I'm curious if anyone has had experience with, or opinion on adjustable vs. very high quality shocks.


I've heard great things about the Bilstein shocks here but I don't see any models that are adjustable from Bilstein. Right now, I'm looking at a set of 5150's.


Rancho has the 9000 series, and Procomp has an MX6, both adjustable models.


Why adjustable? Rear wheel bounce on the freeway. That "stacatto" effect that you experience when the rear shocks/springs are stiff and you hit that frequency vibration of the segments in a (California) freeway that causes a truck to shake so violently that you cannot hold a cell phone conversation or drink a drink.


I'm thinking that the Bilsteins would do me right anywhere but here, because on the freeway, I'd want to really loosen up the rear shocks to create a nice "spongy" ride, that would minimize the impact of the freeway vibration effect.


Obvious problem is that I need a great performing (and great looking would be a plus) adjustable shock.


Anyone have ideas or experience with this?

I've got the Rancho RS9000 with the cab adjustable box and compressor, and I love 'em. Cadillac soft or rock hard, or a front/rear combo. They really help me with keeping the front end out of the dirt when I play hard..http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Evil Smile.gif

I love the Rancho 9000X shocks. Here in Mi the roads are just like you say in CA. They cut out lines for repairs that are never even with the pavement. Every few feet, boom, boom, boom. Try drinking a cup of coffee over that with a set of blown out factory shocks with only 12k on them ! The thing is I like it just stiff enough to be firm because I hate a spongy ride. That is the great thing about adjustable. You like spongy just dial them down. I just crawl underneath and reset them. Takes about 2 minutes for all four. Once you get them where you like you will probably never change them. At least I don't unless I'm towing a heavy load. I keep the fronts at 7, rears at 5.

I like a stiff ride so my RS9000X's stay at 9.

From a lot of the comments I've read the Bilsteins are a bit on the firm side. If you want a ride like that then get a set -- Bilstseins are a good quality shock.

For me, I opted to get the 9000's. That way, I can set them any way *I* want them to be -- it's not up to an engineer to decide how my truck should ride. And Rancho makes a good shock too, so it was a no brainer for me.

I have had both, the Bilstens and the RS 9000X. The Bilsteins are excellent with good durability. The 9000s are also excellent with the added benefit of adjustability. I will soon see if they are as durable, but I expect this is the case.


In May I went from a 285 street tire to BFG AT/KOs in 295s. The BFGs have a much stiffer sidewall, and it was nice to soften the shocks one click and get the ride back. I suspect with the Bilsteins I would have just had to accept the harsher ride.

Any of you guys seen these yet?


Procomp 12 Inch MX-6 Monotube Externally Adjustable With Reservoir


Explorer ProComp's web site is down so I can't get any details but these look brand new. Would be nice to have the looks and performance of the Bilstein with the adjustability of the Rancho 9000's - but these still lack the in-cab controller convenience...



http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/uploads/3B6_pcp_mx6res_500.jpg

After having both, I can say that so far, the RS9000Xs do not sacrifice anything the the Bilsteins in terms of performance..............

I beat my shocks to death at 50 to 70 mpn over rough dirt roads. I tried one set of Rancho 9000 years ago as I liked the adjustable feature. Only held up about 20,000 miles, then sorta went away like OE do in 5,000 miles, Edelbrock in 7,000 miles. One of my trucks has 200,000+ (93 CC 4WD Peninsular 300 HP) on Bilsteins and still going strong. My 02 D/A has 70,000 and still going strong. 99% of you will not be as hard on shocks as I am due to the loads I carry and roads I drive. Rancho builds a good shock, but Bilsteins, though maybe a little rougher, are durn near indestructable.

dduffy,


Here is Seattle my commute consists of 20 miles of stop and go traffic - 5mph to 75mph then to 5mph. tons of indents in the road. I had an 02 Dodge 1500 lifted that vibrated my teeth out and it had 9000's. I replaced my Dodge with my D/A Crew and it was a ton better but still was too damn jarring to handle. To top it off I put on a set of 22inch wheels and 305/40/22 tires. That put my sidewalls super small. Well, it actually rides better than stock tires due to softer sidewalls than the E rated HD tires. Anyway, with OE shocks the ride still sucked. I was contemplating going with the Bilsteins or the 9000s. I ended up doing the 9000s and am super happy. I actually have them set on 3 (cadillac ride) and you cannot tell my truck is a 3/4 ton any more.. It actually rebounds really well. They do seem to be less effective the faster I go. They work great all the way up to 75mph which seems to be fast enough on such a bumpy crappy freeway anyway... I have had Bilsteins in the past and was SUPER impressed, but I was concerned with the stiffening of the ride. The BIG difference isn't in softening or stiffening the ride so much between the aftermarket and the OE shocks, the aftermarkets just seem to handle the jolts and rebound so much nicer... The OE's were junk. Mine came off at 700miles. Just my .02. Good luck on your choice. The Procomps you listed looked interesting... I would be super interested in how the remote rezzies work. I personally am not a huge fan of PC but would be super interested in Bilsteins remote rezzie shock setups.. Or even a custom made set of Fox shocks...??...


Cheers!