Rough Country 2.5" Leveling Kit

[Ace Holliday]

How was installation?

They tell me it went well ?. (I farmed it out)

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[AzScorpion]

My 2019 XLT 4x2 with the RC 2.5” Leveling kit. Looks way better.

Looks really good! I think you'll like the ride better too,it's a little stiffer in the front now. I can't remember but are you going to get new tires?

 

[Ace Holliday]

Looks really good! I think you'll like the ride better too,it's a little stiffer in the front now. I can't remember but are you going to get new tires?

Thanks. I think it looks way better. I understand why they build some rake in to the system but boy do they overdo it.
Not planning on tires right away but when I do I'll go a little bigger and probably stay with the stock wheels. That plan is subject to change though. I have mud guards ordered and that will do it for the mods for a while. I may even get the FPP Tune. We'll see.......

 

[AzScorpion]

Thanks. I think it looks way better. I understand why they build some rake in to the system but boy do they overdo it.
Not planning on tires right away but when I do I'll go a little bigger and probably stay with the stock wheels. That plan is subject to change though. I have mud guards ordered and that will do it for the mods for a while. I may even get the FPP Tune. We'll see.......

They sure over-do the rake! I went 1 size larger on tires 265/70/17 on the stock sport wheels so there's no rubbing issues and you don't need to modify the crash bars. They also don't kill you mpg's going 1 size up,maybe 1-2 miles city and a little more on the highway. I'm still averaging right around 21 mpg.

 

[scotthagg]

Newbie here. Just finished my Rough Country 2.5 kit install. After some frustration and mistakes, I got it done. The CV did come out, but I was able to jack it back up and get it back in...twice. When I did the other side I learned from my mistake and it did not come out. SO much for the videos on YouTube. I will now take it to alignment shop and get the new rubber put on. Took it for a spina nd no problems. Will be re-torquing and likely ordering new nuts, but I did loctite the existing and they all went on snug as the nylocs should

 

[LegacyRanger]

Have you guys seen an appreciable decrease in MPG's after installation of the leveling kits if leaving tires/wheels stock?

 

[TylerV76]

Have you guys seen an appreciable decrease in MPG's after installation of the leveling kits if leaving tires/wheels stock?

Cant say for stock tires but with 275/70R17's, I only lost about .5mpg.

 

[AzScorpion]

Have you guys seen an appreciable decrease in MPG's after installation of the leveling kits if leaving tires/wheels stock?

I have a little larger tire 265/70/17 and I saw a small decrease around town maybe 1 mpg but a little more on the highway. The level kit will change the rake and put more drag on the front end at highway speeds. Mine wasn't to bad maybe 2-3 mpg once I'm over 75 mph.

 

[apotocki]

Have you guys seen an appreciable decrease in MPG's after installation of the leveling kits if leaving tires/wheels stock?

Havent driven a whole lot since the level and have 124 miles on the trip meter with 21.2 mpg...probably 75% of that highway.
Stock wheels/tires. That might be .5-1.0 mpg less than what I had before.

 

[scotthagg]

I was at 21.5 before...Ill let you know how it goes after the first few hundred miles with the falken wild peaks 265/70/17's

 

[JetEngr19]

Have you guys seen an appreciable decrease in MPG's after installation of the leveling kits if leaving tires/wheels stock?

I didn't use the rough country kit, but I installed Falcon shocks and leveled it back in February. I have not had any noticeable decrease in MPG after installation.

 

[scotthagg]

I was at 21.5 before...Ill let you know how it goes after the first few hundred miles with the falken wild peaks 265/70/17's

So far went from 21.5 to 20.7 over roughly 2500 miles.

 

[ISUACE]

I posted this in another thread, but here is my 2.5" Rough Country Lift Kit with 1" Eibach rear lift blocks.

 

[ISUACE]

Also... In case some of you were wondering here is the measurements from the bottom of the side steps.

 

[quangdog]

I installed the RC 2.5" lift yesterday. A few observations:

THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE CRAP.

I get it that this is a cheap lift, and you really do get what you pay for... but in my opinion the instructions are downright dangerous. You'll screw up a CV joint, pull the axle completely out of the front diff, or ruin a sway bar link if you try to follow them exactly. Ask me how I know.

I started on the passenger side. That side took 4+ hours, 2 trips to O'Reillys, and a "come bail me out" phone call to my brother. Once we ditched the instructions from RC (and ignored the several YouTube videos that make this look like a piece of cake), we figured out the best and safest way to finish up the passenger side. We used what we learned on the driver side, which took *maybe* 30 minutes.

First off: All the YouTube videos show you can just put a little pressure down on the lower control arm and the coilover will pop right out. Lies! All Lies! My truck is the FX4, and there was no chance in hades that coilover was coming out with the axle still connected to the knuckle.

Even with me jumping up and down on the lower control arm with all my body weight and a helper trying to pull the upper portion of the coilover out... there was just no way. I did manage to pull the axle out of wherever it goes - front diff? Luckily I got it re-seated, but while doing so I managed to pull the sway bar link entirely apart... as in "oh, hello shiny ball end slathered with grease! Where did you come from?" I was able to press the ball joint of the sway bar link back together with a large C-Clamp, and have ordered a new link because the rubber boot was shot. To even get the coilover out of the passenger side I had to go rent a spring compressor. Even with the spring compressor, there was no chance of getting that thing back in once I had the spacer mounted on the top of the coilover.

If your truck is 4x4, remove the axle nut and tap the axle out before you try to bear down on the lower control arm. This job is a piece of cake if you do it that way, and you don't need to try to press out the pins on the bottom of the coilover (I wailed on them with a BFH to the point that my vice needs to be re-mounted to my bench... there's no way those pins were coming out.)

Here are the steps I would recommend, and what worked very smoothly for me on the driver's side:

1) Jack up the truck. Chock rear tires. Support with jack stand.
2) Remove tire.
3) Disconnect brake line mount and abs sensor.
4) Completely remove sway bar link from the knuckle. Don't bother removing sway bar mounts under truck. You don't need to if you disconnect the sway bar link.
5) Disconnect tie rod from knuckle.
6) Disconnect upper control arm from knuckle. Support the knuckle as you do this, so it does not flop over hard.
7) Remove the nuts retaining the bottom of the coilover from the lower coilover studs.
8) Remove the nut on the end of the axle. Re-thread nut most of the way onto the axle, then use a piece of wood and hammer to tap the axle out of the knuckle towards the engine. This was far easier than I expected - 3 taps and it was free.
9) Work the axle completely out of the knuckle, and move the axle end towards the rear of the vehicle so it is out of the way.
10) Remove the 3 nuts securing the top of the coilover. Press down on the lower control arm and the coilover literally falls out.

You'll need a 35mm socket and an impact to remove the axle nuts. I ran to O'Reillys and dropped $10 on said socket, and would have been happy to pay twice that for how easy it made getting those axles out.

I used locktight on all my nuts when I reassembled except for the axle nuts - I do plan to replace the original axle nuts, but they are currently on back order through Ford. I'll check them in a few hundred miles, and again at each oil change until I can get new ones.

I like the look of the truck much better now, and pick it up from the alignment shop today after work. For now I'm leaving it on the stock tires, but I may go one size bigger when it's time for new rubber.

If I were to do it all over again, I'd definitely just find a shop to install the kit... and I'd probably go with a more expensive kit that does not require me to press in the studs like this RC kit did. Oh well, live and learn.

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