mjsandt

I know there have been a lot of posts on this, but I am between the Bilsteins and Rancho's, and where did yall find them for the best price. I plan on doing a leveling kit soon and new shock to go with it. Also, did yall go all for shocks or just replace front two, if you bought them for the leveling kit. Thanks.

M Sandt

kully560

I bought bilstein 5100 front and rear I also have a 2003 best price is off road warehouse in cal. tell them you belong to this site for discount.ride is nice and shocks are zinc coated as to not rust

Mike M

I have had both on the same truck 04.5 2500 4x4. I pulled the bilstiens off the truck, 2 problems with them (1) to stiff when truck is empty and (2) they cooked when on a wash boarded dirt road, they started to smoke and I thought they were going to start on fire, the paint burnt off the shocks. I now have the Rancho 9000 that are adjustable and the seem to work very well and I can soften the ride when I use the truck empty.

kully560

I have the 5100s and they are not painted zinc coated !!the new h1s for the rear are very smooth best shocks I have ever owned

blh1972

I have the Rancho 9000's they are adjustable, and perform great!

RamWheelsBy4

I have not tried the Bilsteins on a Dodge, but had them on a number of Chevys and they were fine. I put the Rancho 9000Xs all around when I did the leveling kit and 315s. 48,000 miles now and they still seem to be doing fine. I do like being able to adjust them based on driving conditions and load.

TexasCTD

Ditto. Much improved handling too, over stock shocks. I got mine from 4wheel parts but I don't recall exactly what I paid.

kully560

bilstein change the rears from the old style h5 which were stiffer to the new h1 I have them and the truck rides great.got them from off road warehouse . I guess the valving is changed for a softer ride.my truck is a 2003 and the ride is better in the corners and a little softer than the oem shocks . I do not seem to spill my coffee anymore with the open top!!!

wyosteve

I had Rancho 9000's on my '01 all around. The fronts were junk in about 20k miles. The rears were still ok. Went to Bilsteins and haven't had a problem since. At least back then, the Ranchos didn't seem able to stand up to the heavy front end.

Raspy

I'm running Bilsteins on the front and Ranchos on the back.

The rear weight varies a lot and it's nice to be able to crank up the stiffness to match the load. On the front it's hard to adjust the Ranchos and the weight is more constant, so the Bilsteins work great. Also, the Bilsteins are more velocity sensitive so they stiffen more by themselves on rough surfaces. Great for the front to keep the ride smooth and yet handle bumps as well as can be expected with all that Cummins weight.

Wetspirit