Utah carnage

[Glenn-BJ74]

Well I got home last night. This morning I discovered two unpleasant surprises. The first was I have a busted a left rear spring clip, which was wedged under my spring pack on top of the overload. The big rivet head had sheared off on a big rock ledge.

The second surprise was a pool of oil under the front left Rancho. I put the adjustable Ranchos on in 2010 following Radd Cruisers recommendation. I liked the adjustability of the shocks, but they are not holding up (clearly not worth $144 a pop)

I went to 'Westshore Spring and 4X4' (they service rigs that do a lot of hard Vancouver Island wheeling) and they said that if the Ranchos are 4 years or newer they are crap. About 4 years ago they were bought out by Munroe and they transferred production offshore. Had I known that - I would have stayed away from them . Westshore recommended Bilsteins

 

[Fantom]

That sucks, at least you got home safe. So in the spring pack, you just busted off the retaining clip? the one that holds the pack together so it won't expand during flex out?
I've lost one of those already on mine, doesn't seem to be affecting it much.
The Rancho shocks I'm not too surprised about. I've heard stories. You can go back to using the new OME ones that are supposedly better for extra weight and repeated heavy flex. Other than that you're looking at much heavier duty stuff. Another good option would be something with an extra reservoir, that would prolong the life of it as well. They usually blow due to too much heat buildup from flexing a lot and then the pressure is too much for the seals. The overflow tanks help with that.

 

[chet]

good to see you made it ihome. check out the OME shocks that match your lift as well. Bilstiens are awesome shocks as well.

 

[Enigma]

Pfff that's nothing you wuss. My front windows won't power up or down now!

 

[ForealBoreal]

Aren't the old man emus too short

 

[Fantom]

you can get some in other lenghts, 80's can get bigger lifts than his 74.

 

[LanceCruiser]

Well I got home last night. This morning I discovered two unpleasant surprises. The first was I have a busted a left rear spring clip, which was wedged under my spring pack on top of the overload. The big rivet head had sheared off on a big rock ledge.

The second surprise was a pool of oil under the front left Rancho. I put the adjustable Ranchos on in 2010 following Radd Cruisers recommendation. I liked the adjustability of the shocks, but they are not holding up (clearly not worth $144 a pop)

I went to 'Westshore Spring and 4X4' (they service rigs that do a lot of hard Vancouver Island wheeling) and they said that if the Ranchos are 4 years or newer they are crap. About 4 years ago they were bought out by Munroe and they transferred production offshore. Had I known that - I would have stayed away from them . Westshore recommended Bilsteins

I guess I have been lucky with my Ranchos, they were on my truck originally when I bought it and they were the old 5 way adjustables, with one of them missing the adjusting knob. I replaced them after the Death Valley trip in 2010' with with the bigger XLs since they were on sale, and I didn't want to mess with something that worked before. I know they are not rated very high and considered a budget shock, but I'm surprised they have held up, especially the old ones. The thing about the new ones is that I don't notice the 9 way adjustability, I don't know if it is because I have soft springs. I usually turn them all the way up or down, that is the only way I know they are working. A 3 way adjustable would have been easier when your fiddling around blindly, that is my only complaint.

 

[sailor]

Agreed on the XL- My truck is wallowing around quite a bit now. Though I did destroy those Edelbrock ones..

 

[Glenn-BJ74]

Aren't the old man emus too short

Lots of choice but make sure your eye dimensions fit.

 

[Tools R Us]

... The second surprise was a pool of oil under the front left Rancho. I put the adjustable Ranchos on in 2010 following Radd Cruisers recommendation. I liked the adjustability of the shocks, but they are not holding up (clearly not worth $144 a pop)

Shocks are consumables, they die. That one died early, have you asked about warranty, some Rancho models have "lifetime".

I went to 'Westshore Spring and 4X4' (they service rigs that do a lot of hard Vancouver Island wheeling) and they said that if the Ranchos are 4 years or newer they are crap. About 4 years ago they were bought out by Munroe and they transferred production offshore. Had I known that - I would have stayed away from them . Westshore recommended Bilsteins

IIRC Rancho was bought by Monroe long ago, ~1990-ish? It's likely that Rancho shocks were made by Monroe long before that, maybe all of them? Monroe is a prime manufacture, who makes shocks for lots of OEM's and brands, including OME, they owned by Tenneco and have plants worldwide.

I wouldn't run Bilstein shocks on an off road rig now. We have had several fail lately and they do not warranty them for any off road use. One failure was an end breaking off, looked to be 100% manufacture defect, it was very low miles, looked new. Took it for warranty consideration, they asked what it was on, FJ40, was it used off road, yes, no warranty, buy a new one have a nice day!

If the Rancho's are working to your liking and they will warranty it, I would keep running them? I'm not a huge fan of them, but lots of wheelers here run them with good results and like them.

 

[LanceCruiser]

Looks like Cambodian tire has them for around $75, and it does say Lifetime Warranty on the flyer. I would give Rancho a call.

 

[crawlin cruiser]

bilstiens

 

[Glenn-BJ74]

Bilstein's warranttee

bilstiens

I checked on the Bilstein's warranttee and Kevin (Tools R Us) above is right on - no warrantee if used off-road for any purpose. I can understand a warrantee exclusions for commercial or racing purposes, but excluding general off-road use is poor warrantee coverage for us guys.

"ThyssenKrupp Bilstein of America warrants its gas pressure shocks against defects in material and workmanship to the original purchaser, as long as the original purchaser owns the car they were installed on. Using the shocks for off-road or racing, using the shocks on a modified vehicle that Bilstein does not make a specific shock application for, or the improper installation, use, or abuse of the shocks will void this warranty."

 

[Tools R Us]

... Westshore recommended Bilsteins

It was a Bilstein that puked all of it's oil out on Micheal's rig, this year on Golden Spike. The option they gave, send it in, can be factory rebuilt, cost, just slightly more than buying a new one! That shock was also relatively new, had few miles on it.

 

[Glenn-BJ74]

Rancho will warranntee my shock

It appears Rancho will warranntee my shock hooray - I need to pay shipping for the new and old one - I need it ASAP for my next trip .

 

[LanceCruiser]

You should pick one up at Canadian Tire on sale for $75 bucks, and return it if you get your replacement in time.

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

The guys at Westshore Spring got my Billies for a great price. The owner (Cory) was nice enough to steer me away from the more expensive 7000 series (7100) and said the end eye-lits would break off.

I chose the 5125's with mucho damping for the rear of my heavy 60. The shocks are leaned over a bit which affects mechanical advantage. All in all they have been flawless and do a great job.

my.02

(Glad your Rancho will get warantied)

 

[Glenn-BJ74]

In the meantime I have installed a rear OME shock on the front left, while the Rancho 9000 remains on the right - this allows me to go on the Churn Creek run next weekend

 

[LanceCruiser]

Good to hear.

 

[ElectricDyck]

I had bilstein 5100s and they pissed all their oil after 2 years and were too hot to touch after just cruising a looging road.

Now I'm trying bilstein 7100s with remote resevoir and 400/100 valving. The handling while wheeling and flying down logging roads is amazing, rides a little stiff like a lowrider on the street. If they piss all their oil out after a couple years at least I can rebuild them myself rather than throwing them in the garbage. Also they are cool to the touch after racing logging roads.