Rough country

[SilentJoe]

Is rough country really that bad? When it comes to shocks and spacer for leveling. Or is it like most things, people like the “Gucci” name attached to their truck so they stay away?

I know that not all things are created equal, but I also know that people are very hard up on their preference and anything else is trash.
Just looking for some insight.

 

[provencio333]

Honest opinion Carli 2.0 have been the best that I have had on my 2022 2500 Cummins. I have tried Bilstein, Factory, and Fox. Carli had by far been the best.

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

I understand not being able to afford carli etc. I would look at BDS before I looked at rough country, personally.

BDS has spacer + shock kit for less than $400 if you want 2”

1” traxada spacer has been serving folks well for us people that didn’t want a fully level truck and you may not need shocks right away ?

 

[Slutzk]

Pretty sure anyone in their right mind will tell you be patient, save your money and go with something quality.

RC is the temu of the lift/level/suspension world. Does it work and get you by? Yes it will and it does. Will it last long and will it be the same quality as a brand name or a "designer" name? Not even close. Anyone who has had RC and left to go to a quality suspension usually never go back for a reason. Only people getting upset at comments like these is because its what they run, couldn't afford better or patient enough to save a little more, and dont know any better of a quality system. RC will work yes, but are you will to spend that money and gamble a 50/50 shot to ruin your expensive nice truck causing more damage on top of having to re do it after its all fixed and spend even more for something you should have done the first time? Not worth it to me. OF COURSE there is going to be people that say "well i ran it and it was just fine"... that doesnt account for the other half and thousands of others that had issues and or caused more damage to their truck, and "A lot" of the time... gona get some hate for this but owell.... people who say it was fine usually arnt doing anything with there truck except driving to their office job and not towing/hauling much if anything anyways.
As for your designer term think of it like Rough County is Walmart, Bilstein and Fox is brand name, Carli and King is the designer.
Is it really that hard to save an extra 200-300$ to go from say RC to Bilstein or Fox for a set of shocks? Your driving a HD truck that cost 10s of thousands of dollars, to me thats crazy not to just wait and go that route. At that point your ego is in the way because "oh i have to have a big bad lifted truck right now".
Dont think its "everything else for peoples preference is trash".... i think when you compare quality suspensions your comparing everyone's biased opinion say between Bilstein or Fox and Carli or King. Its apples to apples between the groups. But im sure anyone running the 2 groups can agree.... RC isnt even in the conversation between them and all know... They arnt good, they "just work". Thats it.

Anyways, what im saying is just..... be patient, save a little more and get something more reliable and better.

 

[MegaRed]

If you're just getting spacers to get a little room for bigger tires, then RC works, but I think their shocks aren't really better than stock. You'd probably do better getting the spacers if that's the direction you're going and then just getting shock extensions for the short term, and run your stock shocks until you get enough scratch together to get a quality set of longer shocks. I had RC kits on my last three trucks, two 1500's and a 2500 (spacers/shocks/control arms) and never had a problem one. I've towed and hauled a lot of miles with them. But....the RC ride was just as harsh or harsher than stock and there was zero improvement in handling. I got the look I wanted and could fit the tire size I wanted on the trucks which is what I was after but that's about all it did. I was in the military and wasn't making Carli money, so never really could afford to know any better.

All that said, I went with Thuren coils and Bilsteins on my 3500 and it's much (like mucho mucho) better in terms of ride and handling. If you have the means, a Thuren/Carli/King/Fox etc. setup is a much better way to go for sure, but I don't think that RC parts are junk, they're just a budget setup more focused on looks than they are on improving ride and handling. Just my two cents... Good luck with whatever route you take.

 

[whitexc]

Is rough country really that bad? When it comes to shocks and spacer for leveling. Or is it like most things, people like the “Gucci” name attached to their truck so they stay away?

I know that not all things are created equal, but I also know that people are very hard up on their preference and anything else is trash.
Just looking for some insight.

Some more info on your intentions may help too. Daily, towing, pavement princess? People spend some serious coin on modding a truck after spending serious coin to purchase said truck. Their money. Their truck to use as they intend.

As RCdude said, a bunch of us have the Traxda spacer (1” for me) that serves the purpose of taking some rake out, utilizing my factory Bilsteins a while longer and super easy to install. I tow a 5er and dump trailer so didn’t want full level, just less rake empty. I’m happy.

Good luck with whatever direction you go in.


Sent from me

 

[Poolmonkey]

Pretty sure anyone in their right mind will tell you be patient, save your money and go with something quality.

RC is the temu of the lift/level/suspension world. Does it work and get you by? Yes it will and it does. Will it last long and will it be the same quality as a brand name or a "designer" name? Not even close. Anyone who has had RC and left to go to a quality suspension usually never go back for a reason. Only people getting upset at comments like these is because its what they run, couldn't afford better or patient enough to save a little more, and dont know any better of a quality system. RC will work yes, but are you will to spend that money and gamble a 50/50 shot to ruin your expensive nice truck causing more damage on top of having to re do it after its all fixed and spend even more for something you should have done the first time? Not worth it to me. OF COURSE there is going to be people that say "well i ran it and it was just fine"... that doesnt account for the other half and thousands of others that had issues and or caused more damage to their truck, and "A lot" of the time... gona get some hate for this but owell.... people who say it was fine usually arnt doing anything with there truck except driving to their office job and not towing/hauling anything anyways.
As for your designer term think of it like Rough County is Walmart, Bilstein and Fox is brand name, Carli and King is the designer.
Is it really that hard to save an extra 200-300$ to go from say RC to Bilstein or Fox for a set of shocks? Your driving a HD truck that cost 10s of thousands of dollars, to me thats crazy not to just wait and go that route. At that point your ego is in the way because "oh i have to have a big bad lifted truck right now".
Dont think its "everything else for peoples preference is trash".... i think when you compare quality suspensions your comparing everyone's biased opinion say between Bilstein or Fox and Carli or King. Its apples to apples between the groups. But im sure anyone running the 2 groups can agree.... RC isnt even in the conversation between them and all know... They arnt good, they "just work". Thats it.

Anyways, what im saying is just..... be patient, save a little more and get something more reliable and better.

The high quality, serviceable shocks…they are really nice if a guy is going to use them very hard but if using them very hard, be prepared for rebuilds often. Be the kind of guy who does it yourself or the kind who doesn’t mind throwing money often to keep them working.
The ride they provide is indeed good, they are not as “reliable” as a set of say..5100s, even if used only around town. They will need attention in no time vs a typical gas shock.

 

[Famoso187]

I had the RC spacers on my 1500 eco diesel and honestly they were fine. I cleared 35’s and other then an occasional pop sound when hitting bumps i didn’t have any issues. At the time though I was just looking for a cheap solution and I picked up that truck used so I didn’t really care.

Traded that in recently for a 2500 and it’s getting a Carli kit installed now. Buying this new and planning on having it for a while I wanted to go with a really nice kit. First time using Carli stuff but only hear good things so we shall see.

If RC is what your budget allows get it and call it a day.

 

[johnmyster]

Do you want the truck to just sit higher or also have a lower spring rate, in which case you get more travel and better ride?

Both will look the same when parked at the mall. There’s a reason you mostly see RC at the buy-here-finance-here payment plan wheel/tire/lift shops.

My Thuren springs were $250 delivered on marketplace and new/longer Bilsteins were $60 on eBay. Took maybe 90 minutes to install. Better gear doesn’t have to be spendypants. Even retail on a set of thuren springs and bilstein 5100 is <$600.