Rough Country Controversy

Stupid Question

Why is so RC so hated? What is wrong with them? People who have a bad experience with them please share.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rough-country-good-or-bad.724317/

 

Rough Country has a very wide range of products (too wide IMO... Many are not even related to the suspension, such as fender flares & seat covers).

Quality is extremely variable:
Some of it actually is somewhat decent, such as those seat covers, the Vertex shocks they sell, and also their original 4" suspension lift that has the drop-down brackets (I exclude the 6" though because it overextends the steering & CV angles to a good degree).

Much of RC's other stuff however is straight-up junk... Their 3" and 3.5" shock lifts being good examples (which a lot of people initially gravitate to since they are cheap).
These put the control arms at extreme angles (even more so than the 6" bracket lift I mentioned), the result being ripped CV boots, a harsh-assed ride, and steering racks that start to leak even sooner (Taco steering racks are already known to leak even without a lift at all).


What particular RC item were you actually looking at? Maybe there is a better alternative...

 

RC is known for low prices. I think there's better options for suspension considering several companies have built their business around it.

I like RC seat covers and tonneau covers. I think RC tonneau quality is on par with Bakflip, Lomax and many others.

If you want to save money and want a shock upgrade consider Bilstein 5100's or even 6112/5160's.

 

I often say that RC is a Sam's Choice brand that tries to market itself as top shelf.

 

Personal experience with the 3.5" lift.

My RC lift rode like garbage on the road, no dampening going over bumps and lots of body roll when making turns/coming to a halt. Additionally, 3.5"s also looked too high for 285's in my opinion, others may like that look but I wasn't the biggest fan. The deciding factor was after I took my truck off-road with the RC kit installed - Just seeing the actual construction of the kit had me worried about breaking a strut if I tried to get any sort of articulation. Even with a very mild trail the truck was bouncing all over the place at very low speeds, which made for a very unpleasant trip.

If you're considering a lift from them I would highly recommend saving a little more for an entry level Bilstein kit or even scope out the TW forms to see if anyone has TRD pro take-offs. I ditched the lift kit after 9-months and learned the "Buy-once, Cry-once" lesson the hard way.

I can't speak to any of their other products, however I have decided to stay away from the brand since then.

 

runninc rc 2.5 lift in the front and 3 inch vertex in the back. Feel just about everything in the road, had the same experience with my S10. It cheap you get what you pay for. Will say the vertex are a little nice to change the stiffness but for the option rather go with a different brand with DSC.

 

Made in china.
Advertised lifts heights are not accurate
Their front springs sag a lot over time.
Rear shocks are sometimes a pain to get the top mount nut in place bc they should make them a few threads longer.

Tophats have short studs which im pretty sure wont hold a 1/4" taco lean spacer.

Just a few off the top of my head.

The remote res ones might be slightly better.