[John Lester]

It is so much easier to just add a new rank to the user group. No need to make a user group for each rank.

ACP -> User Ranks -> Add new user rank

Number of times to repeat rank = 1
User group = whatever
Max posts = whatever
Stack Ranks = no (I also did this with yes but saw no difference)
Display type = always

User rank file path /images/ranks/vip.png (example only)

Save

Repeat for additional ranks on the same user group. This will display the ranks on top of each other (vertically) to make them display horizontally I'm pretty sure you have to edit the postbit or legacy postbit template (depends on which one you use).