Billstein 5100's are AWESOME.

 

They look about the same.... Whats the price difference?

 

The body and piston size are noticeably larger on the Rancho and they run about $10 more per shock. The Rancho has some advantages with the external CD adjustment. The Bilsteins are a great all around shock and have a nicer finish with theZinc plating, untill you cover them in mud.

 

I'm in the process of switching from Bils 0-3" to Rancho. I like the rears a lot better, but the fronts are pissing me off. The Bils are longer and when I went to put the Rancho's up front, I found that with my torsion bars cranked the Rancho's won't reach! They are actually very slightly shorter then stock shocks!

Now I'm waiting on some front shock extensions so I can put the Rancho shocks in... ridiculous.

 

Sorry to hear that but if your truck is cranked up that much you should be running Ranchos 4" lifted shock. The shock extension will get the job done though.

 

my truck is cranked 2". Wouldn't a 4" shock destroy itself when the suspension compresses fully? (that is if it would even collapse enough to fit)

 

What part # do you have in the front?

 

Which one has the best road ride?

Also does the boot come standard on the Bilstein and not on the rancho?

I had Bilstein on all 4's of my Tacoma and loved them, but that was a much lighter truck.

 

Which one has the best road ride?.

Depends on what setting you have the Rancho at. They are 9-way adjustable, either with the red knob, or if you install an in-cab controller.

 

rs999288. The pisser is that when I called Rancho they told me it would fit with a slight torsion bar crank; guess not.

As far as the other question - the Rancho on the street lets me set the rear softer for the bumps then the Bils, yet handling seems just fine.

 

The 999288 has a colapsed length of 12.7" compared to stock @ aprox 10". The Extended length is 15.25" compared to stock @ aprox 14.7". They should be used with shock extensions to be right for your application, that is somewhat inconvenient but I think you will find the flexability the shocks offer are well worth it. The next step up for length and adjustablity are the HAL QA-1 pictured in this image, they are quite a bit more money and extremly nice.
The Bilstein offers more options as far as length but not in adjustability.

 

I haven't measured, but compared the Rancho's with my stockers, and the rancho are a fraction of an inch shorter in overall extended length than stock; not longer.

it's surprising and disappointing that a company like Rancho would be so short sighted as to not make something in between, or at least offer extensions.

I can't wait for my extensions to arrive so I can mount them!

 

I had RS9000s on my 02 HD and loved them..... they were awesome for towing.... I'd crank them up to 9 to control the bouncing on some of the crappy roads I drive.

 

I know this is an old thread. A question for Rancho owners.
I have 9000s in various jeeps and I have come to hate them!
Seems they are either too soft on compression - so I turn them stiffer, and then they are to hard on rebound.

On a particular road (BW parkway, North of Washington DC), when I hit the expansion joints, the truck barely moves (that's good), except when I fall off the back side of the joint, the suspension doesn't follow the road and the nose dips.

End result, it feels like I'm driving down a set of stairs (well, small stairs, spaced about 1-2 seconds apart). Just a bad match. Its like little bump then dip, gap, little bump dip. Annoying at least in the 55-65mph range.

I switched my Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee to Bilstein and love it - at least on-road. While I admit the R9000s look beefier. The Bilsteins seem to have better road feel, tuning etc. A bit on the soft side (could be a bit stiffer to aid in handling) but overall a nice street shock.

Now the $100 question. Does the same apply to 3500 trucks? I still have factory shocks and quit frankly the car feels underdamped or very bouncy at least when not loaded. Are Bilsteins enough?

 

What about LMLs? What's available? Don't see much out there (at least on websites).