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.