New Shock Time

When I first got my RV, I set the rear Rancho 9000s to 9 and the fronts to 7. It helped to control the sway but the ride was harsh. I could feel every tar strip on the road. I also tried to solve the ride issue with airbags. They just made the swaying worse. After a couple of years I got SuperSprings. Wow. End of the issues. With adequate springs, the swag decreased and I was able to got for a smooth ride by dropping the Rancho settings a couple of clicks.

The Rancho 9000 is a THICK shock with plenty of rebound power when under heavy loads from our TC's. I have them set to 9 on the back and 5 on the front and I can verify 100% they eliminated the porpoising issue I was having especially on concrete highways. Now to be fair I have not put on the Bilstiens and tried them to see if they would do the same, I am perfectly happy with the Rancho's.

jimh425 wrote:

av8rds wrote:
I was highly disappointed in my Bilstiens, zero effect/difference. Wasted money.

What model did you put on and what truck camper were you carrying?

I have them on the 2006 F350 in my sig and under both my Lance 992 and my EC 1160

A triple slide on an almost 30 year old truck is not typical use and no single wimpy 1/2” shaft shock is going to doo much for that kind of load.

I am a fan of adjustable shocks. Mine were Ranchos. I had them set close to full for the rear and about halfway for the fronts. Adjustments allowed me to avoid a harsh ride or a boat like soft ride. I was able to dial in the best compromise.

I have been taking the camper off in the winter or when it will not be used for months. I do not have another use for the truck but I try to warm it up and at least take some short trips once or twice a month.

The vast majority of the miles on my truck are loaded so I had no need for adjustable shocks. I replaced the wimpy OEM shocks with KYB Monomax at less than 20,000 miles and could not be happier. How they compare to Bilstein or other brands I can't say. All I can say is they were a significant improvement over OEM and I'm happy.

I’m not sure why you think your use is typical with a COG aft of the rear axle, but at the end of the day, as long as you got something that worked for you that’s all that matters.

Just like you, most of us are describing our experience and think Bilsteins work very well for our somewhat standard setups. Of course, it’s possible a different shock would work just as well for less money. But, mine work, so I can’t think of any reason to try a different shock.

I'm just relating my experience, which is with a big camper on a 1 ton dually and trying to help others. It doesn't matter to me if any one buys Bilsteins or not. But I think they are a huge waste of money. Not that they are a BAD shock, but they cost almost $100 each, yet they perform they same, or slightly worse than any $25 non-adjustable gas shock from Monroe or Gabriel.
I wasted the $400 on the Bilsteins because I believed it when I read on the misinformation superhighway that they were superior to other shocks, and that they would work awesome on my truck.

Those recommendations were possibly based on the point that someone else made: if you replace a worn out shock with a Bilstein, you may think it is a great shock. Because it is an improvement over worn out OEM shocks. Or else their requirements were less. If you have a fairly light camper with less dampening requirements, the Bilstein will probably work out fine. But the same would happen with a $25 shock.

Dampening requirements vary greatly among different trucks with different campers. And the requirements also change when the camper is off the truck. How can the same shock that is specified for a 1/2 ton truck, that works without being too harsh when the truck is unladen, still be expected to control the suspension of a 1 ton dually with a 3000+ pound camper in the bed, with the center of gravity shifted aft of the rear axle? The same part # shock is specified for both applications, and in my situation, it created a major shortcoming in the shocks performance. They were just too soft to control the load.

That is why I like the Rancho 9000. It can be adjusted to work for my specific application, and it works. And they are about the same price as the non-adjustable Bilsteins.
Also, by taking off my front Monroe Gasmatics and putting on the Bilstein 4600, driving the truck for a year, then putting new Monroe Gas matics back on, I confirmed that the Monroe has noticeably more control than the Bilstein. (for 1/4 the price) .
I'm going to be putting together another camper hauler truck. It will be a 68 Dodge crew cab on a stretched 93 dodge Cummins dually chassis. And I will for sure figure out how to adapt Rancho 9000 shocks onto the front, even tho they are not available for this application. I might have to weld some custom mounts from the frame to the control arms, outside the coil spring.

jaycocreek wrote:
I don't know why you expect everyone to have the same experience you have had with Bilsien shocks..There is so much more to a trucks suspension than just shocks..I have heard good on them as well as the Monroe shocks carrying a TC..I had good luck with KYB shocks on a 21ft Class C which is the same concept as a TC.

I don’t “expect” everyone to have the same experience, but it would be nice to compare the same type of vehicle and vehicle setup. My points for those other vehicles were that the vehicles compared are dissimiiar, so the experiences aren’t relevant for those carrying a truck camper on a truck designed to carry that type of load.

Oh, and I agree that there is much more than shocks to a truck suspension, so comparing a van chassis Class C isn’t relevant to choosing shocks for a truck camper either. Might work but also might not work.

They design shocks for a very specific purpose. If that design matches your needs, then those shocks will work. That application doesn’t mean they got it right for all other applications/uses for a different type of vehicle, however.

jaycocreek wrote:

I don't know why you expect everyone to have the same experience you have had with Bilsien shocks..There is so much more to a trucks suspension than just shocks..I have heard good on them as well as the Monroe shocks carrying a TC..I had good luck with KYB shocks on a 21ft Class C which is the same concept as a TC..

If you haven't noticed,everyone has different opinions on about everything, truck camper related or not..Ones opinion is just that and we should take it as that and a different outcome..

Where's the like button when you need it?