ok, another question from the newbie. i have read a lot of posts where people ask what shocks and everyone says rancho or bilstein. i have a more specific question about the ranchos. has anyone used the RSXs and what did you think? i can get 4 r5000s for $120, 4 RSXs for about $140 and its up to about $400 for the r9000s. i know rancho has the free cab controller promotion going on right now, is it worth the 3x price to upgrade to these? i havent heard anyone who has used the auto-adjusting rsxs and how they worked out. i dont tow a camper or anything pushing the limits of the truck, but i tow my boats a lot, loads of dirt, stuff like that. empty, the backend of this thing is like a wagon and speedbumps about launch me off the pavement! haha. so im just looking for the best value that will give me the best all around ride. thanks!

haneym I have the RS9000 ranchos, they work very well for me. I have had the bilstein shocks on many other trucks, they are a great shock. I wanted the adujustability of the 9000s for a change and they are what I expected them to be, very reliable. just my .02 worth.BigRedD/A

no auto adjusting shocks work IMO. including the edelbrocks. but if your gonna go with the self adjusting do the IAS's. i had a set on a 98 half ton and they were very stiff. iv found the 9000x's to suit my needs perfectly as i do a lot of offroad driving, towing, city and freeway driving, so the adjustment factor is great. if your driving is more regular go with bilstiens over the 5000's hands down.

9000X's work great for me whether camper and boat or empty.


I don't have the in cab controller but the 30 secs it takes to adjust who cares?


Buy em!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gif


Blake

kind of confirms what i suspected - that the r9000s are the preference since you can easily change them to fit the situation. just for the heck of it, what series bilsteins is it that everyone likes? only thing i know about them is they are expensive and gm puts em on z71s stock. i would like to do a little research on em though.


it just seems to me that with an auto-adjusting shock, it wont adjust until after you have jolted your spine out of alignment and then its too late. kinda like being one step behind all the time.


one more thing - is there only one style of r9000s? is there an adapter that fits the air line where the knob goes? can you install the shocks then add the in cab module later or do you have to wait and do it all at once? basically, if something happens and the air adjust leaks or doesnt work, can you go back to the knob adjust? thanks!Edited by: haneym

I put the 9000s on instead of the auto adjusting because the four wheel shop recommended them. They said they get alot of returns on the RSXs. This is due to blow out of the inside O-rings. They average at least 1 every month and a half. I had the 5000s on my Suburban and never had a problem with them. The 9000s are even better I think.

haneym: Here are the Bilsten model numbers for the 2500HD Duramax.

BE5-6081HO Front(?)
BE5-6082HO Rear (?)

The ride from the Bilsteins is firm, but not harsh. Compared to the factory stocks, there is less up and down travel and basically, there is only one bounce rather than multiple bounces. The biggest improvement is a noticable reduction in side to side roll on rough roads and when cruising on roads with curves. The truck tracks better on wash board roads and it have a nicer ride over the rocks on the two track roads. The factory shocks only had 6,000 miles and were still in good shape when I made the change. I have no regrets about doing this upgrade.

Sorry, but I have no experience with the Rancho shock, so I cannot compare. I went with the Bilsteins because it sounded like a pain in the rear to change the adjustments on the Rancho, especially after going through mud, (and was I told the Rancho was not a gas shock(?)).

I put the 9000s on instead of the auto adjusting because the four wheel shop recommended them. They said they get alot of returns on the RSXs. This is due to blow out of the inside O-rings. They average at least 1 every month and a half. I had the 5000s on my Suburban and never had a problem with them. The 9000s are even better I think.





Did they specify if the failures were the current production of the 9 way adjustables vice the older 5 way? There was problems w/the older 5 ways that are still floating around out there. Perhaps thats what they are seeing? Recall JK had a bad experience w/the 5 way also.

We put a set of rancho rs9000x on our 1995 Chevy 2500 last year and they work great.


We just ordered another set of rs9000x for our dmax and also will be getting the in-cab controller since its free. It should be the updated one so we'll see how it works.


We paid $290 with free shipping at:http://www.samsoffroad.com/samsoffroadsto/index.html