WARNING ON RACNHO LIFT

[timgco]

Many of you have been following my post on the Rancho 4" lift. I thouhgt I'd share why the lift is coming back off of my truck.

#1 reason; 16", 17", 18" tires will fit with the proper offset, however, the steering knuckle is less than 1/4" from touching the tire. So if you ever plan on off roading and airing down, the sidewall of your tire will touch and get trashed with their "required" 4.5" offest. I had to use a 1'4" wheel spacer so it would not touch the tire at the required aired up ammount.

when I called Rancho about this, they said the kit was desigend for a 20" rim with 5" of offset. using a smaller diameter rim will not allow for airing down. WTF is is good for than?

#2 reason: Your tires will stick out 3" to 4" at the top of the fenders. They stick out much more towards the bottoms of your flares. FOr those of you with the stock 33" tires and have driven through snow/ mud have seen what happens to your door/ door handles, and fender flares. Now take that X 10 and you can imagine what that looks like. This means the sides of your truck will be trashed in no time. After only 300 miles or so, the truck is already getting rock chips though the paint and the rear fender flares will look like swiss cheese in a couple thousand miles.

#3 Reason: When you get at highway speeds, the truck does not feel very stable at all. If you drive 75mph or higher on a daily basis, I would not get this lift.

On a positive note, this lift gives the truck a very aggresive stance and handles OK at 55mph or under. You will feel the tires grab your steering wheel on grooved surfaces or at places the road has those "trenches" in the blacktop from heavy trucks. But it's not too bad. You will get a ton of improved ground clearance, ap angle, and dp angle. You will also get somew vibration in the steering wheel and floor boards.

So, there's my 2 cents on this lift.

[timgco]

Many of you have been following my post on the Rancho 4" lift. I thouhgt I'd share why the lift is coming back off of my truck.

#1 reason; 16", 17", 18" tires will fit with the proper offset, however, the steering knuckle is less than 1/4" from touching the tire. So if you ever plan on off roading and airing down, the sidewall of your tire will touch and get trashed with their "required" 4.5" offest. I had to use a 1'4" wheel spacer so it would not touch the tire at the required aired up ammount.

when I called Rancho about this, they said the kit was desigend for a 20" rim with 5" of offset. using a smaller diameter rim will not allow for airing down. WTF is is good for than?

#2 reason: Your tires will stick out 3" to 4" at the top of the fenders. They stick out much more towards the bottoms of your flares. FOr those of you with the stock 33" tires and have driven through snow/ mud have seen what happens to your door/ door handles, and fender flares. Now take that X 10 and you can imagine what that looks like. This means the sides of your truck will be trashed in no time. After only 300 miles or so, the truck is already getting rock chips though the paint and the rear fender flares will look like swiss cheese in a couple thousand miles.

#3 Reason: When you get at highway speeds, the truck does not feel very stable at all. If you drive 75mph or higher on a daily basis, I would not get this lift.

On a positive note, this lift gives the truck a very aggresive stance and handles OK at 55mph or under. You will feel the tires grab your steering wheel on grooved surfaces or at places the road has those "trenches" in the blacktop from heavy trucks. But it's not too bad. You will get a ton of improved ground clearance, ap angle, and dp angle. You will also get somew vibration in the steering wheel and floor boards.

So, there's my 2 cents on this lift.

[bjklein21]

Maybe you should look into the rough country 5 inch lift. Its totally bolt on and looks great. I beleive the tires do not stick out the same as they do with the rancho kit plus you can use the factory wheels.

[NEOCON1]

have also heard of inside tire damage from another when aired down , was at conejo offroad " local shop " the other day they didant have much nice to say about rancho and no info on the 5in yet .

[hmrlvr]

Well Timco tried the Rancho and we all learned. Who will be the 1st to try the Rough Country. Thanks for all the good info and follow up's Timco I'm sure you saved alot of people some time and trouble.

[timgco]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by hmrlvr:
Well Timco tried the Rancho and we all learned. Who will be the 1st to try the Rough Country. Thanks for all the good info and follow up's Timco I'm sure you saved alot of people some time and trouble. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Glad I could help. Donations can be sent through paypal.

[MyxH3]

LOL so are you selling it then?

[timgco]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by MyxH3:
LOL so are you selling it then? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

No, It's going back to Rancho!

[Ipedog]

Bummer that it didn't work out Tim. I would definitely send it back to Rancho, AND try to get them to cover installation/removal costs. What a PITA.

Maybe the Rough Country lift is a better way to go. Good Luck!

[ETD]

Yes, thanks for the heads-up. As I had said, was gonna get one. Sorry it didn't work out

[TA8088]

That sucks. Keep us posted on how Rancho responds.

[crop000s]

Thanks for letting us know. I hate that it didn't work out like it should have. Seems like they rushed through the R&D to get it ready to market.

[Sewie]

Thanks for all the info Tim. Will be interesting to hear how Rancho responds to this. Be sure to keep us updated.

BTW, the truck <STRIKE>looks</STRIKE> looked great. Hope you figure out a fix.

[KenP]

Tim, sorry I missed this. That sucks.

You need to keep us informed on how Rancho handles this.

Maybe Rancho needs to designate their lifts as not good for wheeling because of the rim requirements.

[4churchill]

I drove the SEMA H3 that rancho did, last week, and I had the same feelings. Also the brakes were not up to the task.

Well off to plan B Tim

[VTSTOMPER]

sorry to hear, er, read the news!

[Talljeeper]

You obviously chose the wrong wheel design...did you do a trial fit, or did you choose, "Thats looks cool"....seems to me if you had performed a trial fit you would have noted what offest was required. There also the issue of backspace which you never noted as well.

Ranchos H3 system is a very well designed, quality suspension system.

What you describe as far as ill handling can easily be attributed to tire tread design, improper inflation, poor alignment.....on and on....

Having had multiple Rancho systems over the years, I have yet to see a poor design from them, including the H3.

The H3 suspension is not a rocket science setup....

Also the comment on brakes.....anytime you add rotational mass at the axle brake performance degrades.....

While the RC setup looks pretty nice, the Rancho won't void the drivetrain warranty like the RC probably will.

You guys need to recognize the difference between these two mfg's..

Rancho bar none produces some of the finest off-road suspension systems manufactured...H3 included.

There is a reason the RC isn't being mass produced an that is to address bump steer issues...I am sure thay will reach a compromise on the design.

[Humm3r]

Who are you....the spokesperson for Rancho?

[Operator24]

IMHO Rancho is a decent and quick lift for most 4x4s out there. But there is alway other options. In the jeep world where I come from, rancho is not on the top of list for the serious wheeler. TeraFlex, Rubicon Express, Nth Degree, maybe full traction all come to mind. If any one of those companies made a lift for the H3, I'd buy it without hesitation. Truck companies I'd trust...well, one anyway is CST (california super trucks). They (CST) make durable well thought out truck kits. They're probably already working on kit for the H3, they're pretty quick with R&D. I know one of their former designers... he was crazy with his fabrication skills. Most of their staff is.