Best shock absorber??
 

What's the best shock for a stock suspension 3500 QC Duallie? Mostly used for towing and highway use.

BILSTEIN (blah blah blah, need more characters, blah blah)

I am running the silver Bilsteins on all 4 corners, and am very happy with them

Bilsteins are good.

But, Rancho 9000's are good too, and adjustable which makes them better, imo.....for going back and forth between towing and not.

Bilsteins on the front because they ride well, keep the tires on the ground and are velocity sensitive. Rancho 9000s on the rear because you can stiffen them up to way hard for towing and lighten them to soft when the bed is empty. They also keep the tires in contact far better than the stock shocks.

There are two kinds of hits the truck sees as you drive. One is a pot hole or rut or a pavement problem. It's a sudden shock to the truck. The Bilstein handles these well and keeps the wheels from jumpimg and bouncing on the pavement. The second kind is a slower oscilation up and down of the truck body as you drive through dips or big humps in the road. This second kind causes a slow extention and compression of the shock and wallowing of the truck. That is why Ranchos are so good for heavy loads or towing, they can be set stiff for this second kind of slower movement. Stiff to prevent the wallowing or bottoming, then softer for empty ride quality. The Bilsteins are velocity sensitive. In other words they are very soft when the wheel is moving up and down slowly (parking lots, driveways, etc.) but stiffen up when moving rapidly like over high speed ruts. And since the front of the truck doesn't carry the load as much as the rear, and has softer springs, progressive shocks work well. Plus the Ranchos are hard to adjust on the front. I found, with Ranchos on the front, I never really found a setting I liked for all occasions. But the Bilsteins work well enough up there.

I would like a set of stiffer springs up front though. Stiffer springs can give a better ride too because they are not as harsh as bottoming with a softer spring.

Wetspirit

^^^^^ Good write up Wetspirit. My only rebuttal or next plug on the Rancho 9000's is that I have them on the front too. I keep them set on 7 all the time since the front of my truck weighs so much (over 5000lbs on the front axle). The rears I usually run on 3 empty and up it when pulling heavy.

Thanks for the great info guy's, I am gonna give the Bilsteins a shot and see what happens. What's the best place to buy these?

I bought a set of Monroes Reflex shocks. A bit better ride but way better handling. Way less dive and roll. The are pretty cheap too.

You'll go through several Rancho 9000's before you ever replace a Bilstien. Adjustable or not, rusting shock bodies, frozen adjuster knobs, bad bushings, and blown seals are all pretty common with the Ranchos.

On top of that, they don't work near as well as the Bilstiens do, no matter where you adjust them.

Bilstein 5100 series say they are for trucks with 2" lift/leveled suspension in the front. Can I run these with no lift up front? I had the 5150 series on a tocama project and they worked great, would like the 5100's at all coners!!

The 5100 series is usually good from stock-height up to 2" of lift.

Like Cowhand said, the Bilstein are a much better shock in terms on design and construction than Rancho, Monroe, Pro Comp, etc.

im real happy with my bilstiens

another vote for the bilsteins.

Yup, the Bilsteins are great shocks. And the sets for the 2" leveling kit WILL work without the spacers (ie stock height).

Ordered the Bilstein's, thanks for all the input.