Hey I've been doing some research, when you said Rancho I was thinking of Ironman!!
Anyway after a load of reading I'm kind of keen on EFS
The price is significantly cheaper, just a matter of finding someone to install... haven't read any bad reports on them either.
http://www.4wddirect.com.au/scart/html/493.html
Just to throw my 3.2 cents your way:
I'll give you a bad report on them, they are significantly cheaper for a reason
.
Buy some decent shocks, install them yourself, if you can repair a bike you can install a set of shocks not that much to it and the money saved can go towards a higher end non-nasty set of shocks. I would also classify Ironman and Tough Dog in the cheap and nasty corner of the shock market; having said that I have never endured a set based on the feedback from plenty in the industry who do no recommend them. Maybe I just don't like wasting my hard earned? But it also depends on what you plan on doing with your 4x4.
However, there's nothing wrong with Rancho's just shop around and the prices will drop, I've had 2 sets in the past, and they last well. My first set was on the vehicle for 5 yrs before my lift out grew them and my second set has recently been replaced by the below shocks. I've also had several sets of OME's and some pro-comps (don't recommend the Pro-Craps, but it depends on your springs).
Another consideration that must weigh into the field is your springs and the rate they were manufactured at, are they soft, hard, for touring or are they OEM? (in one of your posts you state that you think they are OEM?)
Your can't really go wrong with the bigger name brands such as OME, Bilstein, Rancho etc. remembering that the majority of shocks are all made in the same factories just valved and spec'd to the brands requirements.
You do get what you pay for!
As an example of re-badging: I just picked up these; the fronts have 12" down travel and the rears have 10" down travel...they are Rubicon Express MonoTubes with remote res but in reality they are basically re-badged Edelbrock IAS Remote Reservoir shocks which sell via ABT (the Aussie Distributor) for $525 each..ouch! As Rubicon Express brand they sell for around the $375 mark (I got them alot cheaper
).
But these are not for your everyday cruising...