I installed a full set of Rancho RS5000s on my 2006 club cab 4X4 today. I'm running Firestone airbags on the rear and the rear has been lowered a couple of inches via shackles. I normally run about 10 lbs of air in the airbags, which noticably improved the handling of the truck.

Anyway, I ordered the Ranchos from the Shock Warehouse and they arrived yesterday. I finished putting them on today and all I can say is: DO IT! No more bobbing, floating, swaying, etc. Ride and handling are dramatically improved. Steering response is better as well, probably a byproduct of reduced body roll. My truck has 6,100 miles on it, so the stock shocks were in good shape but, as we all know, they absolutely suck right from the factory.

I'm extremely pleased.The Ranchos areworth every penny of the $300 cost if you care at all about ride and handling. Huge improvement over the stock shocks.

 

Great News...Thanks for the info. Mine are coming for X-mas.

 

Reality,you lowered the rear but do the airbags raise it back up with pressure?

Eric, how could bad valving cause sagging? I think that would be springs settling?

Thanks,
Lb

 

Sorry, no pics. There's not much to see. The trucks looks exactly the same from the outside and from underneath the only obvious difference is that the Ranchos are white and the OEM shocks are black. When laid side-by-side, the Ranchos are noticably larger in diameter than the stockers.

Ride height is unchanged.

 

I lowered the rear to level the truck and to make it easier to load my motorcycle. With just 1 motorcycle and my tools and gear, the truck sagged in the rear too much and became even floatier, so I installed the airbags to get it back to level and reduce floatiness. The minimum pressure is 10psi, which does raise the rear a bit. With the lowering shackles and air bags at 10psi the rear of the trucks sits a little lower than stock when it'sunloaded. Adding air raises the back substantially and allows me to carry stuff that would have the bumper dragging on the ground if I didn't have air bags.

You are correct - shock valving does not affect ride height.