Rancho 9000's might have been an oops

[noteven]

I installed Rancho 9000's on our Dodge 3500 about 12,000 miles ago. 4000 miles hauling our single slide 9ft camper / towing, 3000 other miles towing cargo/flatbeds, and about 800 miles towing our Carriage toy hauler. The rest has been empty buckboard.

They appear to be failing at about 10,000 miles.

- I wrote an email to Rancho Tech Support through their website a week/10 days ago asking why these shocks might be doing this and received this answer:

[jimh406]

DennisNYS wrote:
I believe these are the model 4600. They carry a Lifetime warranty.
No level, or lift on my truck, so I didn't need the 5100's.

For anyone considering 5100s, don't if you are carrying a TC. See this thread for more info. Bilstein 5100s Massive Fail!

[GoFish]

I've had no problems with my 9000's in 20K miles except that it gets harder and harder to crawl under the truck to change settings. I use:
Loaded-Front 7 Rear 8
Unloaded- Front 6 Rear 2

[DennisNYS]

I replaced the Dodge OEM shocks on my SRW 3500 Diesel, with the Bilstein (Blue and Yellow). I believe these are the model 4600. They carry a Lifetime warranty.
No level, or lift on my truck, so I didn't need the 5100's.
So far, I have been very satisfied.

[bedrocker]

Check out KYB monomax I like them 🙂

[wintersun]

I replaced the factory shocks before they failed. In my experiences with Dodge, Ford, and Chevy trucks the OEM shocks are good for 30,000 miles and after that their ability to dampen drops dramatically. The end result with a 4WD truck is uneven wear on the tires and this is expensive to fix after the fact by buying new tires for frequently. Only Toyota puts decent shocks on their trucks at the factory.

I put on Rancho 900XL shocks and after a few weeks of use put them all at the maximum setting and leave them there. With a lower setting on the front there is porposing of the truck as was mentioned in the OP. When I don't have a 4,000 lb. camper in the bed I have a 200 lb. fiberglass cap on the truck and the rear shocks at "10" are fine with either load.

My next shocks will be Bilstein 5100's as the Rancho 9000XL are not any better than the GM OEM shocks that came on my 2011 truck.

[_1Flyboy]

. . .Like my Koni FSD. . .

[noteven]

Update -
- I phoned Rancho and spoke to a customer rep. He said US customers can ship them the shocks for testing / replacement. Problem is that process takes a week each way crossing the border.
- they have been replaced with Bilstein 4600's.
- I am going to contact Rancho again and send them where they want to have them tested, for interest sake. They are definitely wonky.

[AnEv942]

Well other than the effort of replacing, @300-400 dollars I'd go warranty-obviously at 12000 something askew-if they fail again at 12000-then I'd consider switching brands.
As too boots I run em-to protect the shafts. A block from the beach I get more rust from nightly exposure than holding water- I dont zip tie to body, run loose and will usualy use a hole punch on lower bellows to ensure drainage.. Ive never lost shock due to rust but have to dings on shaft. but first thing I do is throw away boots also-to swap for black.

[dakonthemountai]

wcjeep wrote:
I never run shock boots. As far as I know the only purpose is to hold in moisture to promote rust. First thing I toss is the boots. I had Rancho 9k's on my first Dodge for 5yrs before selling it. I've had Rancho 9k's on my 06' Dodge for 5yrs so far. They are also on my modified Jeep for at least 9yrs. None of the vehicles have (had) a spec of rust. Look at the OE shocks. They normally have a metal cover that doesn't actually seal. Throw away the rubber boots.

But they are so pretty and bright red!! 😉

All kidding aside, that makes perfect sense. It also makes on wonder why they even provide them; especially if they know it promotes rust! One tore on my install but I put it on anyway. Perhaps it will let moisture out now?...

I put 9000XLs on my dually and it did make "some difference", but not dramatic. I have only adjusted them to 7 though, so perhaps higher I would notice more.

Dak

[Raften]

As others have said, make sure you keep the proof of purchase.

[wcjeep]

I never run shock boots. As far as I know the only purpose is to hold in moisture to promote rust. First thing I toss is the boots. I had Rancho 9k's on my first Dodge for 5yrs before selling it. I've had Rancho 9k's on my 06' Dodge for 5yrs so far. They are also on my modified Jeep for at least 9yrs. None of the vehicles have (had) a spec of rust. Look at the OE shocks. They normally have a metal cover that doesn't actually seal. Throw away the rubber boots.

[JumboJet]

d3500ram wrote:

JumboJet wrote:
I tried Rancho 9000s on my Dodge Cummins. After having two metering valves fail (replaced under warranty) I sold them on eBay and bought Bilsteins. My opinion, Ranchos cannot handle heavy loads off road.

After 2 failures as you describe I do not blame you for switching brands. Just curious, which model Bilstein's did you get and how are they doing?

4600 Series - I currently have 85,000 miles on them.

Both Rancho 9000 shocks that failed on my truck were on the right front of my 2004 RAM 2500. There was this constant small bumping noise. When I removed the shock to test it, I could feel a skip in the hydraulic action. Rancho was good to replace - kept receipt from O-Reilly Auto Parts.

When I bought my RAM 3500, I had O'Reilly Auto Parts order me a set of Bilsteins and they are still on the truck. I saw what looked like oil on the right rear shock, but just haven't had time to take it off and test it. I do have the receipt for the Bilstein shocks,

My son needed shocks for his 2006 Chevy 2500 Duramax and was going to buy the Rancho 9000. He insisted on Rancho and bought the 7000 series and they are still good. The truck has 110,000 miles on it and the shocks have about 30,000 on them.

[noteven]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll report back.

[BradW]

My experence with Rancho 9000's on TC hauli trucks:

- They make a huge difference on SRW trucks and I would not consider buying another SRW without adding 9000's.

- They help on a DRW truck, but the improvement is not nearly as noticable as on an SRW truck. We have them on our F-350 DRW, but I'm not sure I would buy them again unless I was hauling a very heavy TC.

- I've run 9000's since 1996. The only failure mode I have seen is the adjusters locking up.

- Rancho honors their lifetime warranty, but only if you have a reciept.

- If you want help from Rancho, call them. Emails are a waste of time and this is true of most manufacturers.

Brad

[noteven]

wcjeep wrote:
Rancho 9k's carry a lifetime warranty. Take your receipt and defective shocks to the place you bought them. What color is the shock body?

My fear of warranty is I will end up with another set of these... and 12K miles later... 🙂

They are silver and rust with snazzy red accordion dust boots, that are shipped loose not installed on the shocks, held on with nice zip ties - once you have put them on it will all make sense why the accountants transferred that operation to the customer 🙂