so i was under my truck today checking to see how im gonna go about mounting my new Bilsteins, when to my surprise (not really) i saw that those "Rancho" shocks are in reality just Motorcraft POS with a damn Rancho sticker. The Motorcraft name is actually stamped on the bottom of each shock....what a joke. i have heard that they werent real, but i fig it was some bs shock rancho made for ford. For all you future buyers, i say just buy the skid plates and buy your own shocks. lol, the nerve hahahahaha.

 

Did it hurt? Haha. Just kidding.Yup what a waste of money,huh? And you could have much better skid plates and shocks for the price

 

Rancho is a division of Tenneco Automotive. Tenneco make shocks under different names including Monroe and Rancho plus private label names for the O.E.'s like Motorcraft. Other Tenneco companies are Dynomax, Thrush, Walker, plus others. Why aren't they real? Do some research on Bilstein and see who they make private-label shocks for.

 

That may be for their car series but I seriously doubt that their 5100 series and up shocks are marketed under any other name.(Bilstein, that is.)

 

Right, Like Bilstein reserves the 5100 series for their exclusive marketing and Rancho reserves the RS9000x shocks for their exclusive marketing, both companies market their lower-end products under their own brand name and private label. Don't know if Bilstein private-labels any products, but they do produce non-labeled O.E. shocks. Bilstein parent company is ThyssenKrupp Automotive in Germany.

Don't get me wrong, not trying to defend Rancho. I'd prefer to have the Bilsteins on mine, but 4WPW substituted the RS9000x's for Pro-Comp MS6's because they weren't available for 2WD yet when I bought my kit.

Point is, the automotive O.E. and aftermarket is completely intermingled with cross-manufacturing and private-labeling. You almost never can trust the label on the product you just bought and may never really know who actually developed and manufactured it. Case in point, Weber carburetors...I don't know if you can go out and actually buy a 4bbl Weber carb any where..... I do know that if I go out today and buy a brand new Edelbrock carb or Carter AFB, that Weber actually designed, developed, and manufactures it and sells it under private-label to Edelbrock and Carter. This same carb is also labeled with a Mercruiser label.

Let the Buyer Beware.

 

Well I have Kings and I know they made them because I watched.

 

In Garden Grove? Friend in Lake Elsinore has an '01 Cheb 1500 2W w/ Kings. Absolutely awesome truck. Probably has more $$ in suspension work alone than he paid for the truck new. You satisfied with 'em or dumb question? Saw their booth at the Off-Road show in Ontario in '02, very impressive. How much$$$$?


P.s.: CWB- Looked at you gallery and the pics in East Fork (Asusa Cyn.) Haven't been there in years, like 20 or so.

 

Lots. I am happy with them but man, they were expensive. Oh well, I treated my self. Can't imagine putting them on a 2wd. I see so many trucks with thousands of dollars on 2wd or 4wd ifs suspensions. If you wanted to look serious, why not sling a real axle under there?

 

Been there, done that.... Had 4 different 4wheels in last 20 years. Prefer the 2-Wheel / pre-run type trucks. Smoother ride / lots of wheel travel, less weight, ect. Always been the underdog type anyways, gotta have a lesser vehicle/motor/ whatever that can go just as deep/fast/higher or whatever it is....doesn't always work out that way though. Same with the boat, instead of simply buying a stock 502 Cheb to easily run in the mid 70's, gotta build a 450hp 383 small block that'll run 77 just to prove a point. Makes for fun garage talk.