Has anyone had problems with Rancho RS5000X shocks leaking?

Igoo65

TJ Enthusiast
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Joined
Jan 7, 2019
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413
Location
Colorado Springs, CO
I was getting ready to order Rancho RS5000x shocks for my 1997 TJ and a friend of mine that works at 4 Wheel Parts told me that they see a lot of returns for leaking shocks with the RS5000x. I know on this forum and others that the RS5000x shocks are recommended. Has anyone had any leaking problems with these shocks? He didn't tell me if it was all model of these shocks or just the wrangler models.


Thanks,
Igoo65
 
Wrong parts sent, yes.

Wrong parts sent a second time, yes.

Miserable nightmare scenario replacing the rear, yes.

Excessive frustration & stupidity driven near mangling of garage door, yes.

Leaking, not yet :LOL:
 
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Never a leak from my RS5000x shocks. If they leaked like that 4Wheel Parts guy claimed there wouldn't be so many ongoing recommendations for them.
 
Thanks Jerry and Westtown Willy. It always sounded like everyone is pretty happy with the RS5000x. I just wanted to check first. The money that I have spent on my jeep since December is insane and I didn't want to purchase something until I knew for sure it is a good product. Westtown Willy, I sure hope my install goes easier than yours.
Thanks Guys!
 
I didn't want to purchase something until I knew for sure it is a good product. Westtown Willy, I sure hope my install goes easier than yours.
Thanks Guys!

Yea I wouldn’t worry too much about them leaking, these shocks are some of the best bang for your buck in the realm of the TJ money pitt; my troubles were mostly self-inflicted – attention deficit disorder combined with a general lack of skill, experience & proper tools all conspired with some corroded bolts; if you’ve got a spare 10 minutes of your life you’re not doing anything with read this:

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...rning-read-for-amusement-purposes-only.12686/
 
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A couple weeks ago, I heard a hiss from my front driver's side 5000x shock. I haven't pulled it to see if it is still pressurized.
 
Never a leak from my RS5000x shocks. If they leaked like that 4Wheel Parts guy claimed there wouldn't be so many ongoing recommendations for them.

4 Wheel Parts probably just wants to say that so they can sell you whatever their in-house brand is ;)
 
4 Wheel Parts probably just wants to say that so they can sell you whatever their in-house brand is ;)
He did want to sell me the Bilstien 5100s at $90 a shock. 😕 He was trying to tell me that the Bilstiens road better than the Ranchos. I just let him talk. He doesn't know that I research the S&*t out of everything before I buy!
 
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He did want to sell me the Bilstien 5100s at $90 a shock. 😕 He was trying to tell me that the Bilstiens road better than the Ranchos. I just let him talk. He doesn't know that I research the S&*t out of everything before I buy!

I've had both shocks, and I prefer the Ranchos strongly over the Bilstein 5100s. I didn't think the 5100s rode bad by any means, but the Ranchos rode noticeably better IMHO (I think others will agree on this).

At least you're smart enough to have done your research first!
 
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Yea I wouldn’t worry too much about them leaking, these shocks are some of the best bang for your buck in the realm of the TJ money pitt; my troubles were mostly self-inflicted – attention deficit disorder combined with a general lack of skill, experience & proper tools all conspired with some corroded bolts; if you’ve got a spare 10 minutes of your life you’re not doing anything with read this:

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...rning-read-for-amusement-purposes-only.12686/
I shouldn't be laughing at your tale, but it sounds like my projects!
 
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Year and a half and counting, no leaks. If anyone complained about them leaking it's probably due to their poor setup and damaging the shock by bottoming them out constantly.
 
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I had one leaking out-of-the-box new.
83200

There were also these manufacturing and assembly issues out-of-the-box new that had nothing to do with user error.
8320183202832038320483205
 
I ordered these from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JBLREPW/?tag=wranglerorg-20

And I received 3x RS5000x and 1x RS5000 (non x). The RS5000 was a front strut. I brought up the issue with the Amazon seller but by the time they got back to me with a response I had been forced to mount it and thrash it on a trail test run (I only had one free weekend to test my lift out before I go to Moab).

Overall I don't really notice it - but it does leak and it did leak from the first time I did a bump stop check and bottomed it out (no springs - just using a floor jack to test interference when setting up the bump stop height initially). I'm not too happy about it but I made the conscious decision to run it because I needed a longer stroke shock for my lift to make my trial run. At $50 each I'll just run it till it really starts getting bouncy and upgrade to a proper RS5000x.

So in short - yes I did receive a leaky shock - but it was part of an incorrect shipment and it was not an RS5000x but in fact a RS5000. Also - if you order from that above link - DOUBLE CHECK your shipment when you receive it. They will ship you a new one if you don't thrash it like I did haha.
 
I ordered mine from 4 Wheel Parts in store today. They will have them tomorrow and I can look at them at the store just incase something is wrong. They were actually cheaper than going to Amazon.