best shock absorbers for the money

[Cyrk]

I am going to replace mine with the Bilsteins B46-1738-H1 and B46-1739-H1.
From what I hear they are the closest in stiffness to the stock ride. I really drive my VX hard and I want to keep it as firm as possible, like stock as I can.

I recall that some people who have the Ranchos, even on the hardest setting is not as stiff as the stock ride.

But then again I really have no clue as I have the stock shocks in my VX as we speak. But as soon as I get the new shocks I will let you know my thoughts.

[transio]

I have the Bilstein H1's. They're too stiff for me. It's like driving a gokart.

If I could do it again, I'd get the Rancho 9000s.

[Cyrk]

transio, is the ride even stiffer than stock?

[VXcaver]

Duh, Transio! I went with the Bilsteins based on your recommendation!

But personally I love the H1 Bilsteins and the stiff ride. It feels a lot like stock to me.

[VehiGAZ]

I'll throw in my two cents on this topic (again)...

I bought my VX with KYB gas-a-just shocks, and they sucked - very poor body roll/pitch/dive control. Driving over an old bumpy road was like riding in a rodeo (not the Isuzu, I mean the thing with the horses and bulls).

I replaced them with the Bilsteins Cyrk mentioned, and it helped the ride immensely. I was able to drive Peewog's VX with 77k miles on her original shocks just after I replaced mine, and found the rides VERY comparable. I would say that the Bilsteins provide a ride that is about 95-97% as stiff as the OEM KYBs. It was hard to characterize the comparison any more, because her tires gave a noticeably smoother, softer ride (in terms of general vibration and road noise) than whatever tires the dealer threw on my VX before I bought it.

The one thing about the Ranchos that turned me away from them was the revelation by one of our members that only the bump rate is adjustable, not the rebound rate. From what I can tell, the rebound rate has a greater affect on the quality of the ride from what my butt can tell. I'd rather have a car take a hard bump but then rebound more slowly, so why the heck would I buy shocks that adjust the parameter I'm less interested in?

There you have it... take it for what it's worth.