Non TB Ranchos or RC shocks

BlackRST · May 6, 2020

So I'm over the terrible Rancho shocks that come on the non trailboss Z71 packages. I've seen rough country producing two versions. N3 and the V2. I want to hear some opinions on the rough country ones vs stock ranchos.

I'm also looking for bilstein 5100 which I read were out but I can't find them.

disclaimer- this is my first venture into truck suspensions. My previous was a car on fully adjustable coil overs. So any input is welcome.

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topgear1224 · May 6, 2020

I'm interested as well.

OP does you rear suspension bottom out too on bumps on the freeway? My X31 does.

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BlackRST · May 6, 2020

I'm interested as well.

OP does you rear suspension bottom out too on bumps on the freeway? My X31 does.

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Yeah! It really sucks when you're on a turn and you hit a bump the whole rear shutters and shifts almost over in the lane it feels. If someone isn't expecting it then it can cause for possible over correction. My father in law has a TB with the mono tube ranchos and I drove that around the same turn and had no shutter. Then I read more into it and I guess they are two different ranchos. I've put some research into bilstein/rc/icon/fox shocks....thus far across the forums it seems in previous generations people have switched to the bilstein 5100 for daily usage. (I don't do much more than highway/daily driving) so I can't justify the price for fox or icon. But with that said, I just do a front level and have wheels/tires on the way so I rather knock it all out now while the world is in shambles and not much else to do after work.

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topgear1224 · May 6, 2020

Yeah! It really sucks when you're on a turn and you hit a bump the whole rear shutters and shifts almost over in the lane it feels. If someone isn't expecting it then it can cause for possible over correction. My father in law has a TB with the mono tube ranchos and I drove that around the same turn and had no shutter. Then I read more into it and I guess they are two different ranchos. I've put some research into bilstein/rc/icon/fox shocks....thus far across the forums it seems in previous generations people have switched to the bilstein 5100 for daily usage. (I don't do much more than highway/daily driving) so I can't justify the price for fox or icon. But with that said, I just do a front level and have wheels/tires on the way so I rather knock it all out now while the world is in shambles and not much else to do after work.

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so, I do know that the rear shocks are the same so if you just want to pick up a pair of rear shocks now and then decide how you want to lift the front later that's always an option. Bilstein has a rear application listed on their site for our trucks.

yeah the trail boss uses a monotube rancho where is the X31 and Z71 use an inferior twin tube rancho.

my issue isn't so much in corners you're always going to get a little side to side movement with leaf springs and more importantly a solid axle.

my issue is literally when I'm driving down the road completely straight the front will cycle, and I'm not hitting the bump stops on the front suspension at all, then the rear will go full compression slam into the bump stops throwing the rear of the truck up then it'll go full droop and then cycle twice. It actually hits hard enough to literally throw you out of your seat towards the steering wheel. This is at 60 mph. following behind a lot of older clearly not well kept vehicles they are not having this problem.

I've also noticed particularly when climbing a hill under power if there is a bit of a bump on the hill it'll actually smack the bump stop hard enough to make the powertrain skip.

started happening around 1,500 miles, dealer won't replace the rear shocks because it passes the "GM" static bounce test. (3 full cycles, which is complete BS). to be fair I wouldn't be super ecstatic about replacing rear shocks every 1,500 miles, however I did buy a $60,000 truck I expect it to work properly.

They're the only GM dealer within 300 miles. finally on my 5th brake complaint, convinced them to take another look at the damn brakes. Under mild braking if you apply more pedal nothing happens at all till you are 1/4 inch from the floor.

their transmission tech thinks the transmission could possibly be dragging (he is a trans tech after all) but he personally believes it's related to the auto start-stop system on these trucks. I originally thought that it is a friction issue because you're adding more pedal and nothing's happening almost like sliding pads on glazed rotors. He said he purposely made sure his 2020 came with the six-speed. he's ripped apart multiple low-mileage 8 speeds and found that the clutch packs were not built to the perfect tolerance which was causing customers a lot of issues. He has done over 75 on this gen.

The first time I picked it up from the dealer when they actually worked on it...... the transmission was behaving much better and now it's gone back to his old ways. Everytime I schedule an appointment it's 3 weeks out. I explicitly told the service advisor the transmission tech will be working on my truck next time. He's going to run a stationery relearn on it. he said if it gets better that's great but if it goes back to its old habits a third time he's going to go ahead and rip apart the entire transmission and check all those clutch pack tolerances.

To be honest, you're coming from vehicle that had proper suspension on it, don't even bother with a level kit. if you want to solve two birds with one stone go ahead and pick up GM's 2 inch lift for $1,200 msrp (seen them on eBay for $899, doesn't work for me because shipping to Alaska is way too expensive) it'll be protected by the full factory warranty and you will now have the FULL trail boss suspension. Also they recalibrate the power steering that way you don't blow the motor out at full lock. It won't level the truck but it'll give you the ground clearance I believe you're looking for.

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topgear1224 · May 6, 2020

double post

BlackRST · May 6, 2020

so, I do know that the rear shocks are the same so if you just want to pick up a pair of rear shocks now and then decide how you want to lift the front later that's always an option. Bilstein has a rear application listed on their site for our trucks.

yeah the trail boss uses a monotube rancho where is the X31 and Z71 use an inferior twin tube rancho.

my issue isn't so much in corners you're always going to get a little side to side movement with leaf springs and more importantly a solid axle.

my issue is literally when I'm driving down the road completely straight the front will cycle, and I'm not hitting the bump stops on the front suspension at all, then the rear will go full compression slam into the bump stops throwing the rear of the truck up then it'll go full droop and then cycle twice. It actually hits hard enough to literally throw you out of your seat towards the steering wheel. This is at 60 mph. following behind a lot of older clearly not well kept vehicles they are not having this problem.

I've also noticed particularly when climbing a hill under power if there is a bit of a bump on the hill it'll actually smack the bump stop hard enough to make the powertrain skip.

started happening around 1,500 miles, dealer won't replace the rear shocks because it passes the "GM" static bounce test. (3 full cycles, which is complete BS). to be fair I wouldn't be super ecstatic about replacing rear shocks every 1,500 miles, however I did buy a $60,000 truck I expect it to work properly.

They're the only GM dealer within 300 miles. finally on my 5th brake complaint, convinced them to take another look at the damn brakes. Under mild braking if you apply more pedal nothing happens at all till you are 1/4 inch from the floor.

their transmission tech thinks the transmission could possibly be dragging (he is a trans tech after all) but he personally believes it's related to the auto start-stop system on these trucks. I originally thought that it is a friction issue because you're adding more pedal and nothing's happening almost like sliding pads on glazed rotors. He said he purposely made sure his 2020 came with the six-speed. he's ripped apart multiple low-mileage 8 speeds and found that the clutch packs were not built to the perfect tolerance which was causing customers a lot of issues. He has done over 75 on this gen.

The first time I picked it up from the dealer when they actually worked on it...... the transmission was behaving much better and now it's gone back to his old ways. Everytime I schedule an appointment it's 3 weeks out. I explicitly told the service advisor the transmission tech will be working on my truck next time. He's going to run a stationery relearn on it. he said if it gets better that's great but if it goes back to its old habits a third time he's going to go ahead and rip apart the entire transmission and check all those clutch pack tolerances.

To be honest, you're coming from vehicle that had proper suspension on it, don't even bother with a level kit. if you want to solve two birds with one stone go ahead and pick up GM's 2 inch lift for $1,200 msrp (seen them on eBay for $899, doesn't work for me because shipping to Alaska is way too expensive) it'll be protected by the full factory warranty and you will now have the FULL trail boss suspension. Also they recalibrate the power steering that way you don't blow the motor out at full lock. It won't level the truck but it'll give you the ground clearance I believe you're looking for.

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I already did the readylift front level. I'm debating on putting a 1" block in the rear so that's where my dilemma is on bilstein becuase it is 0-1" reccomeded.

Yeah, I can't ever expect a 1/2 leaf spring truck to handle like a full coilover, dampened suspension.

I'll have to look more into the bilstein site!

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