauler and the way the tie-downs are laid out, one of the bikes has to go fairly far forward and put some weight on the bumper pull. When we got to Washington, I pulled into the local Les Schwab and had airbags put on. 30 psi and the truck stays perfectly level.

15 psi in the bags empty and the truck rides very nicely.
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Replaced the stock black shocks in my 2016 F250 at 5000mi. Installed Bilstein 4600 all around. 100% better ride.

 

I am confused. Why/how could Ford put a Rancho sticker on a shock without Rancho's permission. If they do have Rancho's permission, then they would live up to some specification that Rancho has, right? Therefore they wouldn't be "fake", but a Ford specified formula. Otherwise, there would be a lawsuit in the works somewhere. Am I wrong here?

I pulled a "stock" rear Rancho off of my FX4 and it had quite a rebound on the gas side--it took quite an effort to compress it to reinstall it. The reason I had it off was to install AirLift airbags to keep the truck level and to eliminate the drive line shudder I had when pulling my 14000 pound fifth wheel. Since shocks don't carry any weight, just dampen suspension movement, I think they are doing OK. On my previous truck, a 2006 Chev dually, I installed Bilsteins at around 5000 miles because the empty ride would jar one's teeth out. This Ford has a fairly nice unloaded ride with the airbags down to 5 psi.

 

Two out of four stock shocks were shot by 15K miles. Not like they were even rough miles either. I would call that crappy.

 

Yes, you are wrong. Rancho licenses their name to Ford to put on it's shocks in the form of a sticker and a paint job. They are not made by Rancho for Ford to Ford's specs. They are made by Ford and camouflaged to give the appearance that they are something they are not. As to yours, you are lucky to have rebound. 3 of 4 of mine were blown with 900 miles and I'm not alone. Do a search here and you'll find tons of similar stories.

 

I put Bilsteins on my 250 after about 40k...night and day difference. Traded that truck in back in May and put them on my 2016 350 dually with less than 50 miles on it. You can really feel the difference towing heavy. Our 5er comes across the scales just under 15.5k. The Bilsteins really help keep things under control, particularly on freeways with concrete surfaces with expansion joints.

 

The stockers are definitely lacking. When I upgraded to the 9000XLs I immediately noticed a difference empty and loaded. I wish I had changed them sooner.

 

After developing the 'death wobble' coming home from the G2G, I ordered Bilstein 4600s.(not the 5100s as they are nearly the same shock-just didn't mind the color) I got them installed yesterday. When taking off the right front Rancho, it was obvious it had a problem. Could easily be compressed and extended MUCH easier than the left front, but also has lots of brake dust stuck to the leaking vapor on the tube.
I could tell a difference in the Bilsteins before I got completely out of my driveway! Tomorrow we head out for the lake for 5 days of camping so I'll be able to see how it rides and responds with the camper in tow.

 

Any advice for the top nut on the front shocks? Looks like it might be a pain to get to?

 

Ratcheting box end wrench. Spin the shock by hand to loosen faster.

I replaced my factory black shocks at 20K.



The Carli tuned Fox 2.0 shocks are night and day difference.