Need New Shocks

Lot of great input here fellas. The easy adjustability on the Rancho 9000s seems like a best of both worlds feature. Dial 'em down for the highway and dial 'em up for offroad or a loaded rig... Thanks guys.

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RustyCage said:
Lot of great input here fellas. The easy adjustability on the Rancho 9000s seems like a best of both worlds feature. Dial 'em down for the highway and dial 'em up for offroad or a loaded rig... Thanks guys.

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Or just get the tried and tested OME shocks haha. They are all good just comes down to budget and what you feel comfortable with. Honestly can’t go wrong either way I’m sure.
 
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I have been running Bilstein 5100s for about a year now. They are great shocks, but I feel like my teeth are going to rattle out of my head sometimes because they are so stinking stiff. I'm probably going to switch to Rancho soon.
 
I dunno... I'm running the Bilstein 5100's and I like them. They were a bit harsh when I first installed them, but now they work quite well. Yes, you can feel road imperfections, but I wouldn't say they are too stiff. They provide a nice, firm, controlled ride.
 
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Ranger_b0b said:
I dunno... I'm running the Bilstein 5100's and I like them. They were a bit harsh when I first installed them, but now they work quite well. Yes, you can feel road imperfections, but I wouldn't say they are too stiff. They provide a nice, firm, controlled ride.
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I think it’s because where I live “road imperfections” means stay under 15 mph or you will die.
Wyoming isn’t known for having the best roads, and the 2 miles of dirt road to my house are even worse.
 
Nathan Stanfield said:
I think it’s because where I live “road imperfections” means stay under 15 mph or you will die.
Wyoming isn’t known for having the best roads, and the 2 miles of dirt road to my house are even worse.
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I'm in Michigan...we have pot holes big enough to swallow cars! The main complaint I hear about the 5100's is not from big impacts...its the small ones. Like you can feel a tar snake go under your tire. To me, that's not a big deal...to others, it is.
 
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The ride on Bilstein’s is firm and you do feel more road imperfections. If you drive a lot of choppy roads you could go batty. Highway driving and off-road are fine. The Rancho 5000X are better. Softer ride but not dramatic. Most of the benefit is felt under 40mph. In the end it’s a TJ, SWB, what do you expect, a Cadillac?
 
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I ended up sideways in my pickup the other day. I was only going about 20mph, but its so tore up that it doesn't take much. The stupid county came out and graded the road in front of my house that was mostly fine, but ignored the main road that a baja racer would have problems with.
 
So I went with the Bilstein 5100s today for a few reasons. I really wanted the Fox 2.0 Adventure Series. Not ready to pop for the Performance Series at this stage of the experience. They're aluminum and rebuildable. Very Nice. Everything I read billed the Adventure Series to the same as the Performance, but with steel and not rebuildable. I learned today it doesn't even look like the same shock, it's not built by Fox and it's just got a sticker on it. Frankly, they looked like bad knock offs. Same thinking on the OMEs. Too rich at this point - given the rest of the list! Couldn't get comfortable with the Ranchos. Might have them by Friday, but probably next week.
 
RustyCage said:
So I went with the Bilstein 5100s today for a few reasons. - given the rest of the list! Couldn't get comfortable with the Ranchos. Might have them by Friday, but probably next week.
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Uh oh, I hope certain member do not read that. I almost got banned from the forum for saying something similar about Rancho. I went with OME as the price of the Ranchos seemed to good to be true, but forum members love the Ranchos, and the rs5000x shocks have great feedback. They seem to only require prep and paint, and perform as well as the more expensive brands.
 
I would have given you my Bilstein’s if I thought they were worth it. But I prefer to treat others as I would want them to treat me.
 
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JMT said:
I would have given you my Bilstein’s if I thought they were worth it. But I prefer to treat others as I would want them to treat me.
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I thought Bilstein had a quality name, never used their parts but just assumed. Being on the Audi and BMW forums, Bilsteins are NOT liked at all. They are basically considered garbage, which I found odd as I just assumed they were quality, but clearly not if they are not liked on Jeeps or Germans.
 
skrelnik said:
I thought Bilstein had a quality name, never used their parts but just assumed. Being on the Audi and BMW forums, Bilsteins are NOT liked at all. They are basically considered garbage, which I found odd as I just assumed they were quality, but clearly not if they are not liked on Jeeps or Germans.
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I think they have their place for the correct application. In my opinion, from my personal experience, they are not the correct application for a TJ.
 
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RustyCage said:
Wow. You guys are a bunch of buzz kills.

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Well, I hope you like them, and I had no problem likkng mine for about eight months, but I think that simply because I was excited to have my new lift and shocks. After a while I was tired of being jolted around on unevenly paves county roads. I think they do have a quality name, but I agree with @Serbonze, they have a useful application, but just not for TJ’s

After using Bilstein 4600’s, 5100’s and Rancho 5000X’s, the Rancho’s ride the best on-road, they’re equal off-road. The Bilstein’s work better for heavier 4x4’s like an F-250, but the valving causes the first couple of inches of travel to be very rigid on our lighter TJ’s. You’ll get a firm and solid ride out of them The Rancho’s absorb the bumps much better, ESPECIALLY up to 40mph. After that it gets more choppy because you are hitting the imperfections so quickly the shocks haven’t completely recovered. This is just my .02c. Just a little peeved bc while the name Bilstein is reputable, the application to our TJ’s is not near the best you can do for the money, and you were warned by several folks on here who have run multiple shocks. Sorry if I sounded harsh.
 
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JMT said:
Well, I hope you like them, and I had no problem likkng mine for about eight months, but I think that simply because I was excited to have my new lift and shocks. After a while I was tired of being jolted around on unevenly paves county roads. I think they do have a quality name, but I agree with @Serbonze, they have a useful application, but just not for TJ’s

After using Bilstein 4600’s, 5100’s and Rancho 5000X’s, the Rancho’s ride the best on-road, they’re equal off-road. The Bilstein’s work better for heavier 4x4’s like an F-250, but the valving causes the first couple of inches of travel to be very rigid on our lighter TJ’s. You’ll get a firm and solid ride out of them The Rancho’s absorb the bumps much better, ESPECIALLY up to 40mph. After that it gets more choppy because you are hitting the imperfections so quickly the shocks haven’t completely recovered. This is just my .02c. Just a little peeved bc while the name Bilstein is reputable, the application to our TJ’s is not near the best you can do for the money, and you were warned by several folks on here who have run multiple shocks. Sorry if I sounded harsh.
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Hmmm. It's my understanding that the Bilsteins are valved for the lighter TJ. Heard and read that in quite a few places. Also, the actual face-to-face humans I spoke with, a couple of legit offroad industry professionals and several guys who wheel here where I wheel and run the Bilsteins, all love them and suggested I'd be very happy with the set up. All personal reactions to the Ranchos were decidedly negative. As far as Bilstein vs. OME vs. Fox 2.0 Performance the consensus was that the Bilstein was the better value for the intended application. My TJ is not my daily driver, although I love buzzing around in it, and I live only 1.2 miles and four minutes from work. Thus, I wanted to err on the side of off road capability vs. highway ride. Personally, aesthetically, I wanted the sexy Foxes, but I decided to save a couple hundred bucks to apply to other planned upgrades and maintenance. I don't know what the wheeling is like in the Texas Hill Country, Tampa, Florida or Connecticut, but, as mentioned, several of my Intermountain West and Rocky Mountain brethren here in Idaho gave the Bilsteins the overwhelming thumbs up for our uses. Given that my current shocks are the suspension equivalent of rebar studs, I think I'll be good to go.
 
RustyCage said:
Hmmm. It's my understanding that the Bilsteins are valved for the lighter TJ. Heard and read that in quite a few places. Also, the actual face-to-face humans I spoke with, a couple of legit offroad industry professionals and several guys who wheel here where I wheel and run the Bilsteins, all love them and suggested I'd be very happy with the set up. All personal reactions to the Ranchos were decidedly negative. As far as Bilstein vs. OME vs. Fox 2.0 Performance the consensus was that the Bilstein was the better value for the intended application. My TJ is not my daily driver, although I love buzzing around in it, and I live only 1.2 miles and four minutes from work. Thus, I wanted to err on the side of off road capability vs. highway ride. Personally, aesthetically, I wanted the sexy Foxes, but I decided to save a couple hundred bucks to apply to other planned upgrades and maintenance. I don't know what the wheeling is like in the Texas Hill Country, Tampa, Florida or Connecticut, but, as mentioned, several of my Intermountain West and Rocky Mountain brethren here in Idaho gave the Bilsteins the overwhelming thumbs up for our uses. Given that my current shocks are the suspension equivalent of rebar studs, I think I'll be good to go.
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There is no comparison between the 5000X and the old 5000.
 
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