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Rancho 9000XL adjustable shocks

P93Suafilo

P93Suafilo

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I tried searching but didn't see a thread or conversation on this yet. I found a decent deal($200) on a set of NIB Rancho 9000XL adjustable shocks and am wondering if anyone has experience running them and could give me some feedback. I originally was just gonna order up a set of monotube skyjackers or bilstiens but where these are local I figure I would give it a look. I am planning on running them upfront on a SAS coil-sprung ford explorer.

Thanks in advance
 
For $200 dollars sure, you aren't going to find anything better at that price point. They are just a run of the mill twin tube, so you aren't going to get much damping force, and I haven't really noticed any difference fooling with the compression adjusters on the 9000XLs on the front of my father's LJ on 35s. In my opinion 9000XLs are an over-priced gimmick.

At normal retail prices you are better off with some 5100s or Fox IFPs at a slightly higher price point.
 
'84 Bronco II said:
For $200 dollars sure, you aren't going to find anything better at that price point. They are just a run of the mill twin tube, so you aren't going to get much damping force, and I haven't really noticed any difference fooling with the compression adjusters on the 9000XLs on the front of my father's LJ on 35s. In my opinion 9000XLs are an over-priced gimmick.

At normal retail prices you are better off with some 5100s or Fox IFPs at a slightly higher price point.
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I bought these for my project truck. I would agree with everything said here. Not bashing them, but they are nothing special.
 
I thought they were pretty dam good in 1996, I can't believe they still make the same thing 25 years later
 
I ran 9000's on my Gwagen in the early 2000's because nothing else was available/affordable and I didn't have the budget for custom valved Koni. They were moderately popular here for people doing "custom" stuff in the 90's and early 2000's.

Thanks to a useless local distributor*, I had to buy shocks to dyno them to determine of the valving was going to work for my application. I still have the dyno charts somewhere. I can say from experience 9000's have application specific valving and a HUGE range of adjustability, which is completely over the top. Despite being told the part # that fit my application and would work because they're "800% adjustable" they only barely had enough valving for the rear and if I turned them down off the stiffest setting the car was almost undriveable. In the front I was on the second click and on the third click the car rode horribly and on the first click was way too loose. So, I would make sure the original application they were for is close to what you're going to want - Don't assume they'll work and don't buy into "they're adjustable so you'll be able to tune them to your application" as the adjustment is laughably coarse, so after a few months of thinking I was Rod Hall and getting out to play with them like the box told me to I realised I was just making the car worse and left them alone.

Iv'e also seen this on Suzuki's where people bought the recommended shocks based on fitment and the valving was miles off.

So they're of average quality (especially eyelets and bush design), the adjustability is a crapshoot and/or a gimmick and they're just a cheap foam cell shock with an adjustable foot valve. $50 each is about all they're worth.

I moved on to OME N76 for suzuki builds and then Bilstein 5125. My own Suzuki now has Kings in it and the cost to rebuild and revalve them is less than buying a 9000 rancho, (or any other quality non-rebuildable shock, locally) so they're basically forever shocks.

*Useles distributor also told me to run the same RS9000 part # front and rear with the fronts upside down - Once again the dyno proved they don't work upside down. Clowns.
 
'84 Bronco II said:
I haven't really noticed any difference fooling with the compression adjusters
Click to expand...
That's interesting - my experience is the opposite. Maybe Rancho got the valving right for the LJ application, but the dyno charts I have for part# 9012 (which was valved for the rear of a 4" lifted fullsize pickup, from memory, so should be generically soft) showed a massive range of adjustment. maybe it's not that noticeable in the back of a OBS chevy or something, but in the front of a Gwagen with a low spring rate it was dramatic. Same with the rear (don't remember the application now) but if they weren't all the way up the car was dangerous.
 
Gwagensteve said:
Thanks to a useless local distributor*, I had to buy shocks to dyno them to determine of the valving was going to work for my application. I still have the dyno charts somewhere. I can say from experience 9000's have application specific valving and a HUGE range of adjustability, which is completely over the top. Despite being told the part # that fit my application and would work because they're "800% adjustable" they only barely had enough valving for the rear and if I turned them down off the stiffest setting the car was almost undriveable. In the front I was on the second click and on the third click the car rode horribly and on the first click was way too loose. So, I would make sure the original application they were for is close to what you're going to want - Don't assume they'll work and don't buy into "they're adjustable so you'll be able to tune them to your application" as the adjustment is laughably coarse, so after a few months of thinking I was Rod Hall and getting out to play with them like the box told me to I realised I was just making the car worse and left them alone.
Click to expand...
That sounds like it sucks. That also sounds like it would be perfect if you just want a cheapo gas shock for around town but need a little more for "I'm about to hit this sweet jump and don't want to bottom out too hard" shenanigans.
 
Gwagensteve said:
That's interesting - my experience is the opposite. Maybe Rancho got the valving right for the LJ application, but the dyno charts I have for part# 9012 (which was valved for the rear of a 4" lifted fullsize pickup, from memory, so should be generically soft) showed a massive range of adjustment. maybe it's not that noticeable in the back of a OBS chevy or something, but in the front of a Gwagen with a low spring rate it was dramatic. Same with the rear (don't remember the application now) but if they weren't all the way up the car was dangerous.
Click to expand...

The shocks were on the Jeep when he bought it, so I don't know whether they are LJ application shocks or not. The 5100s that were on the rear were too long and not the right shocks so I wouldn't be surprised if the front 9000XLs do not match the application either.

My observations are just seat of the pants, I certainly didn't dyno them. The adjusters may make a measurable difference on a dyno, but it was so subtle/unnoticeable when I was messing with them that I quit bothering with it and don't even remember where we left them set at. His Jeep is a wallowing pig on the street and ride quality offroad is basically the same as a bone stock Jeep (i.e. garbage at any kind of speed).

Maybe you were able to notice a difference since you are working with much less sprung weight? His Jeep probably weighs ~4,500Lbs with the winch and body armor.

My Bronco II with 5100s on all 4 corners (valved correctly for the application) rides noticeably better even with more unsprung weight and less sprung weight. Granted I have TTB in the front with soft coils, but I also have stiff ass Skyjacker leaf springs in the back.
 
My Gwagen was over 5000lb, so no, it wasn't because of a lack of sprung weight, it had plenty, the adjustment range was just dumb. The suspension engineer I had making the springs for it wanted a baseline for shocks, so I dynoed a stock Gwagen Bilstein and tried to get a match with the 9000's. (The engineer was highly respected and even did some work with Warn to try and get the bolt on coil kit they marketed in the 90's to work, unsuccessfully) We had the same experience with suzukis at under 3000lb. Rancho used to boast of 800% adjustment in their marketing material back in the 90's, like that's a good thing. I suspect the later update to 9 clicks was to try and make the effect less dramatic between each detent, but in reality, even with 9 clicks the difference between radically too stiff and radically too soft would only ever be about 2 clicks. I guess it was just marketing led - if the owner couldn't feel a huge difference between 1 and 9 then they'd complain the product wasn't effective.

The big issue I had is the range of adjustment led to the idea, that the shocks could be adjusted to suit any application. So as long as they fitted, they'd work on some setting or another. This is totally false. If you're off application, there's no guarantee they'll work at all, and that might be where you're at with the LJ- the shocks are off application and so they're just wrong on every setting.
 
Gwagensteve said:
I ran 9000's on my Gwagen in the early 2000's because nothing else was available/affordable and I didn't have the budget for custom valved Koni. They were moderately popular here for people doing "custom" stuff in the 90's and early 2000's.

Thanks to a useless local distributor*, I had to buy shocks to dyno them to determine of the valving was going to work for my application. I still have the dyno charts somewhere. I can say from experience 9000's have application specific valving and a HUGE range of adjustability, which is completely over the top. Despite being told the part # that fit my application and would work because they're "800% adjustable" they only barely had enough valving for the rear and if I turned them down off the stiffest setting the car was almost undriveable. In the front I was on the second click and on the third click the car rode horribly and on the first click was way too loose. So, I would make sure the original application they were for is close to what you're going to want - Don't assume they'll work and don't buy into "they're adjustable so you'll be able to tune them to your application" as the adjustment is laughably coarse, so after a few months of thinking I was Rod Hall and getting out to play with them like the box told me to I realised I was just making the car worse and left them alone.

Iv'e also seen this on Suzuki's where people bought the recommended shocks based on fitment and the valving was miles off.

So they're of average quality (especially eyelets and bush design), the adjustability is a crapshoot and/or a gimmick and they're just a cheap foam cell shock with an adjustable foot valve. $50 each is about all they're worth.

I moved on to OME N76 for suzuki builds and then Bilstein 5125. My own Suzuki now has Kings in it and the cost to rebuild and revalve them is less than buying a 9000 rancho, (or any other quality non-rebuildable shock, locally) so they're basically forever shocks.

*Useles distributor also told me to run the same RS9000 part # front and rear with the fronts upside down - Once again the dyno proved they don't work upside down. Clowns.
Click to expand...

To be fair to the distributor, rancho did market both body up and body down.

Their Toyota IFS part numbers were body up for IFS. And body down for the rear.
 
So this thread has me thinking I might replace my 9000’s. When you buy the expensive shocks, how do you know what valves you need? Do you give them vehicular and unsprung weight and they make them as best they can?
 
WaterH said:
So this thread has me thinking I might replace my 9000’s. When you buy the expensive shocks, how do you know what valves you need? Do you give them vehicular and unsprung weight and they make them as best they can?
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Along with projected usage and speeds
 
gozuki said:
Along with projected usage and speeds
Click to expand...

Thankyou. Another question, it was mentioned above about a Dino. I know what a engine Dino is, but never heard of a shock Dino. Is it something you park On and jolts your suspension? If you go to a fancy shock manufacture like king, will they make your shock “on the spot”. (Assuming they have a Dino)
 
rockyota83 said:
at 13yrs old in 1996 rancho 9000 were one of the coolest things ever in the whole page retail ad in the 4x4 magazines id look at, along with 44" boggers and tsl's :laughing:
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Only if you had the in-cab controller...
 
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Spiritof76 said:
Only if you had the in-cab controller...
Click to expand...
[sigh] I had that. Only time in my life I was cool, and I don't find out 'till 25 years later...

It actually was useful for driving on washboard roads. Sorta like airing down, but from the cab.

Mark
 
Rancho shocks are for inbred sister fuckers that don’t know any better. There are parts store shocks that will perform better for less money.
 
The only decent ranchos are the monotube 7000 series. Pretty much same as bilsteins 5100.
 
WaterH said:
Thankyou. Another question, it was mentioned above about a Dino. I know what a engine Dino is, but never heard of a shock Dino. Is it something you park On and jolts your suspension? If you go to a fancy shock manufacture like king, will they make your shock “on the spot”. (Assuming they have a Dino)
Click to expand...
No, a shock dyno requires the shock to be removed from the vehicle and set up in a fixture where it's subjected to a range of measured forces and the resistance it provides is plotted. They can be used to establish a baseline for comparison or to gain data on the effect of making valving changes.

161-007-Tech-ShockTuning-ShockDyno-768x1024.jpg


Whilst not off-road specific, here is a quick article on their use.

dsportmag.com

Shock Tuning 101: Dyno your Dampers for Optimized Handling

In general, the objective of the shock and spring combo is to stabilize the chassis and make handling predictable. This is manifested in various ways including the rigidity of the chassis, stiffness of the suspension, and the amount of travel available. In setting up these parameters, knowing...
dsportmag.com dsportmag.com
 
Interesting reading peoples experiences here. Was just debating on buying a set for my 1995 F350.

Recently I put them on a 2014 F250 with 185k miles. The 9000 series was all I could get day before the trip, The adjustability is what made me choose them. Otherwise I probably would have ordered fox or bilstiens.

Always thought it was just a gimmick but After taking the time to try a few adjustments on them, gotta say I am pretty happy. Rides and handles pretty close to new. 3000 mile road trip had them too stiff and had them too soft. Now just right. I think my fronts are set at 7 and rear at 6. Loaded for half the trip so the rears were up at 8 for the first half.

When they were too low it was a super soft but bouncy ride. Like riding in a boat. Too high and every crack in the pavement felt like the truck was going to break apart.

I was able to tune them to what I thought was the best ride for me.

Now going back to my 1995. I had put some monroes on there, not the bottom of the line but close. from day one the ride was so bouncy. Soft but bouncy. Annoying. Hated it. You hit a decent bump and it absorbed the bump well enough but then it felt like it was going to slingshot you to the moon.
After reading for hours and researching, all the recommendations said Bilstien 5100 series.

So I did that. Now I hate it, I can feel every crack in the concrete. Every bump and you swear the plastic in the truck will end up on the floor soon.

After adjusting the 9000s on my 2014 I was able to adjust until I felt both conditions I have felt in my 1995.

In the last 2 years I have tried $800 worth of shocks on this 1995 and what a waste. I still need to buy more shocks.

I thought all those same things, old technology, gotta be something better, but Now I am thinking I want 9000s for my 1995. So I can adjust the ride where I want it.

Is there any other adjustable shock out there? Why isn't every shock adjustable? Seems like a great choice rather than relying on someone else's opinion of how it should ride and handle.

Every shock out there should be listed with compression rate and rebound or recovery rate. If I understand correctly the 9000s only adjust the compression rate but seem to work great so far.
 
Tiha said:
Is there any other adjustable shock out there? Why isn't every shock adjustable? Seems like a great choice rather than relying on someone else's opinion of how it should ride and handle.
Click to expand...

There are some others that have adjusters on them. I have a set on my Delorean. Can’t remember who makes them. The real good shocks like Fox and king can be adjusted, just not easily. I wish they would make them like that. Or I wish I could drive my truck to there test facility and park it on a “real time” shock Dino.

I’m imagining a platform that has a pad for each tire to sit on. Then they could introduce a bump with your truck loaded all up weigh and quickly determine what valuing you need. Maybe they could even let you sit in the truck while they simulate a 6” bump at 20 mph. Then they could let you feel what it would be like with their shock on it. If they could build it on a trailer, they could take it to big events for people to try their rig on. They might not be able to have the shock on hand, but I would be happy for them to take the measurements and send me the shocks later. I think they could sell a lot of shocks that way.
 
There are alot of shocks that have clicker adjustments now a days. Won't get them from NAPA if that is what you mean. Koni, KYB and some of the others have adjusters for certain applications (cars stuff).

Shaker posts or 4 post simulator is what the big groups use to determine shock damping, etc. They were spendy systems 10 years ago, no idea now.
 
Tiha said:
Interesting reading peoples experiences here. Was just debating on buying a set for my 1995 F350.

Recently I put them on a 2014 F250 with 185k miles. The 9000 series was all I could get day before the trip, The adjustability is what made me choose them. Otherwise I probably would have ordered fox or bilstiens.

Always thought it was just a gimmick but After taking the time to try a few adjustments on them, gotta say I am pretty happy. Rides and handles pretty close to new. 3000 mile road trip had them too stiff and had them too soft. Now just right. I think my fronts are set at 7 and rear at 6. Loaded for half the trip so the rears were up at 8 for the first half.

When they were too low it was a super soft but bouncy ride. Like riding in a boat. Too high and every crack in the pavement felt like the truck was going to break apart.

I was able to tune them to what I thought was the best ride for me.

Now going back to my 1995. I had put some monroes on there, not the bottom of the line but close. from day one the ride was so bouncy. Soft but bouncy. Annoying. Hated it. You hit a decent bump and it absorbed the bump well enough but then it felt like it was going to slingshot you to the moon.
After reading for hours and researching, all the recommendations said Bilstien 5100 series.

So I did that. Now I hate it, I can feel every crack in the concrete. Every bump and you swear the plastic in the truck will end up on the floor soon.

After adjusting the 9000s on my 2014 I was able to adjust until I felt both conditions I have felt in my 1995.

In the last 2 years I have tried $800 worth of shocks on this 1995 and what a waste. I still need to buy more shocks.

I thought all those same things, old technology, gotta be something better, but Now I am thinking I want 9000s for my 1995. So I can adjust the ride where I want it.

Is there any other adjustable shock out there? Why isn't every shock adjustable? Seems like a great choice rather than relying on someone else's opinion of how it should ride and handle.

Every shock out there should be listed with compression rate and rebound or recovery rate. If I understand correctly the 9000s only adjust the compression rate but seem to work great so far.
Click to expand...
Excactly. I run them on my Dually with a slide in camper pulling a trailer with the rig on it. Since 2008, new, they are still working great and I will recommended them for towing. The difference in handling, porposeing and ride is absolutely extremely improved while towing. Then I run them full soft on lowered tire air pressure for a good ride.
 
I actually just put 9000 series on my 1995 yesterday. The little I drove it, so far pretty happy with settings on 5. I think it will be too soft, but need to get more miles on it before I start adjusting.

Out of the box they are firmer than the monroes, softer than the bilsteins. I think for this truck I will end up with two settings, round town settings and road trip settings.

I looked into Fox and actually a few other adjustable shocks. Even called a couple of them. Was either told no they don't have anything to fit my truck, or I need to come up with dimensions. That made me nervous. Because if they don't know what fits my truck then they have no idea if it works or how well.

So I went with the ranchos again.
 
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