Shock recommendations for my daily driver

[swoleymammoth]

Well I've put several hundred miles on the rear Rancho RS5000X shocks I installed and honestly they're great. Drove about 50 miles of washboard dirt roads for turkey hunting and they were much better than the OEM shocks. They're a little stiffer but not uncomfortable by any means and the handling is much improved and the truck feels much more planted. For $100 for the rear set I would highly recommend these so far, will see how they hold up in the future though. I'll definitely be putting the rancho RS5000X struts in the front at some point in the near future. 

[truckguy82]

5100’s are a bit stiff when you are not pushing them, basically cruising around

 

as soon as you hit something that asks that requires a little travel, they immediately soften up.

 

sporty/stiff for daily driving, soft if you hit a speed bump, pothole, or go off road (this second part is where the stock ranchos fail miserably)

 

i don’t know how they did that but it works great.

 

anybody complaining about them is probably complaining they are too stiff during the regular driving part. They aren’t THAT stiff. But I suppose some people had expectations of them having a softer floatier ride on a relatively flat surface, and they don’t have that.

[lucas287]

 

2 minutes ago, truckguy82 said:

i don’t know how they did that but it works great.

 

Digressive valving is how they do it

 

With all things car related, one's experience, or opinion, is crafted by the overall package and how it works together. GM has an absurd amount of coil springs depending on the specific GVWR of each truck. I think a lot of people, like me, just have ridiculously stiff factory coil springs that when combined with digressive valving (which essentially adds spring rate down low), make it not just a "little stiff" but annoyingly harsh at slow speeds around town. Combine that with 275/55R20 and it's only exacerbated. 

 

In and of itself, Bilstein's approach is probably the best for a street vehicle. Controlled, firm, etc., yet still forgiving on high speed piston events. But sometimes it just doesn't work based on the configuration of the vehicle it's going in.