I've read a lot of positive posts about Bilstein. I'm surprised they only have "O.E." shocks for my non-lifted 95 F250 4X4 PSD. Rancho has the RS 9000 with adjustments.

However, back in '96' I put the RS 9000's on a full size Bronco and didn't notice much difference when I adjusted them (there were only 5 adjustment settings at that time). Anyway, they rode brick hard.

Any thoughts on which is a better quality shock? I like the Rancho adjustablility but am fearful of putting original equipment Bilsteins on.

 

Bad Company (Great band, by the way!),

I can give you opinion on both shocks, since I have both the Bilsteins and the Rancho 9000X's on the same truck. I put the Bilsteins on the front and the Ranchos on the back. The truck is a '92 F350 SRW CrewCab 4x4 LongBed with the 351 engine, stock suspension and 33" BFG's.

The Bilsteins are the yellow heavy duty ones. You should be able to get the more expensive 7100, 8100, and so on series, for a non-lifted truck if you measure the shock length you need and order them by mounting style and length instead of by make, model and year. Contact Bilstein directly: www.bilstein.com.

I put the Bilsteins on the frontend and they were quite an improvement over the shocks I removed, which still had life left in them, they just weren't as firm as I wanted. The Bilsteins are firm but not harsh and give a nice ride, or as nice as can be expected from a one-ton 4x4 with a solid front axle and leaf spring suspension. They really helped the the handling in the curves, especially with the camper on the truck. I haul a slide-in RV camper in the back of the truck and tow a trailer behind it, as well as use the truck for general 4wheeling in the desert. I'm quite happy with the shocks and would buy them again if I had it to do over again and really don't think you would go wrong by putting them on your truck.

I put the adjustable Ranchos in the rear only because it is the rear axle that changes so drastically in load weight with the camper on or off. The front axle load weight doesn't change that much. The Bilsteins do great whether the truck is loaded or empty.

I really like the adjustable feature of the Ranchos in the back though. I've never tried the 5-position Ranchos, but these 9-position shocks definitely do make a difference in the damping with the different settings. With the truck loaded and the shocks set from 1 to 3, it is wallowy in the curves. With them at 7, it firms up nice. At 9, they are very firm, bordering on too firm, and that's with a 2500 lb load in the bed.

Empty, set on 9 they downright jar your teeth out. I set them at 3 when empty and 5-7 when moderately loaded and that seems to be a good balance between a firm roadholding ride and relief from the bumps.

Overall, I'm happy with the Ranchos. They do what was advertised: allow me to change the damping according to the load on the axle so I get a descent ride whether the truck is loaded or empty. I would buy them again.

Hope that helps you out some .

 

I put a set of Rancho RSX on my truck, and they made a world of difference.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. It always helps to ask those who have experience!