Should I buy a RC (Rough Country) lift?

Chris said:
A question I commonly see asked around here is, "Should I buy a RC (Rough Country) lift?"
I'l answer that one for you plain and simple. NO! Rough Country lifts are garbage, pure and simple. First and foremost, ask yourself this: How can they afford to sell a complete lift kit for such a fraction of the cost of the other name brands such as Currie, Metalcloak, etc.?

The answer is simple, because it's cheap, piss poor quality. The shocks in the RC kits are widely regarded as garbage. The shocks are so bad that when you install the lift for the first time, you'll feel like you're riding on railroad tracks with no suspension at all. Coincidentally the shocks in a lift are the major determining factor in how well your suspension rides. The difference between a good shock and a crappy shock is night and day both on-road and off-road. Most people who end up purchasing the Rough Country lift end up swapping out the shocks for new shocks, which adds another $300 onto the price, and at that point you could have just bought a nice OME lift (with good shocks) from the start. So in reality, you aren't actually saving any money on the Rough County lift at all.

I'm not just saying this either, this is coming from a guy (me) who has run both the Rough Country 2.5" lift and the OME 2.5" lift. You can't even compare the two, the OME lift rides so much better you'd think you were dreaming.

The bushings in the Rough Country kit are also garbage as well. The rubber deteriorates faster than OE bushings, and if you spend any time off road at all, you'll be replacing them rather quick.

I don't want to be that guy who tries to talk down on people just because they are using a Rough Country lift. However, I also don't like seeing people waste money, only to realize that they made a mistake. I was in this situation myself when I bought a Rough Country lift and then realized how crappy it was.

How would a company like Rough Country be able to sell a lift for $350 and make money off of it if it used such high quality components? They get those $350 lifts manufactured probably somewhere around the tune of $150. I'm sorry, but you can't make a quality suspension for that price, plain and simple. This is common sense if you think about it.

Save your money and do it right the first time with a good quality kit such as OME or similar. I promise you, if you're buying a Rough Country kit with the intention of keeping your TJ for a long time, you will be disappointed.
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Thank you for your post! I have been researching 2.5" lift with new shocks kits for my 1995 yj. You just saved me from wasting time, money and heartache.
 
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I am going to partially retract my prior comment about the RC N3 shocks and 2.5" springs. Granted, I haven't driven any other shock setup in a TJ, and I do have Rancho's on my short list, once I got all the bushings replaced and dialed down the tire pressure, the TJ rides far better than any of my expectations. I am not arrogant enough to think it can't be improved on, but it isn't as bad as it was prior to getting the rest of the suspension dialed in. It's not as bone jarring as it was prior. No bump steer. No side stepping.

I wouldn't have opted for RC if I were doing the lift from start, but since they were installed already and things are kind of dialed in, I am not so fast to pull everything out.
 
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MikekiM said:
I am going to partially retract my prior comment about the RC N3 shocks and 2.5" springs. Granted, I haven't driven any other shock setup in a TJ, and I do have Rancho's on my short list, once I got all the bushings replaced and dialed down the tire pressure, the TJ rides far better than any of my expectations. I am not arrogant enough to think it can't be improved on, but it isn't as bad as it was prior to getting the rest of the suspension dialed in. It's not as bone jarring as it was prior. No bump steer. No side stepping.

I wouldn't have opted for RC if I were doing the lift from start, but since they were installed already and things are kind of dialed in, I am not so fast to pull everything out.
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That’s good news. It’s also good news that shocks are on your short list.
 
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We just had the RC 2.5" kit installed on our '03 and it is 10,000X better than the worn out factory suspension. I had orginally ordered the OME kit back in July, but got real tired of waiting for it.
The guys at my local 4WP called and recommended this as a better alternative (more complete), it was essentially the same price, and available so I was sold.
So far we haven't done any offroading with it, but like I said, it is 10,000X better than the factory suspension that we replaced.
 
Just another data point...

In 2017 I bought a TJ with rigid tubular lower control arms with cylindrical split polyurethane bushings at both ends. I was certain that actual flex was going to rip the mounts off the frame or the axle. It had a 3" lift and the lower arms weren't set to stock length so I was certain I needed adjustable arms to avoid driveline vibrations. Since I had also just completed a Dana 44 axle swap because the Dana 35 in it had been trashed, I wasn't flush with funds for a new set of control arms. So I bought Rough Country arms.

At the beginning of this year I switched all my suspension and axles from the TJ into an LJ, and found the X-Flex joints (their attempted JJ equivalent) had ZERO preload. I could twist the arm in the air and just inertia of the ball was enough for it to rotate in the shell. I found the right 2.5" Johnny Joint to thread into the RC arm body and ordered and installed them in all 4 lower control arms.

The arms are now under my LJ, with 25k miles on them and the rubber bushings in them are fine. 🤷‍♂️
 
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