Installed 3.5 inch Rough Country Lift

[John89]

Contrary to what most on this forum would recommend, I went with the 3.5” lift kit by Rough Country with the lifted N3 struts and V2 monotube rears. I understand fox and bilstein would’ve been a better choice, and tbh I could afford either. However, I really want to see for myself how the RC lift kit performs and so I could share my experience with others. My first impression is the lift is great! My truck rides better than stock, that’s for sure. It took away that wobble/soft feeling the truck had whenever you’d go over your typical speed bump. It feels firmer but in a good way if that makes sense. I’m still riding with the stock Bridgestone Dueler H/L’s (275/55r20) as I wanted to drive it for a bit to assess how the lift kit affected the ride. So far, I did notice a tiny drop in mpg but it was a negligible amount (~0.5 - 0.7mpg). These trucks chug gas anyway so it’s hard to really measure if this is due to the lift. Tomorrow I’ll be getting my new tires installed, Falken Wildpeak AT3W 285/65r20 and I’ll be keeping the stock rims until I figure out which wheels I want to put on as I’m having issues figuring out what goes well with the bright white and chrome bumpers… Any recommendations are welcome! Also forgot to mention that I didn’t go with the rough country 1 inch rear spacers because I read from other members on here that the rear would be lower than the front. So, I went with 2 inch supreme suspension rear steel spacers. Found them on Amazon for $50. Seemed like a better deal ($100 less) and they look very similar if not better in quality than ready lifts.

Here’s a few pics!

 

[Shine006]

I’ve got the same lift except I went with icon 1.5” lift springs in the rear. Love it so far.

 

[RAMonkey]

I did the same, but with 2” Motofab spacers in rear along with ORP rear springs for a total of 3” in the back.
I also added Suspension Maxx front sway bar links. They make some solid extended ones. My OEM links were pretty torqued. Rides great.

 

[cewalker2]

I have the same kit ordered for my truck. My only concern is cv axle angle. Anyone have any problems yet from cv axle with 3.5 RC lift?

 

[John89]

I have the same kit ordered for my truck. My only concern is cv axle angle. Anyone have any problems yet from cv axle with 3.5 RC lift?

Not sure what qualifies a bad angle. Perhaps a more experienced forum member can chime in? I can take more pics if needed.

 

[John89]

I did the same, but with 2” Motofab spacers in rear along with ORP rear springs for a total of 3” in the back.
I also added Suspension Maxx front sway bar links. They make some solid adjustable ones. My OEM links were pretty torqued. Rides great.

Gotta check those front sway bar links out. Where’d you get them?

 

[RAMonkey]

Gotta check those front sway bar links out. Where’d you get them?

Sway Bar Links :: SuspensionMAXX

SuspensionMAXX Adjustable Leveling Kits. Less expensive than lift kits. Adjustable torsion bar keys, extended sway bar links. Chevy, Ford, Dodge, Toyota, GMC, Hummer and more. Get the "Just Right" amount of leveling lift for your needs with a SuspensionMAXX adjustable leveling kit.

suspensionmaxx.com

I called them first to verify fit. I was under the truck to measure the sway bar nut. Apparently, they switched up the sizes on various RAM models. Customer service was excellent.

 

[Ramroo]

I did the same, but with 2” Motofab spacers in rear along with ORP rear springs for a total of 3” in the back.
I also added Suspension Maxx front sway bar links. They make some solid adjustable ones. My OEM links were pretty torqued. Rides great.

What shocks are you using in the rear?

 

[RAMonkey]

What shocks are you using in the rear?

Rough Country 0-3” N3

 

[Ccm12]

I’ve got the same lift except I went with icon 1.5” lift springs in the rear. Love it so far.

Did 3.5 in front and 1.5 in back make you level?

 

[Shine006]

Did 3.5 in front and 1.5 in back make you level?

Slight rake still of .5”. I was hoping to keep 1” of rake as I use my bed on the farm.

 

[s10blazer89.jw]

I did the same, but with 2” Motofab spacers in rear along with ORP rear springs for a total of 3” in the back.
I also added Suspension Maxx front sway bar links. They make some solid extended ones. My OEM links were pretty torqued. Rides great.

Have you had any issues after lifting the rear 3"? This is similar to what I'll be doing.

 

[RAMonkey]

Have you had any issues after lifting the rear 3"? This is similar to what I'll be doing.

Zero issues. It worked out great. Good luck!

 

[s10blazer89.jw]

Zero issues. It worked out great. Good luck!

That's great to hear thanks!

 

[tyanmax99]

@John89 Curious what your 6 month evaluation has been? I'm picking up a '22 Rebel next week and have gotten to the point where I have paralysis by analysis on all the various options and configs.

 

[John89]

@John89 Curious what your 6 month evaluation has been? I'm picking up a '22 Rebel next week and have gotten to the point where I have paralysis by analysis on all the various options and configs.

What’s up man, definitely feel you on this as there are so many different opinions out here that vary from person to person. My honest review on the rough country 3.5” kit is that it works exactly as expected and I have had zero issues or noise coming from the suspension of any kind. I’d like to note that I have not taken this “truly” off road but some mild trails when I’ve gone camping. I can attest that if you’re not beating your truck off-roading that you’ll likely be happy with it. Hope this helps!

 

[tyanmax99]

What’s up man, definitely feel you on this as there are so many different opinions out here that vary from person to person. My honest review on the rough country 3.5” kit is that it works exactly as expected and I have had zero issues or noise coming from the suspension of any kind. I’d like to note that I have not taken this “truly” off road but some mild trails when I’ve gone camping. I can attest that if you’re not beating your truck off-roading that you’ll likely be happy with it. Hope this helps!

Perfect, thank you. I'm in Florida so not a lot of off road opportunities besides the beach It'll primarily be daily driver and dirt road type of off road. I just don't want my daily drive to be worse.

 

[John89]

Perfect, thank you. I'm in Florida so not a lot of off road opportunities besides the beach It'll primarily be daily driver and dirt road type of off road. I just don't want my daily drive to be worse.

Im in South FL, so yeah.. I think what really changed my ride in terms of comfort was when I put on larger tires 285/65r20. These make the ride a bit harder compared to the stock tires that come with it, but that’s the trade off between a more aggressive look! And not to mention, the hit to the mpg.. (Lost about 3-4 mpg in total). Without the larger tires, mpg was not really affected at all, maybe like 0.5.

 

[yourpenpal13]

I did the same, but with 2” Motofab spacers in rear along with ORP rear springs for a total of 3” in the back.
I also added Suspension Maxx front sway bar links. They make some solid extended ones. My OEM links were pretty torqued. Rides great.

Old post but I'm about to do the same. Brake lines plenty long for this?

 

[2020BH]

Old post but I'm about to do the same. Brake lines plenty long for this?

Yep, I have the same setup. no issues at all.