Best replacement shocks for towing

[Craig614]

Hello!
Im having a hard time finding out what are the best replacement shocks to get for my 2009 ram 1500 quad cab with 5.7 Hemi. I tow a travel trailer that weighs about 7,000lbs loaded and need to make sure the shocks are not only going to be good with the weight but also hold stability and reduce sway. I heard that Bilstein 5100 are the best then I hear that Rancho RS9000XL are good too. I could really use some answers as I need to do something fast now that spring is here.

Thanks for your help!!!

 

[WilliamS]

Id get the bilsteins but its bias, Ive never had one leak or fail on me. On top of that helper air springs. Those will keep the rear where it is suppose to be and let the shocks do their job instead of being bottomed out.

On a side note, the ranchos would be great as long as you spring for the remote system to control the dampening. A stiff shock with air ride would be the best combo for control. Then air the bag to zero or 5psi unloaded and tune the shock to your likes.

 

[Gero]

Bottoming out is what kills the shocks so if you can upgrade components to prevent that (air bags, timbrens, etc) then even your OE shocks should be fine. The bilsteins 5100 I hear are great replacements but I'll form my opinion after I get them. I've had bilstein HD shocks on my vw before and they were great.

 

[Craig614]

Thats what i figured on the Bilsteins. I do also have the Air lift 1000HD which I am also going to add on. Now my second question any favorites for the steering shock staiblizer as a replacement? I wanted to get a matching set of shocks and steerring staiblizer but from what i see Bilstein does notoffer one to matec the 5100 series.

 

[WY-Dave]

I ran Rancho 9000s on the Jeeps and they sucked. I would take them to 5/6 for normal warm driving, 2 for winter (thicker oil), 9 for towing the camper. This sounds great except for one fact, trying to adjust them I had to use pliers. Even after doing what the company should have done in the first place, filling them with marine grease. Dented too damn easy. After 2 winters they rusted like crazy, so went over to Fox 2.0.

 

[Loudram]

I just bought a set of KYB Monomax shocks for the rear. I'm installing them today. They've gotten good reviews on all the websites. They're designed for towing and hauling. I'll check back in before the weekends over and let you know what I think of them. Rockauto has them for $49 each.

Edit: I installed them yesterday and I love them. They ride great. Stiff but in a good way. I would definitely put these on your list of shocks to check out especially for the price.

 

[Raymillsus]

I put Rancho 9000XL on my Dually. A buddy of mind owns a jeep shop and he said they are hard to bead for towing, but are terrible for jeeps and for a ton of hard offroading. Not sure you use case. I installed them on my 3500 and the difference is amazing.

 

[3TV]

I had Rancho 9000s on my Super Duty truck, and I was so unimpressed that I took them off and put the stock shocks back on. They have 9 different settings, and I didn't like any of them. They have too much compression damping relative to how much rebound damping they have. Changing positions on the clicker doesn't change the ratio of compression to rebound appreciably, as far as I could tell. The stock shocks were noticeably better riding when I put them back on.

 

[Marine Les]

I used Rancho on my 2500 and the ride sucked, replaced with Bilstein 5100 and am very happy.

 

[OC455]

but also hold stability and reduce sway

Look at a Hellwig sway bar too. Good reviews on them here. Going to scrape my pennies up for one of those myself. I went with Timber Groves ASAMs and an Air Lift WirelessOne compressor setup, stabilizes everything nicely with WDH.

 

[Elkman]

Shocks only dampen spring movement and will do nothing for sway control. I like the Rancho 9000 as I can adjust in 10 seconds per shock the amount of dampening. I have the rear set light for normal use and can add dampening for when I will have a load weighing several thousand pounds.

Too much spring movement means either a blown shock or not enough leaf spring support. For the latter situation I added SuperSprings and they made a tremendous difference.

 

[WY-Dave]

I like the Rancho 9000 as I can adjust in 10 seconds per shock the amount of dampening.

If I still didn't live where they salt the roads and had to travel on dirt roads, I might have given the R9000s another chance. But the rust factor alone takes them out of contention if I decide to change out the stockers.