Rancho or Bilstein

5RWill · February 5, 2015

Have you tried the more firm setting to see if decreases bounciness. To me it seems the more firm the shock would be the less bounce. It's what I can't stand about the monotube ranchos on there. Though they ride great for the most part on the pavement they bounce all over the place on gravel roads.

bubaloo1983 · February 6, 2015

ok I will go the other way and try tonight. im doing a long road trip so I will play with the settings each stop see how it changes.

at the end of it all, the ride is still after market feeling

the level kit originally with a rear block ( still installed ) made the back end slam very hard. It has been fixed with the rear shocks ( thank god that was bad ) it now goes over bumps as normal. the ride still a bit bouncy though, but least no slamming over bumps.

The fronts still jump around a bit. I have them on the softest setting but I will try stiffer. But to be honest "soft" Is not the word I would describe my ride with. however it is better then the level kit.

the level kit I was vibrating down the high way and any bump in the rode I was jumping out of my seat. I thought I had the vibration issue because of it. seems to be gone now with the stock,.

the new ranchos upfront at least help that and don't get so bad. however they in my opinion are still far from stock ride

jsmmao · February 24, 2015

Has anyone tested the ride quality of the bilsteins? And, does anyone know if you can install just the front bilsteins (# 24-238304), adjust the height to level out the truck, and leave the stock rear shocks?

Appreciate all the knowledge share!

Jeff

2014 GMC Sierra SLE

5RWill · February 24, 2015

I imagine you could just install the fronts if you wanted. A user in the Leveling thread said his felt much better than stock ranchos. I'm waiting on my rears to ship from suspensionconnection..taking forever.

Skeeter McSkeet · February 24, 2015

So to clarify, the rancho quick lift loaded (rs999901) will fit 2014-15 sierra 4wd w/z71 even though their site says otherwise?

-Skeet

jsmmao · February 24, 2015

I imagine you could just install the fronts if you wanted. A user in the Leveling thread said his felt much better than stock ranchos. I'm waiting on my rears to ship from suspensionconnection..taking forever.

Thanks for your Reply. Thats what I was thinking.

Yea, I ordered from Autoplicity after hearing your dilemma with suspensionconnection. Its bad business they didnt mention before shipping. AJUSA is on backorder for the fronts and they said it wouldn't be in until April. The rears are much cheaper from AJUSA with free shipping if you decide to cancel with SC and reorder (although, ive never used them before, but they seem legit). Autoplicity is the same price as AJUSA but not free shipping (35offshipping discounts it some).

Thanks again

Jeff

GMC-AT · February 24, 2015

Yes Skeet

calgator73 · February 24, 2015

Has anyone tested the ride quality of the bilsteins? And, does anyone know if you can install just the front bilsteins (# 24-238304), adjust the height to level out the truck, and leave the stock rear shocks?

Appreciate all the knowledge share!

Jeff

2014 GMC Sierra SLE

I don't know if this is a good idea. I would think having different damping front/rear would be bad for ride quality. I put all 4 on and the truck rides like a GMT900 denali (autoride) in the soft setting. i.e. very controlled but never harsh. The suspension now acts like the front and rear are on the same truck whereas before the front would float and the rear would stay planted. This is an NHT truck for comparison sake.

thetruck454 · February 24, 2015

I don't know if this is a good idea. I would think having different damping front/rear would be bad for ride quality. I put all 4 on and the truck rides like a GMT900 denali (autoride) in the soft setting. i.e. very controlled but never harsh. The suspension now acts like the front and rear are on the same truck whereas before the front would float and the rear would stay planted. This is an NHT truck for comparison sake.

Did you go with 5100's or 4600's.

gone_fishing · February 24, 2015

Thanks for your Reply. Thats what I was thinking.

Yea, I ordered from Autoplicity after hearing your dilemma with suspensionconnection. Its bad business they didnt mention before shipping. AJUSA is on backorder for the fronts and they said it wouldn't be in until April. The rears are much cheaper from AJUSA with free shipping if you decide to cancel with SC and reorder (although, ive never used them before, but they seem legit). Autoplicity is the same price as AJUSA but not free shipping (35offshipping discounts it some).

Thanks again

Jeff

Ordered my rear only Bilstein 4600's from AJUSA. No prior experience with them but they were the cheapest I could find. They were originally backordered for a few weeks but shipped less then a week after I ordered. I should get them Thursday but probably won't get to install them till next week.

calgator73 · February 26, 2015

Did you go with 5100's or 4600's.

5100s

GMC-AT · February 26, 2015

For those interested... http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/170052-bilstein-5100-leveling-shocks-for-2014-2015/

nadrojcote · March 25, 2015

I debated for a while which way to go. I had 5100's on my last truck. While they weren't bad, they were really rough at max setting. I ended up lowering them to be able to tolerate them.

This time around I decided to order some rancho's off amazon.ca. I also just got back from talking with my mechanic and it turns out hes a rancho dealer, now I feel bad because I didn't buy them from him. Anyways he said the problem with 5100's is that the way they compress the coil increase the spring rate and mentioned its no different than using a coil spacer other than the fact that the 5100's are valved to help compensate for it.

He has rancho 9000's on his yukon and loves them, also showed me a truck sitting on his lot for a window company that he just installed 9000's all around on. They didn't install the quicklifts on the front just the shocks. Apparently he recommends them a lot and has had no complaints.

5RWill · March 26, 2015

Explain how the ranchos work differently?

I don't see it. The shock isn't that much longer if longer at all then the Bilstein. The spring perch is at a set position to give 2" of lift. It does this the exact same way a Bilstein does. Again not changing any compression on the spring, as the only thing compressing the spring is the trucks weight to begin with.

The difference is the rancho comes with its own spring.

nadrojcote · March 26, 2015

Yes the difference is that the ranchos come with their own spring that is most likely designed to be compressed/seated in the strut assembly. Bilstein shocks are good shocks, but its not much different than using spacers in the sense that you are still modifying stock suspension parts(coils).

If all it does is raise the spring perch and not compress the coil anymore then explain how come at max height it rides so rough on every vehicle they make 5100's for. Its the most common complaint with 5100's.