Rancho RS5374 Front Shock Review | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Rancho RS5374 Front Shock Review

obie

Well-Known Member
Joined
June 13, 2012
Messages
902
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City, State
Northwest Indiana
Year, Model & Trim Level
2003 Sport Trac 4x4
So, I just completed the install and test drive of the Rancho RS5374 front shocks on my 2003 Sport Trac 4x4 with a 1.5" torsion twist and Warrior 153 shackles. These shocks are for 95-01 Ford Explorer 4x4 and 4x2, 01-05 Sport Trac 4x4 and 4x2, and possibly the 01-03 Explorer Sport 4x4 and 4x2. These shocks are for 1"-2.5" of front lift, aka, torsion twist.

RanchoRS5374Installed_zpsacd5e87a.jpg


These measure 14.40 inches compressed and 19.280 inches fully extended. The regular Rancho RS5229 shocks measure 13.938 inches compressed and 18.375 inches extended. This is a difference of the RS5374 being .202 inches longer compressed, .905 inches longer fully extended, with .703 inches of additional shock travel.

I have always heard on this forum that different shocks are not required if you are doing a torsion twist, and it had originally made sense to me. The full suspension travel geometry doesn't change, and neither does the length of suspension travel. So why would you need a slightly longer shock?

I had installed the Rancho RS5229 front shocks and RS5185 rear shocks on my Sport Trac roughly 2,000 miles ago. This was one of the first things I did after getting the vehicle, and I stole the shocks from my other 98 Explorer. These had roughly 1,200 miles on them. The 98 also had a 1.25" torsion twist, and I had hated the ride on it. I much preferred the Rancho RS5000 shocks over the stock Motorcraft shocks with 86k miles on them. It rode more like a truck than a car now. Then I installed the 33" Duratrac tires, and the ride was still very smooth and enjoyable. Then I did a torsion twist to help clear the tires, and the ride was terrible. Rough roads for extended periods of time would make my teeth chatter and give me headaches and neck aches. I had always just assumed that this is the price for needing to clear larger tires. It didn't help that I did polyurethane body mounts when the body lift was installed (after the TT), so those also transmitted a little more NVH to the cab.

I did some searching after reading about torsion keys, and found people on the various ranger forums who said that certain brands of torsion key kits had made their ride much better than those who just did regular TTs or key installs. The difference was that certain brands included shock spacers. This lead into a train of thought that ended with me ordering the lifted application Rancho shocks to be an Explorer guinea pig, as there wasn't much information on this particular forum about them. I also spoke to a senior Rancho technician today, and he confirmed that they are indeed for a torsion lift application on the Explorers. Not only is the length and travel different, but they are also valved differently than the RS5229 shocks to handle the additional suspension stress and ride quality decrease. EDIT: Oh, and the lower mounts are slightly different as well, but I had forgotten to check the difference between them when I did the install. Sorry :(

All I can say is that I'm so glad I did. These have made a night and day difference in ride quality. I took them for a ten minute test drive on the worst roads in the county and it was glorious. Gone was the feeling of bottoming out the shock on every bump, and I could hit some of the worst sections at speeds above 45 without feeling like I needed back surgery. Even pulling into my gravel driveway was massively improved. Before, I used to bounce and jounce all over just from turning into it. After the shocks, I pulled in at the same speeds as normal and didn't feel a thing. So I backed out and pulled in faster, and still was amazed at the difference.

I still need new leaf springs in the back but the front ride quality is soooooooo nice now, I can actually comfortably put off the Fox Shocks coilover conversion now for quite some time :D

I will report more tomorrow after my 100 mile commute on 394 and 294 and lots of back roads, but so far I give them :thumbsup::thumbsup: I will hopefully get to test them offroad soon too, and see what the difference there is as well.
 



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Thanks Obie this is great Information.
 






I sense the Rancho RS5374 will be seeing an increased demand after this. Thanks for the great follow up. :thumbsup:
 






Well, maybe I should try these. Thanks for the update.
 






Definitely want to try these out now. Did TT to match the lifted rear and the ride is kinda rough and i gotta do something to smooth it with a newborn on the way. Thanks for the tip
 






Did you measure both sets together? Back when I researched the different shocks available these two were the same length, measured them at Advanced Auto. Unless they got called on false advertisement and actually made the "lifted shock" longer I'd measure them next to the stock length shock, just saying.
 






Yeah, they're definitely different lengths. I wouldn't have installed them if they were the same, haha. The numbers are from Ranchos catalog, since my calipers only go up to 6". But the tape measure got close enough in fractions to be an accurate comparison.
 






Very helpful. I'll have to keep this in mind if I do a TT to clear 33's
 






These Rancho's are great. Mine are helping out the front incredibly. Definitely good for its purpose, Shock absorbing. I would highly recommend adding these to the front of your vehicles if you don't already have them :)
 






A hundred miles on the shocks today, and I'm still thrilled. Definitely firmer than stock, but not harsh at all. Lots of crappy, bumpy, potholy roads on the commute, and I never had a problem. I guess the best compliment for a shock is that after a little while you forget to pay attention to it and then just enjoy the ride :D

Highly recommended for anyone who has done a torsion twists/keys and wants their ride to feel great again.
 






Ordered my set this morning off amazon for just under $100. Should be here by thursday, just in time for the weekend. Excited to feel if theres a difference. Will update when done.
 






Installed the shocks today and have only driven about 30miles on them today but they feel good. Not a really big difference from the rs5000 regular length ones I think rs5229. But there is an improvement in them. They are a little but longer than the older shocks but I'm hoping it's more of how they are valved. But they are better than before but not a huge difference but maybe with a little bit of miles they will get broken in and better
 






If you didn't feel a big difference, that makes me wonder if my old Ranchos somehow went bad while they were sitting around for a year off the truck. But that wouldn't make sense since they felt great before the TT. It could be due to the fact that the Sport Tracs come with the stiffest #1 torsion bars, so the difference felt larger compared to the regular Explorers.
 






I thought the front end of the sport tracs and the 01-03 sports were identical. Either way i'm not too sure if its maybe due to my rear end also. I have a 4dr leaf pack with aal and and extra leaf from my original sport leaf pack. This set up on the rear is what had made the whole ride stiffer in combination with the tt so maybe its because of that. I drove a different road today when test driving it but didnt drive it a lot so will try it out some more before I can really judge it. Don't get me wrong they did smooth it out a bit tho.
 






I still can't wrap my mind around how it doesn't become a bump stop when fully compressed.
 






After putting a couple hundred miles on the new shocks the past couple days I gotta retract my last comment. These things really are an improvement. Goind down the same roads I usually go down full of dips and pot holes aren't as bad any more. The shocks helped the neck jerking during down travel. Not really sure how they work being only a little bit longer but I'm happy with them. Thanks obie for the original recommendation. I would recommend them as well for anyone with a tt, really worth the $100.
 






So I installed my new rear shocks, Rancho RS999185s which are the gas charged 9000XL series with the 9 adjustments. Oh my. I have them set at three, so relatively soft, and I have never loved driving anything as I do now. I had the 5000 series Ranchos on the rear before, and they weren't bad, but the stiffness made the entire rear end shimmy for a few seconds after any large bump, and it wasn't really even all that pleasant on smooth roads. Ok, so they were kinda bad. I can honestly say that having installed the 9000s, the 5000s are garbage. I could not stop smiling during my test drive. I took the worst road in the county and didn't get more than a split second of shimmy on even the worst potholes and bumps and ruts. Absolutely amazing. I can't wait to try these out and see how they do offroad, towing, and for DD on the highway. I'll report back on how they feel after the next few days.

20130802_200611_zpsce011e62.jpg


Update on the front shocks: Still loving them. They've settled in fully now and have made such a great change in the front end. These are still stiff, but they're not harsh. Anyone with a TT that wants Ranchos should get these ASAP. If I weren't going to do the coilover conversion though, I would actually like to try a set of the front 9000s and shock spacers to see how well those ride. Anyone up to give it a shot?
 






I had 9000XL's with MyRide Wireless Remote System on all four corners on mine before and after lifting it, I tow alot as well as drive curvy, steep roads and all kinds of terrain. They were awesome but limited on travel for offroading, went through bushings like I do on all my shocks though. I destroyed the front shocks and sold the rears with the Wireless system to another member.
 






I wanted to do Fox 2.0 Remote Reservoirs with the CD adjusters for the rears and front with the coilovers, but the rear shocks alone with all that were 630, and the Ranchos were 175, haha. So for the next few years, these should be good enough.
 



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EDIT: Oh, and the lower mounts are slightly different as well, but I had forgotten to check the difference between them when I did the install. Sorry :(

What does this mean? Do these shocks not bolt up?
 






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