Need some advice, I had a RC 3.25 standard lift along with a half inch spacer on my 12 JK and I cannot stand the rough ride any longer. I have it in mind to upgrade to Bilstein 5100's to replace the RC 2.2's but I wonder if I should go further than this to smooth my ride out. I had one lift dealer recommend swapping the RC springs and spacers with a set of Rubicon 3.5 springs along with the Bilsteins. I'm running 295/70/17 Nitto Trail Grapplers which are a pretty heavy. Anyone been down this road that can make a recommendation?

 

I've read the Old Man Emu nitrocharger sport shocks give a really nice ride. I have them on my Jeep and I think they do ride quite nice. I've also read the Rancho 9000's give a nice ride too, but I've not experienced them myself so cannot say from experience. As far as springs I have no experience with the Rubicon's. I have all MetalCloak gear on my Jeep. I like their Dual rate springs. I can't comment on to many other setups cause I rarely ride in others Jeeps.

 

A rough ride isn't always just made up of rough shocks. Coils, improper suspension geometry, and E and D rated tires can also give you a rough ride.

RC has both rough coils and shocks. So you would be better off just replacing both the coils and shocks. Not sure Rubicon Express coils are much better either. And you're not going to see a whole lot of improvement swapping out the shocks for 5100s. 5100s aren't the softest shocks out there.

 

Tire pressure?

 

I have the rough country 3.5 and also couldn't stand the ride. I just replaced my coils with rk triple rate and I can already feel the difference in ride quality. Shocks are next on the upgrade list. Also after getting my new wheels put on they had the tire pressure to high and that greatly affected my ride quality

 

Just swapped out pro comp lift last week with synergy progressive 3 inch coils. I had fox 2.0 shocks on previously to try and smooth out the pro comp lift with only slight improvements.
Jeep now drives like a dream. I didnt think my jeep could drive that nice. Synergy coils are pretty long too. Just very impressed with synergy and fox combo.

 

Thanks for all the advice. Running 32 lbs in the tires currently. A lot of folks seem to think rancho is a good shock, how about their coils? Anyone go all Rancho?

 

Ended up ordering Rancho 9000 shocks and upgrading steering stabilizer with an OME. I'll install and change coils later if needed. Thanks again.

 

Ok the Rancho shocks helped a lot but it only gives a decent ride with them cranked up to seven. These RC coils are just way too soft so I'm coil shopping. I saw mention of synergy 3 inch, would this be a good replacement for the height I have. If would be replacing 2.5 or coil and a 3/4 spacer. Any other recommendations?

 

Holy Crap, do not buy Rough Country lift kits! I swapped out the RC coils with 2.25 OME's and reset my Rancho shocks back to 3. Rides almost as smooth as when it came off the lot at stock height. I put on the Heavy OME coils with the small recommended spacers. I think the total lift is around 3 to 3.25 and I hear they don't settle much. I've been fooled twice (once on a truck) to try the cheaper RC lift but never again. You get what you pay for every time.