Rancho shock question

[Americamper]

How much better are Rancho shocks than the stock 2021 Ford F250 shocks? And which Ranchos are the best for hauling a Truck camper?

[deltabravo]

Americamper wrote:
And which Ranchos are the best for hauling a Truck camper?

RS9000XL

[Avid_Fox]

On my old 2007 f250 with lance 845 camper, the Ranchos didn't make any difference at all over Ford stock shocks. I wouldn't buy them again. Also wasted money on a huge rear sway bar. Nor airbags for a truck camper... Too much like riding on a top heavy beach ball. I like hard steel springs much better for campers.

In retrospect, I think the D rated 60psi tires of the F250 were a good part of the instability problems however. 80psi E tires of the 350 series are more stable.

[Oregun]

I like the adjustable rancho shocks for our truck/camper. We have in-cab control for adjusting them. Our previous truck I had to crawl under to adjust. Use 10 setting on rear and 6 on fronts when the camper is installed.

[deltabravo]

Americamper wrote:
And which Ranchos are the best for hauling a Truck camper?

Rancho RS 9000XL

[alexleblanc]

i've been very happy with the 9000XL's i put on two summers ago - much better than the factory units but probably not as good as the Bilstein's that are available.

[H-Rider]

On my previous truck (GMC), I tried the Rancho 9000 but ended up with Bilsteins. They had a much better ride with and without the camper loaded.

Current truck (F250) has Kings. Good with the camper but very bouncy without it.

[Hemi_Joel]

Another vote for the Rancho 9000 adjustible. One of the best mods I have made. I started with worn out stock shocks, trashed them, put on bilstiens, They were as soft as the old stock shocks, took them off and sold them, put on the 9000's, now I am happy. I set them on 9 when loaded, 4 when empty. It take a few tests to figure out what works best for your combination. I only have them on the rear. I wish I could get them for the front.

[magic43]

Personally I consider the Ranchos more hype than actual improved performance and my experience with them goes back to 2004. I certainly did not install them on my 2012 F250.

I do however fully recommend airbags. I lift the rear up off of the overload springs and ride on air instead of the springs. That easier ride not only applies to the TC, but also when using the Fiver.

[JimK-NY]

What would have made the biggest improvement is getting a 350 instead of a 250. Almost every hard sided camper is going to ride better with the more capable suspension. Shocks are not a way to compensate. I learned that with my Ram 2500. I tried to compensate with airbags and Rancho shocks set high. The ride was jarring and hurt my wife's neck injury. Later I got rid of the airbags, added SuperSprings and was able to back off on the Rancho settings. Now I just run with a Ram 3500, stock shocks and Timbrens to keep the headlights aimed.

[towpro]

worse junk I ever put installed on my 2015 Ram 3500. I actually returned them under the 30 day free test drive. The rear of the truck would start to osculate on frost heave bumps in the road and only to slow down would stop the osculation after it started. and I kept going over the bump to try every setting, nothing worked accept putting the brand new stock shocks back on.

on my MBS MH I went with Fox 2.0 rear shocks that were valved by Agile Offroad (he also had a MBS motorhome and valved them for his MBS motorhome. he liked the results so well he started to sell them.) Best investment I ever made on shocks.

[ADA6969]

Love the 9000XL

[mellow]

Yep, grease them up with marine grease when you get them. Mine still turn great after being moved from 2 trucks and 5 years later. Rancho 9000's are the best way to go IMHO.

Compare the size of the two shocks, the 9000 is huge and has a lot of dampening ability along with the adjustment.

[Slymer]

Rancho 9000's have 9 points of adjustment. I also do the same as jimh425 and am quite happy with them. After a few years they can be hard to adjust though if you don't get some white grease in behind the dials.

[jimh406]

I had a 2006 F350, and the Rancho 9000s provided significant more dampening than the stock Rancho shocks that were nearly new that come with the FX4. So much dampening that the truck wanted to bounce out of a gravel road on turns when I had them on the TC loaded setting. I didn’t do that again. 😉

I ran Front 3- Rear 1 empty and Front 6 -Rear 9 with camper on. Of course, what you find that works the best will be up to you, but the adjustability is very good.

I put Bilstein 4600s on my F450 which is a pretty plush ride, but empty vs TC doesn’t feel that much different on the much heavier F450.