Here are the Rancho 0" shock specs

[HummBebe]

Well I just heard from my rep at the 4 wheel parts shop. He called Bilstien, and they swore up and down that we do not have Bilsteins on our H3's.

He said the shocks are an up graded Monroe shock that they put the Bilstein name on.


How do ya like them apples??


Now I'm pissed.

[tomp]

Originally Posted by HummBebe

Well I just heard from my rep at the 4 wheel parts shop. He called Bilstien, and they swore up and down that we do not have Bilsteins on our H3's.

He said the shocks are an up graded Monroe shock that they put the Bilstein name on.


How do ya like them apples??


Now I'm pissed.

Is what I said in this thread: http://www.elcovaforums.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=24900

[HummBebe]

OK, but you were referring to Rancho, I am referring to the stock OEM "Bilsteins" which are not Bilsteins, according to Bilstein.

[timgco]

Bebe, I don;t have the truck here now, but I know for a fact that the bumpstops on your are higher thatn our. My guess is double of what ours rides at. The H3 is getting a new....well a few warranty things done. That suck you went through that many shocks. I did check and the Rancho 9000's that I have on there are the "zero height" ones.

That extender pic you posted is the Trux kit? Or is that what your local 4X shop did. When I saw the pic of what you had made from the threaded rod had me concerned on safety. If it were to come loose or break (the longer that rod, the weaker it will be when/ if it is felxed). Extending the other end I think is the safer/ beefier way to go. I like the last pics of that setup. I don;t think we need it on ours, but like I said, i think ours isn;t cranked up that high.

[tomp]

Like Timgco is implying above, the shock extenders may not need be needed for a couple of cranks. In order to take full advantage of the shock extenders, you really need to crank up at least the difference in height that the extenders make. Keep in mind this applies to the inside area where the shocks are located and do not use outer area by flares/wheels for reference.

[HummBebe]

Originally Posted by timgco

Bebe, I don;t have the truck here now, but I know for a fact that the bumpstops on your are higher thatn our. My guess is double of what ours rides at. The H3 is getting a new....well a few warranty things done. That suck you went through that many shocks. I did check and the Rancho 9000's that I have on there are the "zero height" ones.

That extender pic you posted is the Trux kit? Or is that what your local 4X shop did. When I saw the pic of what you had made from the threaded rod had me concerned on safety. If it were to come loose or break (the longer that rod, the weaker it will be when/ if it is felxed). Extending the other end I think is the safer/ beefier way to go. I like the last pics of that setup. I don;t think we need it on ours, but like I said, i think ours isn;t cranked up that high.

Yes, thet is the one from the Truxx kit.

I also called ReadyLIFT, who makes a kit for the H3, though it is not on their website yet. They use a a stud extender, vs the clevis extender that Truxx uses.

Some others pointed out to me that I had assembled it incorrectly. One of the bushings needs to be on top of the shock tower. So if I put the hex nut extension on the pin first, thread in the threaded rod, then put the bushings on, then the lock nut, it will be stronger. (I can alway use a couple of nuts at the bottom to support any thread still showing at the base of the pin).

The top of the threaded rod should only be 1/3 inch above the lock nut on the top of the tower. (Having it tack welded or some locktight would keep it all in place?)

The torsion bar lift measures 24 1/4 from the center of the axle to the base of the fender. I am currently sitting at 22 1/4. (Stock RH is 20 3/4) An exact gain of 2 inches.

Tim, thanks for pointing out the bumpstop issue. Are yours stock? I know you had the lift on it, did they change those back to stock when they took it off?

The original measurements show that there is only 2.34 inches of travel in the 0" Rancho. The extender will hopefully prevent the shock from over extending, and if I adjust the bumpstops, that will keep it from bottoming out.

Plus I want to be sure that all the added weight from my H2O goodies doesn't cause any more shock issues, as all 4 of the breaks happened prior to the installation of said goodies.

[timgco]

Originally Posted by HummBebe

Yes, thet is the one from the Truxx kit.

I also called ReadyLIFT, who makes a kit for the H3, though it is not on their website yet. They use a a stud extender, vs the clevis extender that Truxx uses.

Some others pointed out to me that I had assembled it incorrectly. One of the bushings needs to be on top of the shock tower. So if I put the hex nut extension on the pin first, thread in the threaded rod, then put the bushings on, then the lock nut, it will be stronger. (I can alway use a couple of nuts at the bottom to support any thread still showing at the base of the pin).

The top of the threaded rod should only be 1/3 inch above the lock nut on the top of the tower. (Having it tack welded or some locktight would keep it all in place?)

The torsion bar lift measures 24 1/4 from the center of the axle to the base of the fender. I am currently sitting at 22 1/4. (Stock RH is 20 3/4) An exact gain of 2 inches.

Tim, thanks for pointing out the bumpstop issue. Are yours stock? I know you had the lift on it, did they change those back to stock when they took it off?

The original measurements show that there is only 2.34 inches of travel in the 0" Rancho. The extender will hopefully prevent the shock from over extending, and if I adjust the bumpstops, that will keep it from bottoming out.

Plus I want to be sure that all the added weight from my H2O goodies doesn't cause any more shock issues, as all 4 of the breaks happened prior to the installation of said goodies.

Yeah, everything is stock. When we get the truck back, I'll measure everything again.

[tomp]

Dont be concerned about the frame mounted OEM bump stop. OEM and Rancho shocks have internal and external bumpstops in them that protect them either way. The OEM bump is really soft in coparison and does very little compared to the ones in the shocks. Also, there is more travel than listed. The listed travel of those shocks is in between the bump stops of the shocks.

[Demo]

can the H3 be modified easily to fit a standard shock type?

What I mean by this, is could we modify the way the shock attaches at the bottom, so that we could use a more common shock?

[Hunner]

Sooo is that extender pictured just double the length of the stock clevis as it appears. Looks to me like that would work just fine. Next rainy day I will see about that. Having unbolted the back ones several times to put on skids I can say they are plenty stiff!

[Sewie]

Originally Posted by DemoDaddy79

can the H3 be modified easily to fit a standard shock type?

What I mean by this, is could we modify the way the shock attaches at the bottom, so that we could use a more common shock?

I would think you could get a fab shop to make up something similar to the externders Bebe posted, but with a different type of mount.

[MountainBlue]

A hardened S.S. stud extender is the easiest way to go to get more length out of the stock shocks. I'm sure someone makes a proper size one with the correct thread size. I doubt ready lift is making their own. I wouldn't try making one out of anything but at least grade 5 hardware. Grade 8 would be ideal, but you'll have a tough time finding the threaded sleeve in that.