hour

Sorry to bump an older thread but I can't find much/anything about this kit (great, I purchased it)

I'm going to tackle the install this week. RC doesn't have any videos of the install up and the instructions, all 35 steps for the front or whatever, leave a little to be desired.

Directions all seem standard to other lifts I've done but they have some jibber jabber about removing the actuator vacuum lines and then having to apply vacuum to them and all that upon reassembly.

I can't find this being discussed in other spacer lifts so I'm wondering if it's specific to this kit (or 3"). I'd love to not buy another tool (vac pump) and take shots in the dark trying to pull the install off if I can avoid it. Shop wants $1,000

marquito

I hope its not to late but here i is the manual

https://s3.amazonaws.com/roughcountr.../921545200.pdf as the pictures show, you will need the vac pump

Especial86

iTrader: (1)

If you don't want to use a vac pump you could always just hook the lines back up to the actuator and start the truck (engine vac). Then test the hub and CV like the directions suggest, but you will be switching between 4wd and 2WD instead this way..

I noticed they want you to check the CV stud distance/depth in relation to the hub. It's possible they want you to look for any bind. So it would appear they want you to likely check the torque on the cv nut after you've got the cv spline to completely seat in the hub.

I'm really curious on hearing a review on this kit.
I would like to clicking or clunking etc...

hour

Thanks fellers, bought a vac pump today and associated missing sockets from my sets to accomplish the job. However, I finally caught on film, just today, a problem I've been having for the last 2.5 months of owning my 2017 3.5LEB 10spd... grinding when first accelerating.

Happy I didn't install the lift earlier as I'm sure the dealer would say I boofed it. Hope they can get me warranty-repaired this upcoming week, lift, and then embark on another many thousand mile road trip. Ultimate *** to seat time evaluation, will follow up.

billymac79

hour how did you make out with your RC 3" bolt on arm kit?

hour

For posterity's sake, I finally got everything on.

Rough Country 3" Bolt On Lift kit
1.5" Ebay (with good reviews on actual product) spacers
295/70/R18 STT Pros on stock wheels

Install BS

The front springs suck to compress. I've done many a spring compression and this one bent a single action HF compressor (or my gorilla strength did), and rented common autoparts store compressors not only sucked to get in to the coil, but didn't compress far enough to reassemble and were also bowing wildly under the strain.

Best way to do this is a floor mounted spring compressor. I rented a DIY auto garage bay and had the tech compress and reassemble the struts. I then knocked the bottom shock bolts out (took a lot of pounding, use a nut on the end to protect the bolt threads) and that allows you to completely skip all the IWE actuator removal stuff. I had done that on my first failed install attempt and it sucked, so I was happy to skip it. Have a friend hold parts that are pulling on the brake lines and then suspend them with a bungee or 10.

With the struts reinstalled but the truck still on the lift and wheels off, the UCAs were touching the coils. The coils were also touching the back wall of the frame. I guess this basically remedied itself once everything was lowered and the UCAs pushed in to position. I still get a binding clunk in the front left though when backing out and turning the wheel. That was happening on stock tires, so I know it's something in the suspension itself, not tire contact. That sucks and is a little worrysome. I know the RC instructions stressed drawing a line down the factory shock top hat/spring/bottom and I did that, but I ended up having to rotate the shock once the top bolts were in, to line up the bottom properly.

The rear block isn't adequate to match the front with my camper shell on (with megawarrior rack and extension + 50lbs of solar panels). I plan on having even more weight so I'll need to address the butt sag.

Driving impressions - I called BS on people saying 'RIDES BETTER THAN STOCK!!!111!!" but I've lifted all of my DD trucks over the years using taller rate-matched springs & bilstein shocks, have an offroad vehicle, etc... and it's true. It does feel better than stock when driving on normal road surfaces. Potholes are more jolting though, which I've found to be common. I reused my rear shocks because I heard people doing that due to minimal height increase and the RC shocks sucking.

I regret the 1.5" wheel spacers mostly because 1) I just got the tires installed and I had to find a shady shop to do it in, which let me install the spacers while they mounted the tires 2) I have some vibrations that I can't pin on the knobbier tires, so the spacers may be the culprit, and 3) If I get the 0.25" RC spacer I don't need to worry about ebay studs snapping off and stuff, I probably won't rub (feels like plastic-when turning hard left at slow speeds), and I can take it in to discount tire for free rotations likely without them refusing over my spacer, since 0.25 is hardly anything.

Summary

I wish I knew what the clunk is in the drivers front when reversing and turning. I feel like it's the UCA or something pressing on the spring and then popping over the coil... The rear block being taller would have been nice, but now I"ll just have to get some bilsteins and an add a leaf or something + the block.

Oh yeah, I'm not concerned about CV angles

billymac79

Looks good Hour, mine is going into the shop tomorrow. Decided to go with a 2.5" bds level with rear fox shocks and 1" block. Also having 35x11.5r20 nitto ridge grapplers put on. Cant wait to see how it turns out.

hour

Nice, post pics!

I contacted rough country through the online chat and asked about the rear being lower - specifically if I should have stacked the new blocks with the existing. The guy had me hold for a minute and then said that they stacked the blocks "on theirs" - meaning it sounded to me like he ran out to check one of their Fords running this setup, using the factory block on top of their replacement. No mention of this in the manual and I'm kind of skeptical, but that would definitely solve my saggy butt issue. I'll give it a try next weekend.

jlundy

What you mention about the clunking, sounds like what I've read to be the UCA hitting the spring, but with the 3 inch RC kit you get new UCA's and still use stock springs. Plus you say it was that way from the factory, it seems odd that something would be hitting then.

I've been more than curious about this 3 inch kit for awhile and actually considered ordering it until I saw all the CV angle discussions, and being uninformed for the most part on IFS F150's. So I ordered the 6112 and 5160 Bilsteins instead. I like the idea of a control arm upgrade to fix the ball joint angle, but I'm not sure I want to spend $700 on a new UCA's alone. I also think the 3 inch front height is more aesthetically pleasing than 2.1 inch height I'll get with my Bilsteins once I put them on.

I appreciate continued feedback you may have once you have a few mile on this setup, especially any wear issues or noise...............Nothing like real world experience to bust internet myths................Same can be said about 331-347 SBF Stroker Kits using oil because of ROD Angle..Been there done that and have the T-shirt.

hour

To clarify, the clunking was with the stock tires - still with this lift. I was trying to imply that the tire upgrade didn't suddenly make it start clunking (because rough country guy was asking me wheel offset questions, ignoring the fact that the issue was with the spring hitting the UCA).

I'll update if an alignment somehow stops the contact from happening.

I'm not sure why everyone sweats the CV angle. The only time I had issues was when I lifted a vehicle with 15 year old parts - the boot ripped within 10 miles and puked grease. I got remanufactured cvs on that car and off roaded the holy hell out of it (still do, 15k miles mostly off road) and they look fine despite some pretty extreme angles and fin touching.