New Rancho 9000's still "bouncy"

[obie1]

Bought the Rancho 9000's, installed and have front and rear set to 9.



Truck still 'bounces" and is more pronounced in the front than the rear. Are the 9000's to weak for the heavy truck? hate to say this the factory ones were much better. Reason I bought the 9000's was 4 Wheel had the buy three get one-free sale.



Truck has 47000 miles figured its time to get a new set soon.



I have a 2WD. Proper part numbers came from RANCHO Command center.



Whats's Up??? what do you guys recommend?

 

[DPelletier]

Not sure what you mean by "bounces", but I just installed my rancho 99261's on the rear of my truck last week. Whilst they were out I checked the dampening of the stockers vs. the Ranchos at various settings just out of curiosity. My admittedly unscientific testing showed the stock dampening equivalent to approximately level 6 on the Ranchos. The '03 definitely has better stock shocks than my '01 did (or maybe they were more worn), but I have to say the stockers performed better than I thought they would.

However, the Ranchos did have more dampening on level 9 than the stockers on my truck. A road test confirmed reduced sway with the camper on.

If you are experiencing bouncing over expansion joints, etc. Try the fronts on a few different settings. 5 or 6 on the front usually is enough and having the shocks on different settings may help with any sort of frequency undulation.



Hope this helps

Dave



ps. FWIW, I plan on Bilstiens for the front when the stockers wear out because the fronts don't need adjustables IMO. Front GAWR varies only 50 lbs on my truck empty vs. camper on.

 

[XJSuperman]

Correct me if I'm wrong... but the settings for the rancho shocks are 1 thru 9.



1 being the softest... 9 being the hardest.



I would expect your truck to "bounce" on level 9. . especialy if the truck is empty... that is too stiff a setting for no load... I;d set the front to about 5 and the rear to about 2... just a thought.

 

[wcjp]

Sounds like the Rancho's are doing their job. On my 96' I found 3 front - 2 rear gave the best ride empty.

 

[obie1]

By "bouncing" I meant the truck behaves like a low rider on steriods, you know, keeps on bouncing after I hit a dip.



Thinking 9 to be the stiffest I assumed that it would tight and not damping much (at all).



Wonder if I got bad shocks? I have heard horror stories when installers allow the shock to rotate. Course they won't go in to the boss and say I allowed the shock to rotate so it might be borken... .

 

[DPelletier]

Your description sounds like a lack of dampening, esp. on rebound. Not normal for a 9000x. Not trying to be a smartazz, but you sure you have it on 9 and not 1?



Dave

 

[JeepinDoug]

Does it bounce worse on the low settings? I run RSX9000s on my Jeep, set at 1 for the highway and 5-6 for the trail, just so the suspension doesn't react so quickly.

I think too high of a setting doesn't give the spring time to work and the shock becomes a solid strut. That would be nice in the turns to minumize body roll though.

 

[XJSuperman]

Originally posted by JeepinDoug

Does it bounce worse on the low settings? I run RSX9000s on my Jeep, set at 1 for the highway and 5-6 for the trail, just so the suspension doesn't react so quickly.

I think too high of a setting doesn't give the spring time to work and the shock becomes a solid strut. That would be nice in the turns to minumize body roll though.

That's what I thought... the lower the number the softer the ride... so a #1 would ride real "cushy" like a caddy... and #9 would be real stiff... sort of like a sports car... you feel every little bump. The firmer the suspension the more bumpy it will feel.



I still say turn them to a lower number and I bet you'll decide it's better.

 

[JLehman]

all i know is on a dirt bike too much dampening willl put u over the bars faster than no dampening. If u over dampen u dont give the suspension time to rebound before the next dip or bump!!

 

[JeepinDoug]

Originally posted by XJSuperman

That's what I thought... the lower the number the softer the ride... so a #1 would ride real "cushy" like a caddy... and #9 would be real stiff... sort of like a sports car... you feel every little bump. The firmer the suspension the more bumpy it will feel.



I still say turn them to a lower number and I bet you'll decide it's better.

Yep, the lower the softer. I've had friends fall asleep in my short wheel base CJ, that's soft.

 

[JeepinDoug]

Originally posted by Jlehman

all i know is on a dirt bike too much dampening willl put u over the bars faster than no dampening. If u over dampen u dont give the suspension time to rebound before the next dip or bump!!

Rancho RSXs are different than bike shocks. Bike shocks are charged to rebound like many gas shocks. The Ranchos are just basic emulsion shocks. Turning the adjustment increases/decreases the size of the oil bypass holes in the piston making changes in dampening only. I believe they are charged with a small amount of gas but it's only to deairrate and cool the oil.

The trick is to find the happy medium that works with the spring rate.

 

[DaveMorris]

Holy smokes man,

With those shocks set on 9 (almost solid rods), I bet the only dampening you are getting is from the tire flex, and that would also explain your "low rider" ride. Set the backs on 1 and the fronts on about 4 and see how that does. On almost all vehicles the front settings will be higher than the backs do to the added weight. Just don't forget to turn them back up (mainly the backs)if you are loaded, or you will be all over the road... .



Try turning them down (backs softer than fronts), I bet you fine a good ride... .



Good luck,

Dave

 

[obie1]

Great inputs... ... ... I have already tried 7 up front and 5 in the baxk, no good. Guess I'' try the 4 and 1 combo. Back ones aren't hard to do but the front's area PITA.



Maybe I will get the right combo and QMB.

 

[XJSuperman]

Let us know how it works.

 

[SSage]

I leave mine on 4 front and 2 in the back empty.

 

[Sherman]

Rancho's

Originally posted by obie1

Great inputs... ... ... I have already tried 7 up front and 5 in the baxk, no good. Guess I'' try the 4 and 1 combo. Back ones aren't hard to do but the front's area PITA.



Maybe I will get the right combo and QMB.

Have you tried the lower #'s ie:4 and 1.

 

[obie1]

Yes. . Now we are dicussing with Rancho/ 4 Wheel Parts. . that the 2WD numbers for the Ram 3500 may not be correct. Most of you guys all have 4x4's and the suspension is different. (straight axle with leaf's).



That is why even on the 9's the weight of the diesel motor is too much for the shock. The number would be OK for a HEMI but not a diesel... Keep ya informed.



Still thanks for the inputs and help...



Oh BTW Pray for the Berg family. .

 

[XJSuperman]

Originally posted by obie1



That is why even on the 9's the weight of the diesel motor is too much for the shock. The number would be OK for a HEMI but not a diesel... Keep ya informed.

now I'm confused... how could the diesel be too much with the shocks set on 9... which is the STIFFEST setting... again... it;s like a sports car with STIFF suspension. It will be bouncy... at the lower setting the shocks are supposed to "absorb" more of the road thus decreasing bounciness.

Now as you stated it may be possible and you have the wrong shocks... but with the correct shocks I guarantee you if you set them at 9 it'll feel every bump in the road and some that aren't.



And the 4x4 suspension up front is a 4 link setup with coil springs not leaves.

 

[DIESELMAN]

Think outside the box, your suspension on the road is trying to keep the wheels on the road, rather than absorb bumps.



There is two things that are perceived in the suspension, both are bumps. When traveling over a bump the wheel needs to move fast enough that the suspension absorbs the bump but that motion must be damped enough that the wheel leaves the ground.



When the shocks are at too light of a setting, the wheels bounce all the time on small undulations in the road and go wild, to the point of death wobble on big bumps and periodic ripples.



Too stiff, and I don't think the 9000X's can be too stiff in the front, and the wheel still bounces over the bump, but takes the truck with it. This is a more jarring motion, but the stiff suspension tracks better most of the time.



Using Bilsteins will give a good balance between the two extremes because of the tendency to appear dual rate, or progressive in nature.



I used Ranchos on mine and even at 9 with my 315's the wheel would always be bouncing off the road, but the rear only needed to be on 3.



I now believe that if you have terrifying death wobble, yet the steering wheel isn't whipping back and forth, what you really have is not enough shock (damping)most of the time.



BTW, I am still waiting on Bilsteins and have triple superlift (which are very basic) shocks and it rides great.

 

[obie1]

Sorry I don't know about the 4 x4 as my sig states I have a 2WD.



Dieselman you have described my problem exactly. even the manager of the 4 wheel store agreed with me.



Too much return in the periodic ripples. Its almost to the point of poor control.



I'm thinking that it may be the Bilsteins are going to be the answer. Or heaven forbid the factory OEM's... .