any4xx

Hey All,
'15 Rubicon. Not lifted except for replacement of the front 2-door springs with stock Rubicon 4-door springs to level it. 35" tires, C-rated, running at 26 PSI. Wifey loves riding in and driving it, but hates the jarring ride. And I must say that I'd certainly like a softer ride as well.

I've read until my eyes are square and I can't find a definitive answer. WILL softer shocks give me a better ride? I'm happy with the ride height and don't want to change that. I did play with tire pressures and found that it rode like a rock if I ran them up to 35 PSI. I'm not sure if I feel safe running them at any less than 26, but it definitely rides nicer at those pressures. I don't want to fall for advertising schemes and spend many hundreds on shocks only to find there is no real difference in ride.

Any advice, other than to buy a Prius or replace my wife?

resharp001

Maybe you should look at something like the Rancho RS9000 shocks that are adjustable. Shocks and tire pressure are gonna be the biggest changes you can make in regards to harshness, and you are definitely at the low end of tire pressure for a 35 on the pavement IMO. That's about what I run my 37s at. For normal pavement driving, swapping springs isn't going to make a big performance change.

At the end of the day, any solid axle vehicle is going to have some harshness to it.

any4xx

I HAVE read up on the Rancho's. They're on the short list if someone can chime in and say that they've used them and that they really made a difference. I just don't want to drop that much $$$ before hearing that the difference will be worth it.

Thanks.

resharp001

There seem to be some on here that have em, so maybe someone will chime in. The only complaint I recall ever hearing is that the knobs tend to get knocked off the rear ones when wheeling.....and the solution is just to orientate them so the knobs are facing inwards instead of outward. Also, it seems the Rancho rep chimed in on a different shock thread last week and mentioned not buying anything either before the end of feb, or before spring break, or along those lines, so they must have a sale or a rebate coming up soon.

Best of luck. Hopefully people chime in with first hand experience.

any4xx

karls10jk

March they've got a sale coming up. On the 9000's, I've got a friend who ran them and they were nice. I couldn't come up with the cash so I went 5000x's and they're nice but not as nice as the 9000's.

nthinuf

Yep, Rancho has a sale a few times a year. And beyond that - go to their website, scroll all the way to the bottom, and click the Warranty/Guarantee link. The very first line is for a 90-day money back trial on the 9000/7000/5000 shocks. Not a cushy enough ride, send em back.

Rancho

Rebate started today!

MTNBKR

I have been running the RS9000's for 3 years now. Easy to adjust. Really great ride. I run 37in Ridge Graps. This is my dd. Rancho also has superb customer service as well

eng23ine

I was in the same boat as you......I put JKU springs (17/58) on my JK to level it out. While it accomplished what I set out to do it made the Jeep ride like a covered wagon. I finally bit the bullet and ordered the Rancho 2' dual rate spring lift with RS9000XL shocks, I gained roughly an inch all the way around and the ride is 1000x better.