i want to upgrade my shocks for a smoother ride...which would be my best bet?

Rancho
Edelbrock
Bilstein

any of you guys have any real experience with these? please give my your honest opinion.

Running Rancho 9000s and there was a huge difference over stock. Highly recommend.

Is the difference primarily in the form of better wheel articulation on rock obstacles or something else?

Is the difference primarily in the form of better wheel articulation on rock obstacles or something else? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have run Rancho 9000's on two differnt H2's. Your articulation wills tay the same. The ride is adjustable to stiffen it up so much it seems to not have as much body roll while cornering.
The truck also seems to ride more like a truck than being in a boat.

to help you guys out on what i'm looking for...after putting on the mud terrain tires, the truck seems to ride a little rougher. i get a little vibration from the tires and i just want to smooth it out if that's possible.

by the way, i talked to a guy here at a local 4x4 shop and he highly roccomended the Bilstein gas shocks that will automatically adjust for on and off road.

Hum Vet, the Bilstein gas shock is a very good shock but it will not adjust automatically for on and off road, no shock will as they get hotter from extream use they soffen up the side reservoir on the race ones are to keep the heat down.

Edelbrock Xtreme with reservoir... Firm on street and very responsive on off road at high speed ....

I plan on upgrading the shocks regardless. I don't want to lower the tire pressure until i'm actually doing some offroad stuff.

i think a lot of your rough ride is coming from your 22" rims, i haven't seen your truck but imagine you don't have as side wall as you used to. usually, the bigger the rim you get, the smaller the sidewall....which leads to a firmer ride.

In that case I would be tempted go with the Rancho adjustables, that way you will at least have some adjutsment to get the handling how you like it, although I suspect you won't be able to do much about the tire rumble.

I wasn't suggesting airing down, just lowering the tire pressure slightly. I don't know what you aerunning at right now, but the higher the pressure, the more you will feel the lugs. Dropping down 5 -10 psi may make a noticeable difference. When you do go off-road don't air down too much with 22's. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>thanks PhilD,
yeah, i know that i can't air down too much with this setup for offroading but i will try lowering the tire pressure just a little to see how it rides. as far as the shocks go, you may be right about the Rancho asjustables...maybe i can soften them up a bit to take some of the vibration out of the cab that i'm getting from the tires. but if all else fails then i'm not gonna cry about it. i really love this setup and i'm sure that i can live with the ride, vibration, noise etc...it's really minor when i actually think about it. i just wanted to get some opinions to see if there was a solution to this mionor problem. thanks for all the input guys.

good place to get the ranchos: www.trailduty.com

Go with the Ranchos. I have had them for about a year and a half and being adjustable you really can get a good ride on and off road, just like Paragon said.

I'm gonna take you guy's word and go with the Ranchos. I'll post an update to let you'll know how it worked out. Thanks for the help guys.

ok guys, i want to know if this is a good deal...here is the work that i decided to get done since i'm replacing the shocks...

2" Lift Level Kit (re-indexed torsion bar cams)
Rancho9000 Adjustable Shocks (front & rear)
Pitman Arm
Idler Arm

All of this with installation included and alignment will cost me $1040.00 OTD at a local shop here in Sacramento.

Will I be paying too much?