Raspy

It's not about brand wars or what someone else has, it's about what you plan to do with your truck.

For empty driving on the highway, the Bilsteins are nice but for towing or heavy loads the Ranchos are better. They are better because you can adjust them to WAY stiff to control that heavy load and go back to soft for a good normal ride. On hard they stay stiff throughout their travel and at any rate of compression.

Bilsteins are velocity sensitive which makes them great on the highway and on rough roads, with an empty truck, where they can harden up as the suspension velocity increases. The problem is when towing heavy, the suspension velocity over big dips in the road is very slow and the Bilsteins can allow the truck to wallow up and down because they stay soft.

I ALWAYS set my rear Ranchos on full hard when towing and I can feel the added stability. Up front the Ranchos are hard to adjust because you have to reach through the spring coils.

I have Bilsteins in front for that cush ride, but they do get overpowerd by the weight.

Good shocks really keep the tires in contact with the road and keep the rear end from skipping out on bumpy highway curves.

Either one is WAY better than stock.


John

jrussell

I don't know, I find the Bilsteins handle a load MUCH better than stock. Have you ever compressed one by hand? I bet if you compress a Bilstein and a Rancho (on stiffest setting) side-by-side, you'll notice after an 1" or so of compression the Bilsteins are probably just as stiff...if not stiffer the further you go. Bilsteins are known for being rugged and firm, not really cushy. If they feel cushy in the front it's probably just due to the extra weight of the CTD.

Nothing to do with brand wars really. The two brands just happen to be common and are completely different types of shocks using different technologies.

LongRanger

I am thinking hard about trying the new Rancho 9000 XLs on the back and KYB Monomax on the front.

I read a post on a SuperDuty forum about the new 9000 XLs. Guy hot shots for a living and puts 100,000 plus miles per year on his truck. Claims the Ranchos last about 100,000 to 130,000 miles and then he gets them replaced for free due to the lifetime warranty. On his last replacement they gave him the new XLs and he claims they are much better than the standard 9000 X.

I haven't been able to get much feedback on the KYB Monomax. I understand that they are similar in construction to Bilstein but very firm. They cost as much or more than the standard Bilstein.

As far as the stock shocks, a couple of slightly used condoms would be about as effective.........