Rancho Shocks on LC120 Prado

**mmm** · March 30th, 2008 01:05 PM

just bought a 2008 LC120 Prado, medyo matagtag sya. any one out there who replace their OEM Shocks with Rancho Shocks ?

**akosidags** · March 30th, 2008 10:54 PM

SWB yun lc 120 so expect its ride to be a bit stiff. try old man emu cause i think rancho would be better if you go off-roading,

**IMm29** · March 31st, 2008 03:34 PM

Yep, the Prado's ride is a bit stiff, so I replaced the OEM shocks with Old Man Emu shocks. Ride was then smoother, but not as soft as that on my former Gen 1 Exped. Despite the softer shocks, the Prado was not bottoming out when full, nor swaying during high speed runs with crosswinds. Stability was still good.

I'm not sure, but I think Bilstein and Rancho may be a bit stiffer than OME. Not sure how they are against stock. You'll know right away when you drive off from the shop. I forgot the name of the shop that installed my OMEs, but they did say they'd take my OMEs off and put the OEMs back if the ride didn't improve. Not sure if they'd push through on such though. Hehe!

**mmm** · March 31st, 2008 09:53 PM

[SIZE=3]i also heard Bilstein is stiffer than OME. i got interested with Rancho because it has 9 adjustable settings....i think you got your OME at RATS Katipunan. [/SIZE]

**Arvin Cristi** · March 31st, 2008 10:06 PM

hi i installed rancho 9000 on my dads suburban a couple years back, my dad used it for a year then had me remove them, he didn't like how the vehicle responded, i think the suburban was too heavy for the ranchos...go figure when the models i got were the ones that the americans used on theirs wheni was in california.

**IMm29** · April 1st, 2008 03:52 PM

Originally Posted by mmm

[SIZE=3]i also heard Bilstein is stiffer than OME. i got interested with Rancho because it has 9 adjustable settings....i think you got your OME at RATS Katipunan. [/SIZE]

Now that you mentioned it, I got it from RATS while they still had a shop in Alabang. Rancho does have 9 adjustable settings, but then despite setting it to the softest, my friend's Strada was still bouncy at the back. You might also like to research on Big Dawg, which is manufactured by Rancho. Another friend slapped those on his Mom's Patrol and the ride smoothened out. Nga lang, came to about P11K/shock I think vs OME and Bilstein. Laki kasi nung shock body. Hehehe!

**mmm** · April 2nd, 2008 12:35 AM

Originally Posted by IMm29

Now that you mentioned it, I got it from RATS while they still had a shop in Alabang. Rancho does have 9 adjustable settings, but then despite setting it to the softest, my friend's Strada was still bouncy at the back. You might also like to research on Big Dawg, which is manufactured by Rancho. Another friend slapped those on his Mom's Patrol and the ride smoothened out. Nga lang, came to about P11K/shock I think vs OME and Bilstein. Laki kasi nung shock body. Hehehe!

thanks for the info.

**ARB** · April 2nd, 2008 08:51 AM

for teh 120 prado, Old Man Emu also has coil springs to increase ride height coupled with better carrying capability and better ride than stock.

**IMm29** · April 2nd, 2008 10:55 AM

Originally Posted by ARB

for teh 120 prado, Old Man Emu also has coil springs to increase ride height coupled with better carrying capability and better ride than stock.

Oh yeah. RATS offered this to me as well when I had the shocks put in. Will lift the Prado about an inch or two I think, do correct me if i'm wrong though, ARB. I didn't like the idea since I wasn't planning to slap on bigger offroad tires. The OME shocks came with a 1 year warranty. The coils another year. So when purchased together, 2 years warranty.

*mmm,
In my experience, replacing the shocks alone improved the ride. When the installer showed me how hard it was to push a fully extended OEM shock vs an OME shock, I somehow lost my skepticism. I saved some, however, for the ride being too soft, but that wasn't the case either, coz day after that, I took the Prado out with the family (all 7 seats taken, by adults), and we weren't bottoming out. But hey, if you want to go for the springs too, why not?

*ARB,
Heard from some sources that OMEs get hard after a while, I suppose within the warranty period of one year or slightly after that, so these guys come back and have them replaced. That's why Big Dawg was what they recommended to my friend with a Patrol. Can't confirm this, though. I'm still happy with my shocks