Truck Talk... field report on Rancho RSX shocks.

d2admin

Administrator
Hey Guys...

You ever shop for something for your truck or car that is supposed to be " a performance boost" and end up feeling like you got even BETTER results than what you expected ? Me, most of the time I feel like all I bought in the end was hype...

Not this time.

I had such a positive experience, I want to share it with you all. I just replaced the shocks on my Coyote hunting truck and the results were outstanding. I put on four of the Rancho RSX's

The shocks I had on before this were only a little over a year old and they came with the Skyjacker lift kit, but I had beat them up pretty bad. ( I drive like its the Baja 500 between Stands ) They handled better than stock so I was happy at the time.

I finished putting on the RSX's Saturday Morning, and Sunday I hit the dirt trails on my usual Coyote quest.

The first things I noticed was the significantly improved cornering on the On-ramp to the Freeway, and the speedbumps in my Neighborhood were less violent. As soon as I hit the trail, it all became quite clear as to the new value my truck had with those RSX shocks on. It handled the dips, ruts and turns like a SPORTSCAR ! The Suspension was "ACTIVE" and the tires all seemed to be glued to the ground, but without the roll and rebound-bound I was used to on this particular road. But also like a sportscar, you "feel the road" a little bit more, but its only noticeable at first... its not "negative" its just "different"...

The RSX's are a valved, self-adjusting shock and the only other thing comparable to them is the Edelbrock IAS Shocks....

The Rancho RSX shocks are on sale at SummitRacing.com for 4 for 150$ right now, and if you have been thinking about getting new shocks, this is a heck of a deal, and massive improvement to the suspension.

Robb



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"Happiness... is a Target-Rich Environment"

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Say Robb: Do they have a website listing thier applications for what trucks they will fit? I would like to go to something a lot stiffer than the stock shocks on my ranger. It is 2X and all that I have at the moment. Not a lot of serious 4 wheeling around here....James L.

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Never underestimate the power of stupid people!
 
Robb
Funny you should mention this cause I am just going around the pickup over the next couple of paychecks and replacing a few things not covered under the e-warranty. Front brakes done. Anyhoo, with 70 K miles on the OE set, it is probably time to replace them. These RSX, are they the kind that have a little adjustment in them (ride control), I know that the RS9000 has that.

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Safety,Ethics, Accuracy, Velocity, Energy
 
Robb, what truck is this? I have a Chevy Silverado extended cab that'll need shocks, and I have no idea what I'd put on it.

$150 for all 4 isn't bad at all, and if they're bolt-on replacements I can do the work myself, which is what I prefer.


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"When They turn the pages of history,
When these days have passed long ago.

Will they read about us in sorrow,
for the seeds that we let grow?" - RUSH, "A Farewell To Kings"
 
Nope, no manual or external adjustments on RSX... all internal valving/sensing.

I looked at the 9000's and I figured Id probably fuss with em too much, or not at all... either way less benefit to me, personally.
 
Robb, are you still running the swaybars on your truck after the lift? I ditched mine when I lifted my rig to help improve it's axle articulation for better off-road ability. Currently I'm running the Superlift shocks and while they are ok, they are nothing to write home about.

BTW, I'd advise avoiding 4 Wheel Parts as (at least here in Vegas) they have no customer support, and know of numerous people who bought defective items from them and they refused to exchange them, simply telling them they'd have to deal with the manufacturer. Terrible customer support. I have found National Tire and Wheel an excellent source and with wonderful post sales support. I had a problem with one order from them and they couldn't have moved any faster to accomidate me and get me squared away.
 
Pic from last year... my Dad bashed up his Tacoma after I went through... you can see I had to fold the mirror in... Seeings that Im driving, I dont get to many action shots with my camera... hahaha

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Im running a 3" SkyJacker "DoubleFlex" lift with new coils, just enough so I could fit 33" Swampers on some custom offset wheels from Stockton. I just replaced the front sway bar bushings and I deeply considered losing the whole thing altogether... but... I drive through HELL TRAFFIC to and from the office everyday, and I decided Id keep the sway bar.

Ive been getting stuff from 4Wheelparts, but I havent stellar service from them either... the order line is better than it used to be at least. Desert Rat is here in PHX, but I gotta pay tax, shipping and wait three weeks to get Special Order Items... Screw that ! I call up Mailorder and POW I got it here in 3-5 days and no tax... woo hoo ! Ill give Natl Tire and Wheel a try next time.
 
My cousins husband has a business that caters to this type of truckish rock climbing.
If it isn't open yet, it's relocating to Fruitia (spelling?) Colorado.

He's got a little website, but I won't post it in order to escape the wrath of
'the Mod Squad'


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A grain of salt is tastier than a mouthful of Crow...
B. >
 
BroncoGlenn, Looks like you have some knowledge in wheeling..I must say you do have an excellent choice of lift kit..got some Superlift stuff on "Ole' Blackey", but here pretty quick she's getting a 6" lift with TSL Thornbirds
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But before I do that I am really thinking about getting a Currie 9" High Pinion front axle and getting rid of the ole' IFS. EVERY shock is different..I personally wouldnt go out and buy the Edelbrock IAS shocks...too rich for my blood..
 
Robb
What powertrain package are you running? Me 4x4-stick5sp-Cummins-3.5 differential..

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Safety,Ethics, Accuracy, Velocity, Energy
 
TD,

360, auto, 3.55... I really need to swap the rear diff to a posi and slap in some 4.11/4.10 gears

The Edelbrock IAS are like 80$ each I think...
 
Originally posted by Chigger:
[qb]BroncoGlenn, Looks like you have some knowledge in wheeling..I must say you do have an excellent choice of lift kit..got some Superlift stuff on "Ole' Blackey", but here pretty quick she's getting a 6" lift with TSL Thornbirds
smile.gif
But before I do that I am really thinking about getting a Currie 9" High Pinion front axle and getting rid of the ole' IFS. EVERY shock is different..I personally wouldnt go out and buy the Edelbrock IAS shocks...too rich for my blood..[/qb]
I do a bit o' wheeling m'self. My personal page is up at www.lvcm.com/gvmorgon where I have some pics of my rig and other junk. In a nutshell, 89 Bronco, 4" lift, 35" Goodyear MT/Rs.

Big thing I wanted to reply on though was the Thornbirds. Seriously reconsider your choice of tire. I have heard nothing but horror stories of how poorly these tires handle and cause all sorts of tracking problems even on perfectly dry pavement.

As for the Currie High Pinon 9", you might as well just look at doing a monobeam Dana 60 conversion. It'd be easier to get service parts for and be more stout as well. For what Currie wants for axles it'd probably be cheaper to get a 60 from a yard or driveline shop. I don't know what your rig is but if it's a full-size I wouldn't waste money on a 9" for the front.

IFS is ok, it doesn't articulate as well as a monobeam will, but tends to give better handling if driving a lot of dirt roads or poorly maintained roads.

The biggest cause of axle breakage is your right foot. A locker in the front combined with wheel hop and large tires will take out an axle shaft pretty quick.

All in all, it depends on the type of wheeling you do and what you are doing it in.

Glenn
 
Glenn

I drive an 80 F-150 SWB single cab. I have ALOT planned for her...I dont think I will go as far as putting a locker in the front...you are just asking to tear stuff up. In the front we have a Dana 44 and 9" rear, NP208 T-case w/T-18 Tranny. Right now I have 4.11 gears...love that low end torque.. 302ci unfortanatly its propane powered, but I do have plans for a kickin' engine to drop in it soon. Are you really going to put a 2" body lift on the ole Bronco? I wouldnt if I was you..go all suspension..I have seen to many body lift parts on the trail. I thought about putting a Dana 60, but Currie has a good rep for tough parts, and Im not wheelin' Moab (Not Yet) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Thanks for the info on the TSL's. I need to check into that. At first I was going to go with the Mikey Thomson Baja Radials MTX..but I heard bad stuff bout' them. Right now..Im not sure what kind of rubber to put on her..

Jimmy
A.K.A. -=Ranger=-
 
I'll eventually put the 2" body lift on. The biggest thing with body lifts is using good mounting hardware which isn't usually in the kits. I'm actually hemming and hawing over putting some valve springs in my rear body mount locations to help reduce stress on the body.

A lot of what I do is off-chamber stuff so the less weight I can put up the better. Also, having a body lift can makes a lot of things easier (and a few things harder) when working on the truck. The kit that I had we wound up puting on a friend's bronco and I haven't quite gotten around to replacing my kit. Two inch kits are nice since you generally don't have to modify much or extend any linkages. Three inch kits usually require that though.
 
Dang Robb, you said coyote hunting truck and I expected some old beater, not a '98+. Nice rig you got there. How do you like your SkyJacker kit? I'm running 3" ProComp on my '97, but would like to upgrade to a 5" in the future. Not sure why, bigger is better I guess. I was eyeballing the SkyJacker kits, though I don't think I would shell out the extra cash for the double flex series. $1100 for the regular kit is plenty. Like you though, I just gotta get rid of those 3.55 gears. That thing is a dog with 35" tires, let me tell you. Luckily I have the factory posi, but could use some lower gears. Pretty much four low for any wheelin' now, and forget about overdrive until at least 70mph. At the very least, I want to replace the PC shocks, they're pretty stiff. Good write-up on the RSXs. Thanks.
 
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