Let me first say, I don't want to hear about the "should have spent more money on a better lift" or "RC is garbage" comments.

That being said, I grabbed a full RC 2.5" lift with the 2.2 full length shocks back around Christmas (it was cheap enough that I literally could not say no). The lift has been great for me so far, good on road, decent off road, yes it flexs well, etc. etc. Well about a month ago my boss (whos been oogling my JK since I bought it) bought a JK of his own and immediately threw an AEV 3.5" lift on his. Mine sat about 1/4" below his (I should also note I have a 1.25" body lift so effectively I should be at 3.75" total) today he parked next to me again and now my Jeep is about 3/4 of an inch below his.

The only thing that I have changed in that time is the addition of Mopar bumpers (front and rear w tire carrier) and a winch. by my guestimate this is about 80 lbs additional on each end (or effectively driving with a passenger). I don't think 160 lbs should be enough to drop the suspension a 1/2"; considering that I should be able to back 1000 lbs into this thing before hitting GVWR, if the suspension dropped an average 1/2" per 150 lbs, I would loose more than 3.5 inches in suspension if I were fully loaded. yes I know this is not how suspension works but the point is, 1/2" is a major loss.

So question is. Am I actually wrong and should expect the 1/2" loss with 160ish lbs of bumpers? Might I have somehow damaged the springs? Something else I am not thinking of? Should I just accept that I got a full 2.5" lift for roughly the cost of two tanks of gas and move on to something more reliable?

 

Sometimes springs sag, adding weight anywhere helps that process, you can call rough country and get replacement springs shipped to you

 

1/2" is not uncommon when adding 160 lbs.

 

I bought a 4 in rough country lift for my unlimited about 3 years ago, my front springs have sagged so much that I had to install an 1 3/4 spacer just to level it.

 

Is this loss of height causing problems other then the fact you are not as big as your bosses? Height envy?
If not why do you care?
Are you using actual measuremtents that you took or are you eyeballing it?

 

Wow. Thats a lot of sag.

 

Lol. no I'm not height envious. I only noticed it as he had parked next to me again and it was a rather visible change. I also started getting concerned when I started pocketing my tires into the fenders and rubbing on the trails this past weekend on obstacles I didn't feel I should be rubbing on. It's just more of a concern along the lines of, if it's sagging this much now, it's bound to get worse, so if it's just the RCs being Rcs then its time to go, otherwise I need to figure out the next step.

 

I do have a bumper and winch on the front but when I installed them it only went down a half inch then over time the bottom coils are actually touching

 

wow so yea, really thinking I will be replacing this kit instead of getting that roof rack I've been eying up.

 

I originally bought the 4 inch RC lift for my JK, and over the course of a year and a half, I sagged about an inch after changing my total weight by about an extra 100lbs. After adding my bumpers, winch, etc, I was sitting about two inches lower than a friend who just installed his own 4in RC lift in the front, and 2.5 in the back. From my experience, and what I've heard, it's not uncommon for the RC coils. It was a good lift though, while I had it.