[Emmanuel T.]

All for of my tires have cupping on the outside of them. I recently got a tire rotation, alignment and balance. Things have not improved. My ride just isn't the same from when I first bought the truck. After looking some things up on the internet it seems like my next option is to change my struts and shocks. I was looking to put Rancho RS5000 Shocks & Struts that will give my truck a 1.5" lift. The question I have is do I need to change my coils with these struts or will it okay if I use the ones that are currently on the truck? Thanks for your help

 

[Otterdriver]

All for of my tires have cupping on the outside of them. I recently got a tire rotation, alignment and balance. Things have not improved. My ride just isn't the same from when I first bought the truck. After looking some things up on the internet it seems like my next option is to change my struts and shocks. I was looking to put Rancho RS5000 Shocks & Struts that will give my truck a 1.5" lift. The question I have is do I need to change my coils with these struts or will it okay if I use the ones that are currently on the truck? Thanks for your help

I think your talking about RS 9000 XL shocks and struts, they have an option for the front in the same series of shock called Quicklifts, they come completely assembled with a new coil spring installed. They raise the front of the truck approximately 2/14 inches. I installed these on my truck a few weeks ago, raised the front 2 inches. I would recommend these, first for simplicity of the install, you don't have to mess with removing the coil spring from your old assembly and re-install it on the new strut and secondly, the ride quality is incredible. Not sure how Bilsteins or others ride but I'm guessing stiffer since they use the factory coil spring and that gets " pre-loaded" for the application to achieve lift where as the Rancho comes with a predetermined length of coil new. I'll repeat what I said, the ride quality is awesome, plus you have the benefit of 9 setting for dampening and recoil through the turn of a knob on the strut, just dialled in the front yesterday from #5 to #7 and it made for a perfect setup. Long- winded reply for ya, but I think you'll have no regrets if you choose these.

 

[PETE YK]

The bilsteins do not pre load the spring.

If your tires are cupping on the outside you should take a look at the front end...loose upper balljoints or excessively worn wheel bearings are one cause that often gets overlooked in favour of just getting an alignment. Sure your shocks may be blown, but replacing them will not fix this issue since caster and camber can be adjusted on these pickups.

 

[Otterdriver]

The bilsteins do not pre load the spring.

If your tires are cupping on the outside you should take a look at the front end...loose upper balljoints or excessively worn wheel bearings are one cause that often gets overlooked in favour of just getting an alignment. Sure your shocks may be blown, but replacing them will not fix this issue since caster and camber can be adjusted on these pickups.

Yeah actually they do, Bilstein describes this in their write up describing the struts, building in "increased rebound control". The higher the setting, the higher the spring pre-load = higher spring rate, that's the setback when you use the factory spring designed for a shorter strut, that's why they beef up the rebound control. In fact that's why I went with Rancho Quicklifts, you do lose the option for more than one height setting, but they come with the coil at the correct spring rate for the increase in length of the strut. Although I haven't experienced the ride in a truck with Bilsteins, I know the ride with Rancho's is plush and the dampening can be set with the turn of a knob to firm them up,but dont take my word for it, read it yourself.

 

[PETE YK]

Nice brochure...you're right they do "pre-load" the spring per say but that happens regardless when raising the spring up the shock body. I was thinking of levelling kits that i've seen in past thats simply a spacer in between the spring and top of the strut resulting in lots of pre load to get the extra height. They cause a shitty ride.