Z71 Rancho shock replacement options?

[KARNUT]

You did hear him explain the reason was the lower un-sprung weight of the Honda's independent suspension...right? You kind of get the idea when the independent front ends of the other faired as well as the Honda. Why? Same reason. Lighter un-sprung weight. 
 
I don't know about the rest of you but I can't find anywhere in my area where I need a shock that can handle 100 miles or more of washboard gravel in 120 F + heat. 
 
Hey, I dropped a Cadillac off a three story building once and it didn't survive. Must be a real piece of junk, eh? 
 
Context is everything. 
 
 

A few years ago I was on a ROW project with my Z71 driving about 5 MPH. The person l was meeting had a raptor. WOW, the ROW was like a freeway in that truck. All the years I worked on ROWs I never had the desire to go down them fast. It was impressive though.


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[VictorLin0725]

41 minutes ago, Grumpy Bear said:

People confuse terms when talking about this topic. Easy to do. Stiff, firm, soft, compliant. Someone says that about off road I expect they mean a high spring rate. Someone says that for a street shock they usually mean valving that passes fluid slowly or high dampening. Then again some people don't know what their talking about.  

I have pretty intensive knowledge of suspension in terms of mountain bikes so that's what I'm going off of. For a good off-road suspension I would like to have longer travel, progressive spring rate, medium rebound, and around 30% sag. A stiff shock in mountain bike suspension normally means your springs are too heavy for you, too much air pressure, or whilst running with the rebound way to slow/fast. I believe the Ranchos (in my opinion) has a very high pressure and low rebound therefore the ride is jarring because of the high pressure while not absorbing bumps because the rebound is too slow/fast to catch up. Since my perspective is from bike suspension, I may be wrong.

[VictorLin0725]

11 minutes ago, TXGREEK said:

Fox, CST, King, now these are awesome shocks that’ll help you succeed in off-road travels. Some new companies out there too crawling up the ladder.

Mine





Sent from above

Looks nice! I might just go this route with Fox or CST becuase the integrated springs do give them a cleaner look rather than keeping the rusty factory ones.

[TXGREEK]

Looks nice! I might just go this route with Fox or CST becuase the integrated springs do give them a cleaner look rather than keeping the rusty factory ones.

 

Depending on your requirements. If you’re on washboard roads for hours I’d go full coil overs with multiple resi’s. If you’re occasionally on off-road, then anyone of the ones I mentioned will be fine with no resi’s. Resi’s help cool down the shocks and coil overs with resi’s do the same but coils are designed to work with the much larger front shocks offered in 2.5’s and 3.0’s. If you’re leveled I’d just go with leveling coil overs from anyone of the ones I’ve mentioned.

Check out Fox 2.0’s for just 2” leveling, ZIMHO much better than any oem shock with blocks for cheaper. A set of Fox 2.0 coilovers are approximately $850 for the front set.

 

 

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[TXGREEK]

If the engineer did his job correctly that spring will put the shock in the center of it's travel sitting static at wet curb weight. Shocks that use an adjustable threaded system or a series of snap ring groves in the body and use the factory spring to achieve a lift move the shock away from its centered preference. A 1500 has an A arm leverage ratio of 2:1 so a two inch lift by this means has the truck sitting 1 inch high of center in the shocks travel. 8 inches of wheel travel is 4 inches of shock travel split equally, hopefully or 2 inches either side of center. Preload of  1 inch for a 2 inch lift cuts the droop (rebound range) by half. 
 
Ever hit a chuck hole deeper than 2"? If you do and have given away half your droop the spring will extend the shock until it hits the droop limiter then lock out an the truck falls into the hole. JAR! Just a thought maybe worth a thought. Oh you cut out the limiters to avoid this? Great, the next stop is ball joint range. Snap! 
 

Mr. Grumpy, would you mind posting your front and rear suspension?


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[TXGREEK]

Looks nice! I might just go this route with Fox or CST becuase the integrated springs do give them a cleaner look rather than keeping the rusty factory ones.

For the pair, on sale for $790.00 at American Trucks.

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[Grumpy Bear]

1 hour ago, TXGREEK said:

Mr. Grumpy, would you mind posting your front and rear suspension 

 

  

 

Click on the photo for a full screen shot. 

 

I found out that the Bilstein 5100 actually has a shade over 4" of stroke. Factory shocks are 3-1/8" or so. 

[TXGREEK]

  
 
Click on the photo for a full screen shot. 

Absolutely beautiful! I wanted everyone to see the King versions too. Both have front coil overs but you’ve also got front resi’s too.
I love my setup and bet you love yours too. Night and day difference from stock, almost gets you in trouble looking for something to tackle lol


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[VictorLin0725]

2 hours ago, TXGREEK said:

 

For the pair, on sale for $790.00 at American Trucks.

 

 

 

Sent from above

 

 

Thanks, exactly what I need. Curious as to why you opted for the Kings in the rear instead of an all Fox setup?

[TXGREEK]

Thanks, exactly what I need. Curious as to why you opted for the Kings in the rear instead of an all Fox setup?

My setup is CST front and back. Grumpy’s is Kings front and back.

 

I’m recommending Fox 2.0’s up front for a 2” lift without having to get new upper control arms (UCA’s) which you’d need and highly recommended from any of the top with a 2.5 coil overs level lift, unless you’re lifted already. If you’re into lots of off-roading then you’re about to spend much more than the $800 I suggested for the front. The Fox 2.0’s I recommended for you are a slight height improvement from the stock without needing anything else.

 

 

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Forgot to tell you about the back, depending on whether or not you like the rear leveled or not, Fox 2.0’s in the rear are great too with swapping the rear 1” blocks under the leaf springs with a 2” blocks will still have a slight squat in front which is the way I and many others like it so that it’s leveled in the rear when truck bed is loaded down.

 

 

[TXGREEK]

There was a guy on here trying to "convert" his truck to a Z71, you should try to sell him your shocks!

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I couldn’t even give my ranchos away to my yard guy, said “no thank you, Ranchos Suck!” Threw them away in the dumpster with only 2k on them. Go to any 4x4 shop and see what they do with customers brand new Ranchos after replacing them, DUMPSTER!


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[HeySkippyDog]

I couldn’t even give my ranchos away to my yard guy, said “no thank you, Ranchos Suck!” Threw them away in the dumpster with only 2k on them. Go to any 4x4 shop and see what they do with customers brand new Ranchos after replacing them, DUMPSTER!


Sent from above

I swear to you, this guy wanted to buy the Factory Z71 Ranchos. I am not surprised one bit given that we have members here who honestly believe their suspension has only 4" of travel before a hard stop that shears ball joint studs.

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[TXGREEK]

I swear to you, this guy wanted to buy the Factory Z71 Ranchos. I am not surprised one bit given that we have members here who honestly believe their suspension has only 4" of travel before a hard stop that shears ball joint studs.

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I totally believe you, lots of cheap asses in these forums that mislead people. I’m part of the Raptor forum too, they’ve actually called out some serious BullSh() Trolls that have joined forums just to cause mischief out of sheer jealousy. I love learning, experiencing and then passing it along. If my truck ever starts giving me trouble that’s then expected for me to just deal with it, I’m going out, picking out the most badass raptor available. Just remember, lots of Trolls in these forums that DO NOT add to a thing other than cutting down in order to justify their reasoning. Good luck, God Bless


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[HeySkippyDog]

I totally believe you, lots of cheap asses in these forums that mislead people. I’m part of the Raptor forum too, they’ve actually called out some serious BullSh() Trolls that have joined forums just to cause mischief out of sheer jealousy. I love learning, experiencing and then passing it along. If my truck ever starts giving me trouble that’s then expected for me to just deal with it, I’m going out, picking out the most badass raptor available. Just remember, lots of Trolls in these forums that DO NOT add to a thing other than cutting down in order to justify their reasoning. Good luck, God Bless


Sent from above

The misinformation is what bothers me. People come here for advice and then people like that come out of the woodwork and mislead them.

The belief yesterday was that a 2" lift by 5100 snap ring or 2" puck spacer would reduce their suspension travel to the effect of 2" deep potholes having a disastrous effect.

It's just NOT true. I had 2" of spacer up front to level my '14 and had no problems whatsoever with potholes or leaving pavement for dirt roads.

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[Grumpy Bear]

 

2 hours ago, TXGREEK said:

Absolutely beautiful! I wanted everyone to see the King versions too. Both have front coil overs but you’ve also got front resi’s too.

I love my setup and bet you love yours too. Night and day difference from stock, almost gets you in trouble looking for something to tackle lol

 

Yes, I do love this setup and thank you. Did you notice I run stock UCA's?

19 minutes ago, HeySkippyDog said:

I swear to you, this guy wanted to buy the Factory Z71 Ranchos. I am not surprised one bit given that we have members here who honestly believe their suspension has only 4" of travel before a hard stop that shears ball joint studs.

You may speak when you can explain the difference between shock travel and wheel travel. 

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