- Joined
- Feb 7, 2026
- Messages
- 47
- Points
- 101
- Age
- 22
- City
- Golden
- State - Country
- CO - USA
- Vehicle Year
- 1994
- Vehicle
- Ford Ranger
- Drive
- 4WD
- Engine
- 4.0 V6
- Transmission
- Manual
- Tire Size
- 235/75R15
This thread really has two purposes. I'm looking for experience and opinions, but it also gives me somewhere to keep track of what I've found so I don't have to do all of this research again when I don't wind up buying shocks for another six months.
I have a 1994 4.0 extended cab with a camper shell on the bed. I blew out all 4 of my 20+ year old shocks doing trails in Moab last month, and now every time I drive somewhere I become more and more convinced that I need to replace them. I don't think it's as bad as when I ran around without a front sway bar for a month, but it's definitely a little too floaty on the highway. And when testing the shocks it rocks like when you stand on the gunwales of a keelless canoe.
It sees everything from long highway stretches to rock crawling. I bought it to be a cheap 4x4 that could handle fun trails reliably enough to also serving as a daily. And it was $500 and I'd was getting tired of borrowing cars from or catching rides with other people... I don't usually tow or haul a lot of weight, and it isn't a sports car, so I don't mind sacrificing a little on road performance for a little more comfort off road. Right now my suspension is the stock height minus 195k miles of hard use. The rear springs are almost completely flat even with nothing in the bed and depending on how it's sitting in the same relatively flat parking lot I have between 1" and 4" of lean. I also want to replace the front bumper with preferably a winch bumper but at least one with sufficient strength and tow points to get winched out of a bind, which will probably add some weight to the front end. The lack of a suitable front tow point was all that kept me from trying Hell's Gate last month.
I am contemplating a mild suspension lift. Probably only 2 or 3 inches, nothing extreme. I don't want to ruin the highway performance, but I would like it to be a little more capable off road. And I want tires that are a little larger than 235/75R15. At least as big as the 265/75R15 that it left the factory on, but probably something bigger. If my calculations are right my speedometer is already geared for 33s. I feel like the trails that I did in Moab were about the limit of what I'd want to put it through as it is, and the hardest difficulty rating that I did was only a 6.
Mainly I'm looking for cheap, but if there would be an appreciable difference then I wouldn't necessarily mind paying a little more for better ones. Here's what I've found so far in a brief bout of homework procrastination:
The shocks on it now are Gabriel Pro Ryder Premium Gas Truck Shocks. As best as I can tell they were discontinued about 20 years ago.
I know lil_Blue_Ford has mentioned liking his Rough Country N3 shocks recently. It looks like they're about $120 per pair and I'd have to pick over or under about 1.5" of lift.
There are several different listings for Monroe Matic Plus shocks on eBay in the $100 range for the set of all four.
Detroit Axle has an unbranded rear pair for $74. They have no information on them, and they don't have fronts, so I probably wouldn't try them.
Summit has Monroe Restore shocks for $22 each.
Summit also has several other Gabriel and Monroe options for around $25 each.
Bilsteins are supposed to be pretty good, but I don't think I want to spend $400+ on a set of shocks for a truck that I bought for $500. And I'm a college student, I don't really have the money to be buying expensive shocks like that just to be doing it. Ditto for the Skyjacker M95 mentioned in one of the Tech articles that I read on here.
Skyjacker Black Maxes are $60 each, and they currently have a $50 rebate when you buy four. They're 11.5-18.6" front and say 3-4" lift. I found a Jeep TJ forum that liked their ride, but it said that they are prone to developing dead spots in the dampening.
Skyjacker Hydros are $50 and qualify for the same rebate, but the consensus of a thread on a Jeep Wrangler forum was that they're only worthwhile if they are free.
I've read some good things about the Rancho RS9000XL series, triple tube and single adjustable, but those are about $120 each.
The above options only had Rangers or their kin in the lists of what they fit, although I had them filtered by mine so other vehicles might have been suppressed. But then there are the house branded Summit Racing Truck Shocks for $37 each... I couldn't find anything about them on here, or anywhere really, but they are twin tube oil filled shocks. They tend to have several poor reviews, but a lot of those are from people that thought they were too soft in compression and most of those were being put on bigger trucks. The website says they fit everything from a Ranger to an F-350, and of the reviews that mention putting them on Rangers there weren't any complaints.
Someone with a Ranger said SUM-G7755 acts like a 10/90 drag racing shock and that it rides good going across ditches. It's 11.5-18.5" in length range but claims to be for 3-4" of lift.
SUM-G7753 is 10.02-15.69" and says it's for 0-2" of lift. It has a good review from a Ranger with a 2" lift.
SUM-G7756 is 13.54-22.75" and says it's for 5-8" of lift.
SUM-G7751, their only rear option, is 15.57" compressed and 26.07" extended. It says it fits with 0-2" of lift, and for some reason it also says V6 only even though it's a rear shock.
It looks like the stock compressed to extended length ranges on a 4x4 are roughly 10-15" front and 15-25" rear.
The gist of this thread seems to be that Monroes are junk, KYB Gas-A-Justs are alright, and Bilsteins are great. I've heard mixed things about the Rancho RS5000, including from my roommate who put them on both of his Chevy 2500s but has said that he probably won't buy them again. I've been on enough washboards and bouncy roads that I don't think I want it to ride stiff like the one post here said the Ranchos do. I know my roommate's are stiff, but I'm not sure if that's from the shocks or the fact that they're on a 1994 2500 that I'm pretty sure has stiffer than stock leaf springs. https://www.therangerstation.com/forums/threads/best-off-road-and-on-road-shocks.120701/
Ideally I want shocks that will perform well enough everywhere, and the more expensive they are the longer I'd want them to hold up to abuse on washboards, trails, and some of these roads in Colorado. My A/T tires list for $80 each, I got them for $72 each, and they are performing just fine so far. So I'm willing to gamble on cheap stuff that might turn out well as long as long as I don't think it will be intolerable if it turns out to be a bad choice. And while I wouldn't complain if it did, I'm not expecting my 30 year old pickup to ride like a Town Car.
I'm almost tempted to try the Summit branded ones just to see how they work out, the rears and either the G7753 or G7755 fronts. Unless I'm missing something the latter is only an inch and a half longer than stock when fully compressed, so the springs that I already have and maybe a washer stack should be sufficient even though it says at least 3" of lift. And maybe a good bump stop. They would also work if I lift it. But the former may be a little stiffer, which could be useful depending on just how soft the reviewers were talking about.
Edit: I can't write anything short on here, can I?
I have a 1994 4.0 extended cab with a camper shell on the bed. I blew out all 4 of my 20+ year old shocks doing trails in Moab last month, and now every time I drive somewhere I become more and more convinced that I need to replace them. I don't think it's as bad as when I ran around without a front sway bar for a month, but it's definitely a little too floaty on the highway. And when testing the shocks it rocks like when you stand on the gunwales of a keelless canoe.
It sees everything from long highway stretches to rock crawling. I bought it to be a cheap 4x4 that could handle fun trails reliably enough to also serving as a daily. And it was $500 and I'd was getting tired of borrowing cars from or catching rides with other people... I don't usually tow or haul a lot of weight, and it isn't a sports car, so I don't mind sacrificing a little on road performance for a little more comfort off road. Right now my suspension is the stock height minus 195k miles of hard use. The rear springs are almost completely flat even with nothing in the bed and depending on how it's sitting in the same relatively flat parking lot I have between 1" and 4" of lean. I also want to replace the front bumper with preferably a winch bumper but at least one with sufficient strength and tow points to get winched out of a bind, which will probably add some weight to the front end. The lack of a suitable front tow point was all that kept me from trying Hell's Gate last month.
I am contemplating a mild suspension lift. Probably only 2 or 3 inches, nothing extreme. I don't want to ruin the highway performance, but I would like it to be a little more capable off road. And I want tires that are a little larger than 235/75R15. At least as big as the 265/75R15 that it left the factory on, but probably something bigger. If my calculations are right my speedometer is already geared for 33s. I feel like the trails that I did in Moab were about the limit of what I'd want to put it through as it is, and the hardest difficulty rating that I did was only a 6.
Mainly I'm looking for cheap, but if there would be an appreciable difference then I wouldn't necessarily mind paying a little more for better ones. Here's what I've found so far in a brief bout of homework procrastination:
The shocks on it now are Gabriel Pro Ryder Premium Gas Truck Shocks. As best as I can tell they were discontinued about 20 years ago.
I know lil_Blue_Ford has mentioned liking his Rough Country N3 shocks recently. It looks like they're about $120 per pair and I'd have to pick over or under about 1.5" of lift.
There are several different listings for Monroe Matic Plus shocks on eBay in the $100 range for the set of all four.
Detroit Axle has an unbranded rear pair for $74. They have no information on them, and they don't have fronts, so I probably wouldn't try them.
Summit has Monroe Restore shocks for $22 each.
Summit also has several other Gabriel and Monroe options for around $25 each.
Bilsteins are supposed to be pretty good, but I don't think I want to spend $400+ on a set of shocks for a truck that I bought for $500. And I'm a college student, I don't really have the money to be buying expensive shocks like that just to be doing it. Ditto for the Skyjacker M95 mentioned in one of the Tech articles that I read on here.
Skyjacker Black Maxes are $60 each, and they currently have a $50 rebate when you buy four. They're 11.5-18.6" front and say 3-4" lift. I found a Jeep TJ forum that liked their ride, but it said that they are prone to developing dead spots in the dampening.
Skyjacker Hydros are $50 and qualify for the same rebate, but the consensus of a thread on a Jeep Wrangler forum was that they're only worthwhile if they are free.
I've read some good things about the Rancho RS9000XL series, triple tube and single adjustable, but those are about $120 each.
The above options only had Rangers or their kin in the lists of what they fit, although I had them filtered by mine so other vehicles might have been suppressed. But then there are the house branded Summit Racing Truck Shocks for $37 each... I couldn't find anything about them on here, or anywhere really, but they are twin tube oil filled shocks. They tend to have several poor reviews, but a lot of those are from people that thought they were too soft in compression and most of those were being put on bigger trucks. The website says they fit everything from a Ranger to an F-350, and of the reviews that mention putting them on Rangers there weren't any complaints.
Someone with a Ranger said SUM-G7755 acts like a 10/90 drag racing shock and that it rides good going across ditches. It's 11.5-18.5" in length range but claims to be for 3-4" of lift.
SUM-G7753 is 10.02-15.69" and says it's for 0-2" of lift. It has a good review from a Ranger with a 2" lift.
SUM-G7756 is 13.54-22.75" and says it's for 5-8" of lift.
SUM-G7751, their only rear option, is 15.57" compressed and 26.07" extended. It says it fits with 0-2" of lift, and for some reason it also says V6 only even though it's a rear shock.
It looks like the stock compressed to extended length ranges on a 4x4 are roughly 10-15" front and 15-25" rear.
The gist of this thread seems to be that Monroes are junk, KYB Gas-A-Justs are alright, and Bilsteins are great. I've heard mixed things about the Rancho RS5000, including from my roommate who put them on both of his Chevy 2500s but has said that he probably won't buy them again. I've been on enough washboards and bouncy roads that I don't think I want it to ride stiff like the one post here said the Ranchos do. I know my roommate's are stiff, but I'm not sure if that's from the shocks or the fact that they're on a 1994 2500 that I'm pretty sure has stiffer than stock leaf springs. https://www.therangerstation.com/forums/threads/best-off-road-and-on-road-shocks.120701/
Ideally I want shocks that will perform well enough everywhere, and the more expensive they are the longer I'd want them to hold up to abuse on washboards, trails, and some of these roads in Colorado. My A/T tires list for $80 each, I got them for $72 each, and they are performing just fine so far. So I'm willing to gamble on cheap stuff that might turn out well as long as long as I don't think it will be intolerable if it turns out to be a bad choice. And while I wouldn't complain if it did, I'm not expecting my 30 year old pickup to ride like a Town Car.
I'm almost tempted to try the Summit branded ones just to see how they work out, the rears and either the G7753 or G7755 fronts. Unless I'm missing something the latter is only an inch and a half longer than stock when fully compressed, so the springs that I already have and maybe a washer stack should be sufficient even though it says at least 3" of lift. And maybe a good bump stop. They would also work if I lift it. But the former may be a little stiffer, which could be useful depending on just how soft the reviewers were talking about.
Edit: I can't write anything short on here, can I?
