Bilstein vs Ranch comparo

I bought some Rancho for my rear shock replacement but as soon as I got them I knew I made a mistake. They looked and felt crappy, so I ordered the 5125 Bilstein's to compare before sending them back. The Rancho were $50 each and the Bils were around $94. The finish and feel were day and night different. The Bils action was smooth were the Rancho was random. The pics speak for themselves.

 

Did you even get a matching set of Ranchos? They seem to be different from each other.

 

Yes, that is the right set, remember the Taco uses two different sizes for passenger side vs driver side.

 

Smart move

Why do the Bilsteins look 6" longer????

 

fair question:
Is that a straight across equal comparison?
i.e Rancho economy vs. a premium Bilstein?
..
looks like those are the cheapos.
I run Bil 5100 and they have held up well, only complaint is after 6 months they look like crap.
Its raw aluminum, corrodes. 2 yrs and 20k they ride well so far

 

You go by the compressed length, in the pics the Bils are extended, one Rancho is compressed and the other Rancho just sits at whatever length you leave it with no desire to extend.

 

So you're saying shocks that cost almost 2x as much are better?

 

Obviously, but it's still helpful for people to get a side by side comparison.

 

I know, I'm just yanking chain.

What's funny to me is the paint job on the ranchos. Reminds me of the kids who'd paint their bikes and not even bother to take the tires or the chain off. I'm impressed they didn't get any overspray on the shaft.

 

Yeah, I've never seen Ranchos up close. Those look very amateurish.

 

Back in the day (90's), my brother put Ranchos (RS5000's I think) on his 4runner. They stayed on when I bought it from him, and I sold it with them. They were perfectly decent shocks at the time, and they definitely didn't look like someone painted them with a rattle can.

The 5000's today are still like a $60 shock, but something tells me the shocks aren't what they were back in the day...

 

This is why I waited to return the Rancho. If saving $100 bucks is important to someone this will provide some data for that decision.

 

Yeah, I know, that's not always true.

Look at iphones....

 

Oof. I feel attacked right now lol

 

The Bilstein 5125 are for stock or 0" lift Tacomas, here are the part #'s:
Passenger: 185606 extended/collapsed 22.5/14.06"
Driver: 185590 extended/collapsed 21.54/13.58"

 

ranchos in the mid-80s were the shit but I don't think they have changed a thing since then, I think they are only around thanks to ford and chevy for using them.

 

Nice to see the comparison between Rancho and Billie's

I've got comparisons of the Billie's with Fox 2.0's and Billie's with King 2.5's

Hell of a difference

 

I’ve got some rancho 5000 on my 1980 long bed. They have held up pretty well over the years. I like how they have the adjustment knob for setting the rebound.