Rough Country 3.5 lift kit.

[Styxbb]

I am looking a turning my Ram into an overlanding rig. I am thinking about starting with the rough country lift kit(more affordable) with the n3 struts. According to the kit, the struts will raise the front 3.5 inches while a rear spacer will raise the rear 1 inch. I am looking at replacing the rear springs with CargoMax hd springs which say they will raise the rear 2 inches. Not looking for level, but trying to avoid sag. Does anyone see any problems with doing this?

 

[CHeYeNNe71]

I'd personally go M1 upgrade over N3.

 

[H2OMAN]

Since you plan on taking it into the dirt you're going to want to stay far away from RC. Bilstein and Eibach are your minimum starting points. And that is just the beginning. Those will work for you for mild off roading. But Overlanding involves camping. Which means you'll need to bring all of your camping gear. It gets worse if you decide to go all in with the roof top tent and the fridge, generator, heater, kitchen etc... And while it may seem like just car camping(which it is) you will not be on pavement and that will beat the crap out of you. With that amount of load you'll need upgraded coils front and back. You're going to have to do your research. Part of that research is staying away from cheap junk like RC.

 

[boogielander]

I am looking a turning my Ram into an overlanding rig. I am thinking about starting with the rough country lift kit(more affordable) with the n3 struts. According to the kit, the struts will raise the front 3.5 inches while a rear spacer will raise the rear 1 inch. I am looking at replacing the rear springs with CargoMax hd springs which say they will raise the rear 2 inches. Not looking for level, but trying to avoid sag. Does anyone see any problems with doing this?

3.5" is not ideal for overlanding. 3.5" is more for looks to fool people who don't know, because you actually get reduced suspension travel - in essence, you are trading travel for ride height. I have detailed that in one of my many technical writeups here on the forum, or you can head to my site jollyrogueco.com so you don't have to search for my many posts.

For RC... there's "ROUGH" in its name and that should tell you what you need to know.
Bilstein and Eibach are the lowest cost "overlanding" suspension, but both will require some calculation and figuring out on your part for spring rates, etc.
Ironman 4x4 Foam Cell Pro kit will be the easiest solution for you, all you need to do is calculate your weight and choose the spring rates accordingly. Ironman FCP is an acceptable solution.

If you want something actually proven by someone who actually breathes overlanding, look no further than this:

WIth this setup, you will get:
adjustable dampening - so you can have a softer setting for on pavement for street comfort while retaining very good handling - handling so good that in the canyons you can pass cars left and right while being planted in corners (you will also see that I have no aftermarket sway bar)
ample travel - you will get about 4 inches of down travel and about 4 inches of uptravel. If you elect to use stock fox springs (450lb), you will actually get 6 inches of down travel, and 2 inches of up travel (you may only get 5 inches of down and 3 inches of up, since I measured the numbers 2 years after install with weight way over the spring rates) also down travel is sacrificed, in reality it actually does not hinder performance because spring rate is increased.
more fluid held - 2.5" diameter shocks hold more fluid than 2.0" diameter shocks, that's a no brainer. Only exception is FCP when you don't have to run reservoir the shocks hold more fluid because of the internal structure.
fine tune ability - you can fine tune the shocks with nitrogen level before you have them revalved/ tuned for your specific driving style and weight. These are rebuildable compared to other much cheaper throw away shocks.
Boogie Approved - As an overlander and a professional outfitter, I've installed and have plenty of seat time with different brands of shocks, lights, and switches. I'm also confident to say that no one on this board (or even on Facebook and other places) have put this much work into planning, building, and actually using the 5th gen DT trucks as an overlanding + high speed stress test as i do. This is the only thing that is the perfect middle ground for on and off pavement performance.

The only thing I'd change about this is go for Fox to Thuren King, but that is because I am willing to sacrifice the adjustability for Thuren's most aggressive tuning for maximizing high speed offroad performance. But if your driving is 70% pavement and 30% off pavement like most overlanders, Fox is the answer.

You can read about my journey through running stock Fox 2.5 springs and Carli Rebel HD rear here, and then overloaded the truck for my 50 days 15k miles trip, and the deep rabbit hole I went down to get it right here:

Thread 'Fox 2.5 DSC Suspension - A Brief Overview, Procedure, and Review of Proper Suspension Setup'

May 23, 2023

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There are plenty of suspension offerings on the market for the 5th gen Ram 1500 platform, ranging from cheap to expensive. In this thread, I will be detailing why I chose Fox 2.5 for my build, procedures of installing and dialing in the ride, and a review of the build as everything came together. If you are interested about my background, experiences, and story, you are more than welcomed to visit my build thread here.

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Parts Used​

• Carli Boxed Upper Control Arms: CS-RAM15UCA-09
• Carli Rear Springs, Rebel HD...

• boogielander
• fox fox 2.5 fox shocks lift lift kit lift size lifted performance shock
• Replies: 312
• Forum: Suspension

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