I did the same thing. I spent a hell of a lot of money that day because of that post you made about the sale. Thanks loads. lol

I like the shocks for the road I have to drive on, more like an offroad trail than a road, my wife hates them. I have to keep reminding her it's a truck, not a car.

 

Mine were only $130 for the set! How did you spend a ton of money? You must have bought more than just the shocks.

 

Yeah, I got dazzled by the wheels, which I needed anyway, because mine weren't round enough.

 

You should put a pic or 3 of your truck in the picture thread. I would like to see it.

 

I have been running the Bilsteins for 8 months now and can't say enough about them, great ride, perform better than expected. Did you see that WN is selling a set.

 

@Wombat -- How long ago did you wheel those trucks? The older was sold I thought?

 

I sold the big '72 last september.

 

I have the RS5000s spec'd by Rancho for the ORE's. I can get the part numbers I used, if needed. Their online tool should specify which are the right ones too. Pick "stock" ride height, and then choose off road edition.

I've had them on maybe 6 months.

Pros:
- Lifetime warranty.
- Stiff ride (pro for me)
- Really helped reduce sway
- Good with the mild off-roading I do. No input for anything more than mild.
- The rear of my truck is not as 'bouncy' when I hit bumps at speed on the interstate compared to my stock shocks. I would hit seams in the road, and my truck would bounce an inch or two to the right. Almost lost control a couple times in the snow when it would do it. Still isn't completely solved.

Cons:
- They are a rusty mess already! If I'd have known they barely put any white paint on them, I would have coated them again and clear coated them.
- The welds are iffy and the beads are small
- They clunk a lot on the fronts over bumps. Must be the internal valving. I've gotten used to it. Some say it's because the lower front mount isn't tight enough. Torqued mine down to 150 ft-lbs with anti-seize, and still have the problem.
-The eyelets are not made from a round piece of metal that's been drilled through; they are made from a flat piece of metal that they 'wrap around' to form a "round" insert. A little more play than I would like and it's not exactly round. Also, the width of the insert isn't as wide as the stock shocks but I didn't measure them with calipers or anything. Just how they fell into position in the axle mount rather than me having to work them back and forth like the stock shocks.
- They painted the crap out of the threads that go through the shock tower up front. After torquing them down, one side is noticeably tighter, probably due to all the paint on the threads. Use a die to get it off if possible or wire wheel, etc.


I know that's quite the list of cons, but I'm not disappointed with them for the price I paid. They really are a budget oriented shock. There's just a few areas that they could improve on. But armed with the knowledge I now have, I would have rather saved up some more money to get the better RS9000XLs with the adjustable dampening.

I can give you more info if you need. For the record, I typically am pretty critical (over critical!!?? nahhhh) of quality.

 

@JST, So should I save and go with the 9000s or blisteins?

 

I've never had bilsteins, but I'm always hearing great things about them. I've heard good things about the 9000s too.

All I can say is don't settle for anything less than the 9000s if you're going the Rancho route, unless there are strict budget concerns.