Why so many hate Rancho RS9000xl shocks?

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vegpower
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Why so many hate Rancho RS9000xl shocks?

Postby vegpower » Tue Jun 09, 2020 9:11 pm

Are they way too soft? poor quality? too much body roll even on stiffest setting?
what is it!

is the 9 mark as stiff as a Bilstein 4600?

Why is bad having adjustability?


:?


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smj999smj
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Re: Why so many hate Rancho RS9000xl shocks?

Postby smj999smj » Wed Jun 10, 2020 2:10 am

I wouldn't call Bilstein 4600's "stiff." I would say they are appropriate for a stock replacement but are of a single-tube design, which is typically better than a dual-tube design on light trucks and SUV's. The Rancho's that came from the factory on the off-road trim are nothing special to talk about. As far as the RS9000xl, somebody else will have to answer that because I've never used them. I'm happy with my Bilstein 4600's on my 06 and the KYB Gas-a-just shocks on my 2008, although I'm not the one that usually drives it.

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ShipFixer
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Re: Why so many hate Rancho RS9000xl shocks?

Postby ShipFixer » Wed Jun 10, 2020 11:25 am

I had the Ranchos. They are under damped in rebound (too much oscillation and "bounce" after bumps). The adjustment knob, by diagram anyway, should adjust both rebound and compression but dynamically the only thing I noticed was an increase or decrease in high speed compression damping in a bad way. Going back to that orifice damping is the cheapest thing, the cheapest kind of rebound adjustment is closing or opening an orifice. So it could make the ride harsher to me with a minor improvement in low speed compression (resistance to sway in cornering or brake dive) but not much else.

They are not at all like an expensive, adjustable shock. Those run $1K per corner for a reason.

Could not wait to get back to the Bilsteins. They are as close to ideal as you are going to get without going for a $1K option, which frankly just doesn't exist for this truck outside of serious off road long travel stuff and would be lipstick on a pig considering its body on frame nature. And OBTW those have to be rebuilt or replaced every 30K miles or so just like other shocks, so we are really talking about a recurring cost here.

I still do not believe you have a shock problem if you have Bilsteins...unless you have a broken Bilstein.

vegpower
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Re: Why so many hate Rancho RS9000xl shocks?

Postby vegpower » Wed Jun 10, 2020 5:48 pm

Just came back from Nissan, they said that Body mounts are the problem, that's where all vibration is coming from... So they wanna replace those bushings.

Let's see how that goes. I will get it done next month though ))

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smj999smj
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Re: Why so many hate Rancho RS9000xl shocks?

Postby smj999smj » Thu Jun 11, 2020 5:09 pm

Sounds about right. We've seen pics of some pretty chewed-up body mount bushings from R51's on this site in the past!


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