Hello members!
It has been brought to our (Rancho Suspension) attention a few posts about one of our products. We are in no way trying to say anybody’s opinion is incorrect, we just want a chance to stand behind our product and let the consumers know the facts about our products.
1.) Clearance to Knuckle. When you air down a tire, your clearance from the knuckle will increase and not decrease. The moment when clearance is at the minimum is when a tire is over inflated and has a high impact directly on the tire. The tire will not expand more once a tire is aired down. During our offroad testing, we used 4.75” BS wheels on a 16” wheel. I agree the clearance in that situation is close but it will not hit. The wheel and tire are fixed to the knuckle and the clearance will not change in articulation. A ¼” is a lot more clearance than most other vehicles out on the road. Take a look at any newer Dodge 1500 IFS and realize the aluminum knuckle (which will flex more than a ductile iron knuckle) has less clearance. We would not recommend a wheel and tire combo that, to the best of our knowledge, will not work in all situations including offroading. All of our recommended tire sizes are at 12.50” wide max. If someone picks a wide wheel and wide tire combo outside of our recommended, this may be a different scenario. We do not have enough time to purchase every wheel and tire combination (and different brands) to fit check. Please consult your local wheel and tire specialist and they should be able to help you out. I noticed a response regarding Rancho was contacted for a similar situation and replied with you are to use 20” wheels to clear the knuckle. There is no record of this call and we would be more than happy to look in to this for you.
2.) Tires Sticking Out. We agree that the tires stick out more than OE. To maintain proper caster and camber curves this is mandatory. Rancho does not believe in sacrificing OE geometry and in fact we always try to improve it for offroad handling as well as maintaining the same driver feeling on the road. The two ways to maintain OE geometry are to move the hub section of the knuckle further out (as you increase the upper ball joint neck) or to just increase the upper ball joint neck. By moving the hub section out you can fit OE wheels on, but the end result of track width is exactly the same. I am fairly confident that if you measure the finished front track width they will be the same. Rancho does not believe in moving the hub section out because the end result will be higher forces on the knuckle which could lead to fatigue failure over time.
3.) Highway Speed Stability. We looked at some of the photos of Timgco’s truck and concluded that the torsion bars are cranked too high. The half shafts and the lower control arms are at a greater angle than our vehicle and all the SEMA vehicles we have installed (again, this is assuming from photos, need measurements to be 100%). This will give a result of instability at high speed. The H3 is designed to ride on the OE bumpstops and they act by adding damping and as a light spring. Unless you upgrade the torsion bars, you will have this feeling. When the vehicle is off the bumpstops, it feels like its floating in the air. We noticed this sensation even with a stock vehicle by removing the OE bumpstops. This is the reason why Rancho feels it is very important to reuse the OE bumpstops on this vehicle (especially with 35” tires or any heavy wheel / tire combo). We are disappointed the install shop set the torsion bars to the incorrect height and wish you would have called the Rancho Techline.
4.) Wheel and Tire Sizes. When we do a SEMA project vehicle, we choose a theme. The theme is carried down to the wheel / tire combo as well. What we install on the vehicle is not what the consumer needs to do (and I do apologize if the Techline did in fact tell you this). The management here wanted an adventurous theme to the vehicle and we picked 20” wheels to work with. Since GM and SMA did rugged and outdoors, Dub Air did blingy, we want to give the consumer a different look than the others. If you look at the recommended tire / wheel combo, it does not say anywhere that 20” wheels are required as some posts have reflected. 16”, 17”, and 18” wheels need 4.5” backspacing.
5.) Bumpsteer. Rancho emphasizes on reducing OE bumpsteer while still being able to fit within the same wheel size as OE.
6.) Dropping the Front Differential. We noticed some companies are coming out with kits that do not drop the front differential and giving new half shafts. In our opinion, we do not like this method. Not only does it introduce more moving parts as well as longer install, it creates a new issue for repair 10 years down the road. Most lift kit companies obsolete their kits after the vehicle is more than 10 years old. Specialty replacement parts are not easy to come by after a kit is obsolete. If you plan on taking the kit off as soon at the kits are obsolete this will not be a concern. Rancho thrives to reuse as much OE parts as possible for quick and easy repair. There are not any parts on the Rancho kit that should require maintenance or repair.
7.) Torsion Bar System. Because the torsion bar crossmember is welded to the frame, relocating the torsion bars was not a feasible idea. We noticed (including ours) three different ways companied have pursued this. One company left everything in the same location. Once you see the bending on the torsion bar you realize this could not be good. The other option was a linkage system. The option we picked was a rigid device from Realift. We felt that less moving parts would be less failure, repair, and maintenance while maintaining the same torsional effect. We also used the Realift locator to simplify installation.
Let me reiterate that we are not trying to start controversy, just to back our product. If you have any questions about our product feel free to private message me and we can set up a time to chat. We did 8 vehicles for the SEMA show and each one is a driven daily with no complaints. The H3 is a unique vehicle that not many companies will attempt due to the complexity. We stand behind our products and feel it will be the best available product for a reasonable price. For those who are not aware, this kit did win SEMA Best Offroad Product for 2006. I also ask please do not post reply for bashing the company and giving your personal opinion on a product you are not familiar with. Once again please contact me if you have any questions or comments. We will not be monitoring this post so please use the private messaging.
Rancho
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