As a new JKU owner, I have been scouring this forum as well as others for all the info. I can digest on a 2.5" lift. I keep asking myself should I go leveling kit or budget boost or new coil/shock lift? The more I read, the more varying opinions and the more I second guess the decision that I thought I came to terms with. I have spoken with 3 different off-road shops that do suspension work and all 3 promote Rough Country and tell me that they do a ton of Rough Country lifts on Jeeps and they never have any complaints or issues however there seems to be alot of negative PR here on the forums when it comes to discussing Rough Country lifts. I understand they have a larger profit margin on the RC products but are they really that inferior to others? All 3 shops tell me they will install any kit I want but that I'm just gonna be paying extra for the "name." Am I over researching something that is pretty straight forward and easy? The one shop that I am going to use will install any of the 2.5 coil/shock lifts for $250. If I buy my own tools required to do it myself, it'll likely cost more than that considering I'd be buying a floor jack and jack stands. I just want a reliable 2.5" lift that will suit me well for mostly on-road use with possibly an occasional venture in a state park or local off-road dirt trail. No rock crawling anytime soon.

 

I have the Rough Country 3.5" Series II lift and it has worked fine for my needs so far. It rides good on the street and the few times I've been off road it has performed ok. I know a few others that have this lift and they don't have any complaints either.

 

I'd say its more of a fanboy mentality. Buy it, try it. Works for your needs the who care what the forum say. I'm looking into their full control arm kit. ~$700 for all 8 is tempting.

 

I dont know why RC gets no love... I had a 5" Rancho lift on my other Rig and never had any problems. Now saying that I just had a RC 3.5" Series II lift put on my 2013 JK an no issues what so ever. Shoot I think it rides better than stock now.

I took a long hard look at lifts and what came with them and decided that RC 3.5" series II lift was the best bang for the buck. The reason was it came with lower control arms. The 4" kit with no LCA's is the same price but did not come with them. So after much reading I went with the 3.5" lift.

Before I bought the kit I went to my local 4X4 shop that I had my pervious lift put on there. Talked to the techs and they told me what they thought would best serve my needs.

I have a 2 door and talked to them about getting a 4 Door kit for the stiffer springs and more lift but they said it would ride like crap and I would have to get Driveshafts. They also advised me to try the kit as is and if I was not happy with it they would install Adjustable LCA's and Track bars at No labor charge. Needless to say I'm happy with the Engineers at RC and I feel I dont need the Adjustable LCA's and Track Bars.

So do your homework talk to some techs that Put on and Drive the stuff all the time and make the best decision for your needs.

 

You get what you pay for. Rc is cheaper and the tends to show in the long run from a good number of the reviews ive read. where as the more expencive kits tera / aev / rock tend to cost more but generally last a good deal longer as well.

 

I have the rc 3.25" kit. works good. But I need more lift so I am installing the 6" long arm wed.

 

I have a friend running Rough Country and he's happy with them but the coils did a fair amount of bowing which he was able to have swapped out with a new version of RC coils. Remember the forums are just a bunch of opinions and you have to shift through the advice people provide looking for those who are actually running the product otherwise what you get is un-informed opinions which doesn't mean anything without some supporting facts. Good luck!

 

RC is a good company with a good lift for the price. But like anything else you get what you pay for, don't expect RC to outpeform kits that cost twice as much.

I agree with the above its a fanboy thing, people with RC gear want to validate their purchase, and people without it want to justify spending more money. I see a bunch of people with RC gear beating their chest saying their lift is "just as good" as the more expensive one, pretty much implying that anyone who spent more on a lift is throwing their money away. Then I get flamed when I say I have personally seen RC bushings fail in under 20k miles and seen their coils bend up like a snake and cause their RC shocks to overcompress and start leaking. (To RC's credit, they replaced all the parts my friend broke on his kit.) All of those incedents happend on very extreme trails so if you are going to stick to mainly roads and trails rated 1-3 (out of 5) you would likely have no trouble with RC.

 

Very well said!

 

It's your Jeep and your budget....do what suits your needs. I'd go along with most of the above statements. As to my personal experience, I've ran their stuff on my previous TJ's and never had an issue.