Quick question about rancho rear strut length

[dcommoncents]

I am weighing my options on doing a 2" lift for the pathy and have decided that I want to go with the Rancho Quick lift in the front. For the back I plan to do the Rancho RS9000XL struts with either spacers or some type of medium spring.

However, I'm a little concerned about the rear because every retailer's description of the RS9000XL struts for my 2012 (Part No. RS999312) say they are for 0" lift. It seems like a lot of people on the forum have installed these with a lift in the rear (spacers or springs) and I haven't seen any discussion of problems or concerns with the length of the RS9000XL struts on that type of set up. The reason I'm set on the RS9000XLs, in case anyone isn't aware, is that Rancho is running a rebate program that covers the Quick Lifts and RS9000XLs when purchased together. http://www.gorancho.com/promotions/

With that background, my question is whether I should be worried about these shocks being too short for the rear lift I plan, given their description as being for a 0" lift. Any help would be appreciated as I'd like to order these asap and Rancho's customer service apparently isn't available on weekends.

[smj999smj]

According to Rockauto.com, the Rancho #RS999312 is for a 1-3/4" rear raised height.

[dcommoncents]

Thanks. That makes sense given that that part number seems to be sold and used for lifted rears, I just find it strange that Rancho's catalog doesn't mention their use for a lift...you'd think that would be something they'd advertise. I'm going to get in touch with them before I order, but in the meantime, can anyone who has run these on a lifted rear confirm that there isn't a length problem?

[NmexMAX]

Most vague descriptions from most shock manufacturers (PRG/Fox/Bilstein, etc) usually start out with at minimum of 0-2", which I would assume is what Rancho's are, just not descriptive enough from their website.

[dcommoncents]

Ok, so I finally got in touch with Rancho's technical assistance. It seems, smj999smj, that the Rockauto description is partially correct. The gentleman from Rancho informed me that the rear struts at issue are stock length struts (i.e. don't provide any additional travel over stock) but have enough travel to accommodate up to a 1 3/4" lift. So, they aren't designed to complement a lift, but can handle one of up to 1 3/4". If I'm getting new struts, I'd like to have extra travel to compensate for the rear lift so I don't have to deal with the strut bottoming out, so it seems these are a no-go for me. I hope this information helps someone else.

However, I'm still interested in hearing from someone who has run these in the rear without problems though before I completely write the Ranchos off.

[NmexMAX]

Good read:

I can add a little more info to this as well since my pathfinder was used to design and test the rear shocks, and I have used both for a while.

You guys are right about the emulsion where the nitrogen gas is mixed with the oil. The high pressure of the nitrogen prevents the oil from cavitating thus providing a consistent rate of dampening. However, during hard use (like off-road racing) there still is a tendency for the oil to cavitate causing bubbles, build up heat, and start to fade. However, the aluminum body of the Radflos help dissipate the heat better.

The remote reservoir does NOT use a nitrogen charged oil bath. The nitrogen and oil are completely separated by an internal floating piston (IPF), hence the remote reservoir contains the nitrogen and houses the IPF. This leaves the whole shock body to just contain pure oil. Radflo uses a real good racing oil in all their shocks. This completely eliminates any bubbling effect from any cavitation, and more oil volume helps in cooling. Also, the whole shock body can be used for the full stroke, hence you can get more wheel travel. This is where the cost difference is. BUT, I seriously doubt the emulsion shocks are $100/shock. I believe it's around $175/shock, so 4x4 parts may have it mislabled.

Both Radflo shocks however have excellent velocity sensing valves that is very comfortable on the highway, and handles great off-road.

All front shocks for the Pathy are IPF shocks (not emulsion). The nitrogen and oil are separated by an internal floating piston.

In terms of wheel travel, and I know this for a fact since it was my specs with Radflo, both shocks will indeed give you a bit more wheel travel. The emulsion will give you about 9" travel (from 7.5" stock) and the remote reservoir will give you just a tad bit more than 10". I don't know why Radflo has both shocks the same length. Look here for the difference:



Looks are deceiving. It may not appear to be much difference, but because of the motion ratio (the way the our shocks are angled), we get about 1.5" wheel travel to every 1" of shock travel.
One last thing though. In order to get the full wheel travel when off roading, you MUST have the aftermarket coils, preferably the OME or the Eibachs since the original one are a bit too short, AND you must disconnect the sway bars, which is an easy 3 minute job.

[dcommoncents]

This probably isn't news to those with the rancho 9000xls, but I thought I would report on what I did to help others agonizing over strut choice like I was.

I ultimately decided to go with the rancho loaded with 9000xls and spacers in the rear. While I haven't been able to take it offroading with the new suspension yet, but living in Pittsburgh, I have encountered some pot holes that could swallow lesser vehicles whole. So far, I haven't noticed any problem with the strut topping out when a tire drops into a pothole, so I think my concerns about strut length were a little overblown, at least for daily driving. [/list]

[azaizai]

Thanks for the update! This is the way I've been looking to go as well.

Quick quesiton: Did you end up taking advantage of Rancho's strut rebate deal? If so, did you buy in store or go through 4wd website? Any recommendations?

[SimulatedZero]

When I was talking to Rancho a while back I asked about whether I could use online sources or not. They said you can use any dealer accept auction sites. Amazon had a real nice price on a full set (160 cheaper than anywhere else I could find and with free shipping too) so I made sure to double check that I could still get the rebate.

[dcommoncents]

Sorry for the delayed reply. I bought everything except for the spacers and UCAs (4x4 parts) on Amazon. I actually got the rebate link from the Amazon product page, so I wasn't to worried about Rancho not honoring it, although I haven't actually gotten around to mailing it in yet. I'm still pretty pleased with the ranchos a month or so in; still fiddling with the adjustments to hit the sweet spot on dampening. The adjustments really do work and are quite noticeable.

[SimulatedZero]

Nice, I just got my OME springs in on Monday. I was planning on doing the entire job yesterday, but between not having a torque wrench (and not wanting to pay the extra 30 dollars for one in store) and some family stuff, it'll be waiting until either the weekend or next week.....

How does the on road ride compare?

[dcommoncents]

The ride difference is night in day, or at least you can adjust it that way. I started with the ranchos set at 7 and it was much stiffer, with greatly reduced body roll. I've never owned a truck before, and I enjoyed it as much better handling. They're repaving the roads around me, so I decided to soften them to level 4, and that proved to be pretty soft, probably comparable to stock. Now I'm trying to adjust the front and rear differently, plus fiddling with the airbags, to find a good balance between soft dampening for bumps and limited roll in corners. However, although I'm very pleased with the improvement, I think you did the smart thing getting springs instead of spacers for the rear since the airbags just don't stiffen the rear stock springs sufficiently or consistently enough. I'm considering upgrading to springs myself, but had trouble finding them with a 1-2" lift. What OMEs are you getting and what's the lift?