[syndicate]

I've had everyone and their mother thell me they'd pick other shocks over these for various reasons. I lot of suspension mechanics have said that Ranchos tend to leak more than others. Someone told me they were cheaply built in Chia by child slaves. Another mechanic said hes seen plenty that fail too soon due to arching. On the other hand, a trophy truck driver said they have better performance under extreme heat than most other shocks.

I've driven with them on and off road, and so far they're great. I'm using the AC coil too. I do have to say though that if you run them at any setting below 7 you can feel them fully extend way too much. It feels like the opposite of bottoming out. I think this might be attributed to the beefy AC coil though.

One side note:
If you remove your coil-over setup to have a shop swap out the coil/shocks, make sure you have them allign the little triangle imprinted on top of the upper housing with the back side of the lower mount on the shock. If they're not lined up, the lower mount will not allign with the mount on your LCA and you'll have to take them back to be readjusted.

More reviews to follow.

 

[Hoagie27]

I had those on my 2001 f150 completed the 3in suspension lift... I never had a single problem with them. I always got compliments on how that suspension performed. On a side note, I have a complete, new in the box, remote control system for those shocks that I never got around to installing. let me know if your interested.

Edit; The resurrection of this thread isn't my fault... its Old Navy's

 

[05XTERRA S]

How are they running now???? I am thinking about doing this, BTW, Hoagie you still have that remote, i am thinking of buying one.

 

[DBAX]

ran 'em on the Gen1 w/ outstanding results.. they should be good for 60k miles of offroad abuse.

 

[X_Ego]

How are they running now???? I am thinking about doing this, BTW, Hoagie you still have that remote, i am thinking of buying one.

I had the remote system - nothing but problems. Really great in theory, but cheaply made. In the end, I disconnected the remote system and just left them at 7. The shocks on the other hand are great.

 

[steve500]

Ran these suckers on my 2001 isuzu rodeo 4x4. Had a 4" suspension lift.

These are great shocks. Really changed the ride a lot and felt great. They began to wear around 40k miles and I did mostly off road in that machine. They lasted a lot longer than I expected them to. When cranking all the way to stiff, wow, awesome, especially when hauling something heavy for the rear suspension to stop bounce.

I give these shocks a big thumbs up and would buy a set for my Xterra.

 

[BlackZ51Vett]

Have had them on my X for a couple of months now. No complaints yet. Good ride. I like the adjustability for different loads.

 

[skohl]

Rancho 9000's

I couldn't stand the original shocks, put Rancho's on in January and love the performance both on and off road - 2 trips. Now my Off Road rides like it should. Going off road this weekend and will try a couple of different settings just to experiment.

 

[dirtyjerseyjohnny]

Got the rancho 9000s in the rear and they're perfect, I drive at the #2 setting and go #6 when its wheeling time. Very nice rebound. Can't complain. They were even submerged in muddy water for an hour and no problems

 

[crazzylenny]

I have the Rancho's on my 2005 X. These are probably the worst shocks I have ever had. The kit that I installed completely ruined the ride of my x. The shocks leaked almost immediately and have had to replace them a few times. I would not recommend any Rancho products to anyone. I am waiting to switch these out to something of much better quality.

 

[dirtyjerseyjohnny]

I have the Rancho's on my 2005 X. These are probably the worst shocks I have ever had. The kit that I installed completely ruined the ride of my x. The shocks leaked almost immediately and have had to replace them a few times. I would not recommend any Rancho products to anyone. I am waiting to switch these out to something of much better quality.

installed correctly?

 

[ADR723]

For those that are running the Rancho RS9000XL Rear Shocks, are they worth the money for the ride quality and dampening control?

 

[Toro]

I have the 9000's out back and a quick lift up front.(basically a 9000 with the spring perched relocated to give the lift.) I love them. I have had them on for a year with no problems. Ride is a little bit stiffer but thats normal with any lift. I wheel quite a bit but mostly tackle stuff in the "moderate-difficult" range. I dont hit anything too crazy. The Rancho's handle everything I do with ease.

As far as ride quality out back, they were the besty thing that happend to me. I used to bottom out going over "dips" in the street. Now they are no big deal. I hear that most rear shock upgrades will help with this, but this was just my experience.

When I tow or carry a heavy load, I crank the rear up to "9" and the car handles beautifly. I dont know if the Rancho's are for everyone but they work on so many levels for me.

 

[usko99]

Have rancho quicklift on front and 9000 xls on rear for about 3 years now excelent shocks!

On the rancho my ride controllers, you must install them correctly in order to not get leaking problems...

I do get some air leak from the wireless controller and the air pump goes on but this happens like once a week... and the air pump goes on like for a second to adjust the compression to what ever settings I leave it... No big deal for me..

For the system to not leak air, I had to open the onboard air controller box and seal each piston inside with teflon tape and also make a cover for where the lines go onto the shock. This helps air leaks...

 

[stros]

Just had the 9000xls installed for both front and rear last week - at stock ride height.

I've been very happy with them so far. Nice balance between ride comfort and control. Rebound control is great. Even the wife says she notices how much better it handles the bumps now and she barely notices anything when it comes to mods. I have much less brake dive now too.

I set both front and rear to the #6 setting for normal street driving...seems to work well. Seems like a good choice for those looking to improve the on road ride at least.

 

[az_jerry]

Hi, first time post, long time lurker.

Sorry to make my first post negative, but my experience with the Rancho 9000 shocks is not good. My X is stock height (4x4), the shocks were installed by a 4x4 shop about two months ago. I never really cared for the ride, tried a variety of settings, it was OK but no improvement over the 50k stock shocks that were on there.

Then I went on a dirt road. Not a 4x4 road, just a dirt road that you could drive a Civic on. (Horseshoe Lake, near Carefree, for you AZ guys) It had a long stretch of washboard, but nothing that should have blown both front shocks, but that is what happened.

I just ordered a set of Bilsteins, hope to get them installed this week.

I went on about a dozen off road trips with the stock shocks without a problem, some it fairly rugged terrain. Maybe I just got a bad set but I'm no rancho fan now.

 

[dirtyjerseyjohnny]

Update: Highly recommended you do a new leaf pack or aals with these shocks.

 

[DBAX]

I'd recommend for any long day on washboards, air down some too..

 

[stros]

Shouldn't Rancho replace them under warranty? Did you try to take Rancho up on that?

Hi, first time post, long time lurker.

Sorry to make my first post negative, but my experience with the Rancho 9000 shocks is not good. My X is stock height (4x4), the shocks were installed by a 4x4 shop about two months ago. I never really cared for the ride, tried a variety of settings, it was OK but no improvement over the 50k stock shocks that were on there.

Then I went on a dirt road. Not a 4x4 road, just a dirt road that you could drive a Civic on. (Horseshoe Lake, near Carefree, for you AZ guys) It had a long stretch of washboard, but nothing that should have blown both front shocks, but that is what happened.

I just ordered a set of Bilsteins, hope to get them installed this week.

I went on about a dozen off road trips with the stock shocks without a problem, some it fairly rugged terrain. Maybe I just got a bad set but I'm no rancho fan now.

Posted via Mobile Device

 

[az_jerry]

Yes, they have a 90 day "return for any reason" offer. I'm right on the edge of that. If I can't make the 90 day, I can return the two damaged ones for replacement, then I will probably just sell them.

I usually air down off road, but I confess that I did not on this road. It may have helped, but I still think that the shocks should have held up on this road, it isn't that bad.