Ranger Mods

Hello All,

I went to check my shock absorbers today and I got a report that all four of them needs replacing. Vehicle is a 2017 Ford Ranger PX2, with 98,000kms on the clock. My question is, what are the best shock absorbers with no lift kits i can replace them with?

Question is imposible to answer. What is best for me may not suit you. You will get 300 opinions based on the fact that most have only ever used one set of aftermarket shocks.

Figure out your price bracket first then look at what fits into that bracket.

I have had, stock, BP51, OME Nitro all on same vehicle. I don't recommend any of them.

If you were happy with the ride of the stock shock when new and do nothing extreme then I say stick with them, you will never get exactly the sme ride with something aftermarket.

saeb wrote: ↑Fri Mar 06, 2020 6:06 am Question is imposible to answer. What is best for me may not suit you. You will get 300 opinions based on the fact that most have only ever used one set of aftermarket shocks.

Figure out your price bracket first then look at what fits into that bracket.

I have had, stock, BP51, OME Nitro all on same vehicle. I don't recommend any of them.

If you were happy with the ride of the stock shock when new and do nothing extreme then I say stick with them, you will never get exactly the sme ride with something aftermarket.

During my years of preparing, building cars for and rallying and circuit racing I've used Koni, Bilstein, Fox (remote reservoir) as well as several Japanese makes and for general and some off-road use I'd always recommend Bilstein.
They can be valved to suit your individual style and the GVM of your vehicle but with any set of shock absorbers, if they have done their days then the springs will also need to be looked at and tested, if you're in Sydney then Heasmans at St Peters are the people to talk to.

I used to rate Bilstein shocks for road cars in Europe but two colleagues have them on 4WDs here in Australia and they've both had leaks. I've seen people with leaking Bilstein shocks on the Ranger facebook groups too.

I have OME and so far, so good.

saeb wrote: ↑Fri Mar 06, 2020 6:06 am I have had, stock, BP51, OME Nitro all on same vehicle. I don't recommend any of them.

Out of interest, why don't you recommend the BP-51s? Price or other reasons?

Interested to hear from a wide variety of sources on this topic...

Because I went through 3 sets in 6 months.

Issues may or may not be fully resolved now, who knows.

Ouch! Not what you want out in the sticks. Fair call, I'll ask around for other brands.

BP-51s. My issues mainly revolved around the front struts and how much noise they made, they basically rattled. Rears, compression was way to high and even on the lowest setting, corrugated roads would through the rear around. Basically after 2 front set all with the same problem I moved on.

OME Nitro. Front springs are too soft and shock valving way to hard. Easy to bottom out and far from smooth on the day to day travel as every little bump was felt just driving around the local streets. Rear shock probably a little light on compression.

Fox 2.5 with DSC. Yes overkill but I was over it all. Have tuned the fronts to my liking and floats along the freeway, could probably tweak them up a touch but sometimes a limo feel on the freeway is nice. Have not been able to bottom out even over even at 110kph on a dirt road where they done a back fill on a drain. Yes all 4 wheels left the ground. Rears, I will like a little less compression and will most likely have them adjusted to my liking. From there I can refine with DSC.

I would probably take Fox 2.0 for most people and if the correct springs are used then they should have the best of both worlds. At the end of the dy though, there are so many brands, so many opinions and most have not been able to compare multiple brands on the one vehicle. Best best it to try and attend a meet where there are multiple brands on vehicles and see what you personally like the feel of as we are all different afterall.

Thanks for your thoughts Stewart, I'll try to get to a meet and see what I prefer!