Rough Country 1.5" lift kit installed

[gcbroncosport]

I installed the Rough Country 1.5" lift kit on my Outer Banks. It works very well. Rough Country sku: 40100. I have 29" tall 10" wide tires (255 55 R18). Next week I will have U-Haul install a hitch. Curt Class 3 Hitch 2" receiver sku: 13474.

Did you notice much of a mpg reduction with the 255 tires? Or negligible? Just curious as am also thinking to go wider tires... Thanks!

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[CrashBend]

Did you notice much of a mpg reduction with the 255 tires? Or negligible? Just curious as am also thinking to go wider tires... Thanks!

No change in mpg at all. The aggressive tread on these tires do give a small amount of road noise. Not enough to bother us.

 

[compass crusher]

Up to now, with a few hundred miles, I have not noticed any problems at all with the lift kit. Totally unrelated to the lift kit or installation the mounting bolts for the front sway bar became loose and had to be retorqued. That did cause a rattle and clunking noise. Not sure why they became loose. That was at around 7500 miles. Factory oversight maybe? We do very mild off-roading. Dirt roads, soft sand kind of things.

Same. I've had my rough country installed for about 12,000s miles and the clunking noise started happening. I contacted rough country and they sent out a pair of sway bar end links to replace mine. They got hollowed out from all the impact and jarring the lift was making on the ends links.

I went up 4x4 and on my way home I started hearing that sound again. The driver side end link on the sway bar became loose again. 17" extension tightens the bolt but after another 100 miles I started hearing another clunking sound. I checked both sway bar end links and there tight.

Many 4x4 shops say rough country is reputable. After this incident, I refuse to purchase any other there products moving forward. I can't believe they were able to put this flawed product on brand-new cars.

I'm going to purchase sway bar links from whiteline. That's the only cure I see in sight.

Any other recommendations I would greatly appreciate it. I feel like this lift kit is doing permanent damage to my bronco.

 

[CrashBend]

Same. I've had my rough country installed for about 12,000s miles and the clunking noise started happening. I contacted rough country and they sent out a pair of sway bar end links to replace mine. They got hollowed out from all the impact and jarring the lift was making on the ends links.

I went up 4x4 and on my way home I started hearing that sound again. The driver side end link on the sway bar became loose again. 17" extension tightens the bolt but after another 100 miles I started hearing another clunking sound. I checked both sway bar end links and there tight.

Many 4x4 shops say rough country is reputable. After this incident, I refuse to purchase any other there products moving forward. I can't believe they were able to put this flawed product on brand-new cars.

I'm going to purchase sway bar links from whiteline. That's the only cure I see in sight.

Any other recommendations I would greatly appreciate it. I feel like this lift kit is doing permanent damage to my bronco.

My sway bar came loose with only a 1,000 miles or so and before I got the lift kit. Of course I do not do hard 4x4 driving, so that could have some bearing on how things are so far. Up to 17,000 miles now.

 

[Meanderthal]

I feel like this lift kit is doing permanent damage to my bronco.

I feel like you are doing permanent damage too. I hope that the endlinks you bought are long enough that you won’t have to use the stupid RC extension plate.

 

[compass crusher]

I feel like you are doing permanent damage too. I hope that the endlinks you bought are long enough that you won’t have to use the stupid RC extension plate.

Moving forward with the Ford Ranger lift kit 2.0. I haven't found any discrepancies or issues with this kit. And hell it's .5 more clearance so in return I don't feel like I lost much. Just time and a little . https://fordrangerlifts.com/shop/ols/products/xn-2021-bronco-sport-2-level-lift-w28r

Rough Country now has a lifted struts spring lift for $600. After all this troubleshooting not chance in hell haha. https://www.roughcountry.com/ford-bronco-sport-lift-kit-40131.html

 

[Meanderthal]

Rough Country now has a lifted struts spring lift for $600. After all this troubleshooting not chance in hell haha. https://www.roughcountry.com/ford-bronco-sport-lift-kit-40131.html

I would say “you get what you pay for” with that kit.

 

[compass crusher]

I would say “you get what you pay for” with that kit.

$600? I mean... That's probably one of the most expensive lifts for the sport. Wouldn't you say?

 

[Meanderthal]

$600? I mean... That's probably one of the most expensive lifts for the sport. Wouldn't you say?

Look at what is in that kit. Springs, shocks, and assorted hardware. What is in a “spacer” lift? Spacers, hardware, and sway bar endlinks; all for about $350.

Personally, if I were going to replace the springs/shocks, I would be looking at Flatout Suspension (here on the forum). They are expensive in comparison to a spacer lift but you are getting a higher quality suspension that is adjustable and rebuildable.

 

[compass crusher]

Agreed! Springs over unibody spacers for all-around functionality.

With the ford ranger lift that I will be using will have a rear lift is a 1 1/4” .250 steel metal coil spacers. Coil makes me think it's springs in the rear. Combined with 1” sub frame drop spacers, and 1 1/4”trailing Arm spacers.

The rough country 1.5 kit did absolutely nothing for the rear. Felt every bit of sand under my tires. But.... I do have a 5th wheel. That obviously makes a huge difference with weight in the rear.

 

[Meanderthal]

But.... I do have a 5th wheel. That obviously makes a huge difference with weight in the rear.

Are you talking about the weight of the spare tire? I weighed my full size spare at 51 lbs. I’m not sure what a donut spare would weigh, but probably at least 30 lbs. So a full size spare weighs 20 lbs more, which should not show any noticeable difference in suspension sag.

 

[compass crusher]

Hitch swing away spare by Wilco and full-size spare/wheel.

On top of that, I have a mount that attached two Jerry cans to the swing away. You can kind of see it in some of these pics.

I certainly need those springs in the rear.

(Flexing a lil with these photos. I had a blast with her over the weekend.)

 

[CharlieBroncoSport]

Curious as to how long your Rough Country lift holds up, I installed mine this week and ~40 hrs later and about 30-40 in town miles it has severe front rattle already. Sway bars are in tact, so I’m assuming it’s the design of the space on the strut (that almost everyone else is complaining about). I ordered the HRG lift and it’s on its way.

Hey, I know this was many months ago, however, did you happen to get the RC spacers?

 

[Winds of Change]

Agreed! Springs over unibody spacers for all-around functionality.

With the ford ranger lift that I will be using will have a rear lift is a 1 1/4” .250 steel metal coil spacers. Coil makes me think it's springs in the rear. Combined with 1” sub frame drop spacers, and 1 1/4”trailing Arm spacers.

The rough country 1.5 kit did absolutely nothing for the rear. Felt every bit of sand under my tires. But.... I do have a 5th wheel. That obviously makes a huge difference with weight in the rear.

A 5th wheel on a BS?

 

[compass crusher]

A 5th wheel on a BS?

??

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