Well, I finally broke down and replaced my famous FX4 “fake Rancho” shocks this past weekend with a set of “real” Rancho RS 5000’s. My truck had 30,000 miles on it and the right front shock was MIA. Sears had the 5000’s on sale for just under 40 bucks each and I have to drive down to North Carolina next week (about 11 hours one way) so I figured the time was right.

The first thing I discovered is that you need an 18mm wrench for both the top and bottom bolts. OK, what genius determined that size? Did they figure out that most wrench sets come with 15mm and 17mm (but no 18mm) before they selected nut sizes? Fortunately, I had a ˝” drive short socket that size and fudged the rest. The other good thing was that with only 30,000 miles on the clock, everything came off easily.

So, about 1 hour later I drop the truck back onto the ground and we’re off for a test ride. I have to admit, everything you guys have been saying about the old shocks was true. The truck rode like a floor jack before, now it rides like a proper ˝ ton truck. I almost couldn’t believe the difference. The new shocks also have the real (soft) boots so the squeaking sound of the old (hard) boots rubbing against the shock body is now gone too. All in all, I’d recommend these new shocks to anyone with the FX4 package. Come to think of it, I’d probably recommend anything as a replacement for those pieces of junk!

 

Hey 2stroked
Was your tires warped because of your shocks yet? Mine are. So I am thinking if I change my shocks now I am not going to feel difference. What do you think?
Thanks

 

Thanks for the info on the shocks, $40 sounds like a good deal. I may just hace to shop around. I just turned 36,000 and have been thinking for a while about changing these out.


Rick

 

Tires warped?

 

"Warped tires?" I'm assuming you mean "cupped tires" which is something that can happen if you run too long with worn out shocks and the tires literally start bouncing up and down on the pavement. If that's the case, no, I didn't have that problem. If you do, changing shocks will only solve part of your problem. The tire will have to be replaced.

Now if you're talking "warped minds," that's a different problem - which I might just have. Driving a Chevy truck for a bit usually straightens me right out though.