Just the rear though. My KYB cheap shocks are completely shot. They were way to weak from day one (I could compress them with ease when they were off the truck brand new).

I had a little amazon credit and decided to buy Rancho 5000s for the rear.

I swore I wouldn't even think about shocks until 100,000 miles but in all seriousness, the rear is jiggling all over the place.

The front is the same as it has always been, just OK, and I have no plans on messing with the struts for now. The struts are still on the original plan" 100k mark.

All my problems come from the rear and I recommend you stay away KYB's cheaper line, they were weak and shot fast.


I will post pictures of the shocks installed, because I know everyone loves a good picture lol. Not much to see though, but I can snap a pic with my phone for ya.

I will keep you posted on the results.

Hopefully Rancho 5000s are pretty good, and I am not making another shock mistake.

 

I went with the Monroe load levelers and love them. If you ever have a decent load in the bed of the truck or tow a lot I HIGHLY recommend the load levelers.

 

I installed a pair of these in my father's 03 ranger. They are really good. The price for the pair is hard to beat as well.

Not what I was looking for though. His lasted a long long time. Great for a camper shell too, which he has, keeps the truck sitting correctly.

 

The ranchos come with the steel sleeve installed into the bushings right? Or at least come with the steel sleeves?

 

I have ranchos all the way around, they are fantastic

 

I'm just that guy with bad luck..and mine are terrible! Jeremy, is your truck lifted? I am the only guy who listens the them rattle over each and every bump. The metal support piece at the end of the coil hits the housing that the bolt goes through. I can see where the paint has scraped off. Driving with the windows down is embarassing..my truck sounds like a 1996. It is definitely the rear shocks making the noise too. It has been there since I installed them and I go over speed bumps at work every day. Only the rear end makes the rattle sound. The front struts (OEM) are junk but aren't loud. I don't know what to do..email Monroe about this or what?

 

you might want to contact monroe on that noise.

im running the load levelers & no noise or problems like that.im not running any rear lift (yet anyways) just a TM leveling kit up front.

the shocks do rub the rear wiring harness,but just enough to scrape the plastic wire tubing.

other than that,its been a good setup.maybe you got a bum shock,anythings possible i guess.

 

They both make noise. I bought them through Amazon, where I buy everything, but I don't know if I should get car parts there..seems suspicious now. I cut that harness off from the original mounts and re-hung it with zip ties around the frame. I was hoping that would solve my issue. Only solution to my noise could be putting some kind of putty between the mount and plate..I was going to cut a sponge up and throw it between there but it is too thick

 

Here is an update: Yesterday I changed my oil and went to tackle the shocks. I had replaced them once before with junk shocks that didn't hold up. I remember the job taking me about 30 minutes total. I did the entire job with the truck sitting on the ground.

This time, not so easy.

Mother nature has rusted up the shock bolts, and two of the four bolts were rust-welded to the point where a two foot break bar and an electric impact wrench could not break them loose.

For $45 in labor I am letting my local shop do the job. As I suspected, they need to cut/heat the bolts off.

The real fun part: My 3rd power steering rack has a slow slow leak in the inner tie rod ends again. (just like the 2 that came before it). The leak is so slight on both sides, that I have never seen it actually drip, but the boots are wet again.

AND

My rear pinion seal (this is my second one) is leaking again.


So...

I plan to use Lucas PS Stop Leak. I have to be honest, I am not putting a FOURTH power steering rack in anytime soon. Out of denial, I have to assume that these steering racks have cheap seals at the inner tie rods, and that the ATF-4 that the racks now run off of are not doing the job of keeping them healthy. There is no doubt in my mind that the Lucas Stop Leak will work to condition the seals and obviously thicken the ATF fluid. At this point I have nothing to lose, and am totally fine with going this route.

I have a funny feeling that the stop leak will in fact stop this slow seeping that I have been dealing with in the last 3 steering racks. Whether its for 1 or 2 years, who cares, as long as I don't have to deal with this again at the moment. lol.

 

Ok, they are on.

I can now turn again at moderate speeds. I would say that is the biggest difference, the side to side handling. Secondly, they take rough spots in the road 10x better then the old shocks.

I was a bit skeptical about liquid filled shocks like this but they are amazing. It is really night and day. Feels firm, strong, and the truck doesn't feel like its going to shatter when hitting bumps and ruts. The rear end was really terrible before the change out.

Worth every penny. Hopefully the last pair of rear shocks that will ever go into this truck.

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