My first R50

[R3DN1CK]

What's the part number for the 9000XL shocks you got?

 

I think the ones I bought from 4x4parts (before I swapped in my Bilsteins a few years ago) were 999112. (I believe 999116 are good for non-lifted Pathfinders; I believe those are the p/n for 1st-gen Xterra rear suspension.)

 

Unfortunately, the 999112's turned out to be undervalved for my Pathfinder, which was a big bummer. Not only that, but I did end up denting the right shock body on an off-road trip because the 9000XL's are so much fatter than their predecessor. Had it not been for the dented shock body, I might have tried the 999010's to see if they have different valving, because I really liked being able to dial in the shock settings based on vehicle load.

 

Prior to the 9000XL's, I had Rancho's original RS9000's installed (p/n 99010); they were installed upside-down and worked great. No clearance issues, easy to reach the adjustment knob, and nice stiff valving at dial setting "9" (good for towing, hauling heavy loads, and rock-crawling).

 

The lightly-used 9000XL's (although one was dented) eventually got tossed out during a garage clean-up effort.

 

BTW, when installing the shocks, you may find that the lower mounting brackets are too wide for the included shock bushing sleeve, and you'll get some slop/play when attempting to tighten them. You can compensate for this by placing large washers on either side of the shock bushing sleeve, so you don't completely deform the lower shock mount. Choose the longest sleeve whose inner diameter matches the lower shock bolt. Apply a coating of grease on the inside of the shock bushings (and on the sleeves) to reduce suspension squeaking.

 

They are indeed the RS999112 part numbers. When you say these were undervalved, what was the issue? Would they bottom out to easy or rebound like a crazy pogo stick? As far as denting the body, I could see that being an issue... but would ask a few more questions about the vehicle... we're the links fresh or old and were you runnning the rear swaybar connected or not?

 

Do we know if the 1-9 settings are rebound, compression or both?

 

Even if it did dent one time, did the piston stroke still work and was it leaking?

 

Thanks for the tip on the washers. I'll pick some flat washers up and lube the bushings.

[R3DN1CK]

Wow. Glad i came across this. I Just went out and bought my first r50 96 model for $900 due to my 88 being not family friendly as my wife said. I to am reluctant on the rancho and are really excited to know what you think of them. I'm like you R3DN1CK and have to have the same kind on all four corners.

 

Haha, another WD21 convert... the ladies do dig the R50 interior over the old WD21. My wife was ok with ours as it is a 4dr, but an 88 2dr would be tough. Especially with carseats (which we do). $900? What a score. I wish I had paid that for mine, but mines super clean so I can't complain (aside from being broke).

 

Rancho's a good brand and I'm sure 4x4parts would stand behind their product, I asked a 1,000,001 questions before pulling the trigger after reading about the issues. Guy said it shouldn't be an issue and if there was an issue to contact them and they will rectify it.

 

I prefer same brand all four corners too, seems balanced (in my head). I guess I could live with knowing the shocks were different brands, but would paint them all the same just because... Lol. I didn't want the KYB's because KYB does nothing offroad for cars that I'm aware of. I know they've made forks/shocks for dirtbikes and mountain bikes, but they are a road car company and I'm sure the pathfinder shock was built for luxury and not for performance off road.

 

I'm hoping to get them in this weekend or worst case by the end of the month... I will let everyone know for sure.

[R3DN1CK]

Here's a link to my online album for this R50 P.O.R.N.2 build: FACEBOOK ALBUM

Edited April 17, 2015 by R3DN1CK

[R3DN1CK]

 

On mine (2004), the upper is a bracket, the lower is a stud. I thought it was the same on older models, but the stud was at a different angle relative to the axle tube?

 

Nonetheless, I used these to fill the gaps on both upper mount and lower stud: https://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Details.aspx?product=15901. The washers are 3/16" thick.

 

 

 

These are Monroe Reflex, and are pretty beefy. They probably have a similar profile to the Ranchos.

 

Those do look beefy, but if you look at the online album posted above... the Rancho is one of the biggest bore shocks I've seen on a street car. Pretty riduculous.

[hawairish]

96-99 R50's have a different shock mounting layout than 99.5-04.

 

 

https://xplorx4.shutterfly.com/pictures/1983

 

Thanks for clarifying. Didn't think it was that different, but it is.

[XPLORx4]

 

They are indeed the RS999112 part numbers. When you say these were undervalved, what was the issue? Would they bottom out to easy or rebound like a crazy pogo stick? As far as denting the body, I could see that being an issue... but would ask a few more questions about the vehicle... we're the links fresh or old and were you runnning the rear swaybar connected or not?

 

Do we know if the 1-9 settings are rebound, compression or both?

 

Even if it did dent one time, did the piston stroke still work and was it leaking?

 

 

By undervalved, I mean that between setting 1 and setting 9, I couldn't really tell much difference in the damping using the 999112's. This was much much different than my experience with the 99010's, which were nearly solid at setting 9 and very supple at setting 1. It's like the 999112's settings 1-9 span the same range as the 99010's settings 2-4. Too bad Rancho discontinued the RS9000 series and made the 9000XL so fat.

 

Fortunately they didn't bottom out, but with 2 people in the back and a couple hundred pounds of camping gear, it was a bit bouncier than I would have liked.

 

Note: it has been several years since I've run Rancho products, so my memory could be a bit over-exaggerated. The bottom line is that overall I wasn't happy with the 999112's.

 

When the dented body happened, I was running without a swaybar, and I had recently replaced the lower trailing link bushings with polyurethane bushings. However, I am not sure that simply running without a swaybar is enough to limit the articulation to avoid denting the shock body. It will happen when you stuff the left rear tire and let the right rear tire droop, I'm just not sure at what point in the suspension movement it will happen.

 

After the shock was dented, it didn't leak, but a friend following me noticed that one side of rear suspension seemed to be lower than the other. When I removed the dented shock, I found that the piston tended to be slightly more difficult to move towards the middle of its stroke. To be perfectly honest, it could have been just a perception due to my bias to believe that a dented shock means it won't perform properly. Besides, it was a good excuse to ditch them in favor of the Bilstein shocks that had better damping and could be mounted with the shaft on the bottom so I wouldn't have to worry about clearance issues.

 

Of course, keep in mind that I use my Pathy in ways that are far more extreme than many members (possibly including you) on this forum, so you may have a completely satisfactory experience. For your sake (and your wallet) I hope that's 100% true.

 

I look forward to hearing about your experiences after you've completed the installation.

Edited April 17, 2015 by XPLORx4

[R3DN1CK]

 

By undervalved, I mean that between setting 1 and setting 9, I couldn't really tell much difference in the damping using the 999112's. This was much much different than my experience with the 99010's, which were nearly solid at setting 9 and very supple at setting 1. It's like the 999112's settings 1-9 span the same range as the 99010's settings 2-4. Too bad Rancho discontinued the RS9000 series and made the 9000XL so fat.

 

Fortunately they didn't bottom out, but with 2 people in the back and a couple hundred pounds of camping gear, it was a bit bouncier than I would have liked.

 

Note: it has been several years since I've run Rancho products, so my memory could be a bit over-exaggerated. The bottom line is that overall I wasn't happy with the 999112's.

 

When the dented body happened, I was running without a swaybar, and I had recently replaced the lower trailing link bushings with polyurethane bushings. However, I am not sure that simply running without a swaybar is enough to limit the articulation to avoid denting the shock body. It will happen when you stuff the left rear tire and let the right rear tire droop, I'm just not sure at what point in the suspension movement it will happen.

 

After the shock was dented, it didn't leak, but a friend following me noticed that one side of rear suspension seemed to be lower than the other. When I removed the dented shock, I found that the piston tended to be slightly more difficult to move towards the middle of its stroke. To be perfectly honest, it could have been just a perception due to my bias to believe that a dented shock means it won't perform properly. Besides, it was a good excuse to ditch them in favor of the Bilstein shocks that had better damping and could be mounted with the shaft on the bottom so I wouldn't have to worry about clearance issues.

 

Of course, keep in mind that I use my Pathy in ways that are far more extreme than many members (possibly including you) on this forum, so you may have a completely satisfactory experience. For your sake (and your wallet) I hope that's 100% true.

 

I look forward to hearing about your experiences after you've completed the installation.

 

Wow... not being able to tell the difference between 1 and 9 sounds wrong. Selling it as an "adjustable" shock with no adjustment? Maybe they were defective or maybe a gimmick? The RS shocks were around forever and proven. Wonder what brought on the XL project?

 

Good to know that they didn't bottom out. I'm thinking the rear of pathfinders in general are just bouncy, even with my revalved reservoir shocks I still had the bounce. Much more dampened, but still bouncy.

 

Spending time under the pathfinder this weekend I can see the tight quarters we're working with. I could see how the rubber could deflect and allow the oversize body to impact the panhard bar mount under torque or hitting a rock face or whatever obstacle allows it to flex. If it does dent, I'll be calling 4x4 parts and we'll cross that bridge then.

 

I'll let y'all know how it goes when we're all done.

[XPLORx4]

I'm betting that the 999112's valving is designed for a much lighter load, in which you can tell the difference between 1 and 9. I would have tried the 999010's, had it not been for the dented shock body which pushed me towards finding a shock that could be mounted with the shaft down.

[R3DN1CK]

Replaced the lower links last weekend, what a PITA. Well at least the first nut/bolt I tried were... the other 3 were easy. Breaker bar, bottle jacks, lube and cursing didn't cut it. Went to the store and bought the biggest torque rated impact gun they had... 800 ft/lb. Got home and it still didn't break it free. Even tried jacking up the break bar to use the weight of the truck to break it free. No go. Basically after 2-3 hours of effing with it and heading to the store, a breaker bar on the bolt head and an impact on the nut it broke free. I'm worn out and bruised. Going to spend this weekend recovering and parting out the WD21. Then next weekend I attack the upper links. They don't look fun.

[ryan88pathy]

Sounds like they won't be but at least you can have the satisfaction that there done right and you still have your arm and leg. Can't wait to do mine.

[01Pathmaker]

Mmmmm, only 2 of 8 came off fairly easy after applying some heat, breaker bar and gun. The other six the sawzall made quicker work of (went through a bunch of blades though).

[XPLORx4]

R3DN1CK- any updates on how your Rancho strut installation went?