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Rough country 4"

84K views 129 replies 51 participants last post by  cotoole 
#1 ·
Im looking at doing alift on my colorado, but i dont want to go extreme with the 6" lift and was curious if the 4" was worth it or a good product. Thanks for the advice.
 
#2 ·
I just installed the 4" lift last weekend and I like it so far. It's going to the alignment shop today and for larger tires on Tuesday. Call me crazy, but I like the stock 18" rims on the SLE, so I'm running 1.5" BORA spacers to make the wheel/tire combo work.

The kit is only 4", but it somehow feels and looks taller. The kit is well made and the instructions are pretty good, with a couple exceptions. If you're installing it yourself, I suggest that you inventory all your parts before your start as Rough Country forgot the rear blocks in their initial shipment and the drop spindles were damaged. It took an additional week to ship from Tennessee out to the west coast and I would have been screwed if I discovered after I had the truck apart.

Upon installation, I found a couple things that aren't included in the manual.

- The mounting holes for the skid plates didn't fit cleanly (welding or powder coating gummed up the threads). I had to clean up the thread with a 3/8 tap for them to mount properly.
- The mounts for the lower control arms were too narrow. Have to use a hefty 5/8 bolt, nuts and a couple washers to spread open the mounts enough for the lower control arms to fit.
- The kit includes both front and rear relocation brackets for the brake and wheel sensors, but it doesn't indicate that you need to remove wheel sensor wires from their clips on the frame. There isn't enough slack to comfortably stretch the wires to the new location.
- The manual doesn't include the step to reinstall the cross members. The cross members are also offset and there is no instruction to state which way to put in the cross member. You can figure out but it would be nice if that step was included.

Let me know if you have any questions.
 

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#7 · (Edited)
Sorry, it's taken me a little while to get the pictures posted. After the tires were mounted, the front tires were rubbing a little on the air dam and on the front of the wheel well. I removed the air dam and had to figure out how to create a little clearance in the front of the tire.

I made a video of the air dam removal because the Youtube video showing that you need to remove the entire front fascia to remove the air dam annoys me. It only takes about 30 minutes to remove the air dam and you can do it from under the car with a torx t15 bit and 10mm socket in a 1/4 ratchet. I still haven't edited the video together, but I will post it in this section when completed

The other cool discovery was that I was able to pull the front of the inner wheel well forward by about one inch using the stock parts. I found it to be an elegant solution that costs me about $1 in parts and 15 minutes of my time to complete. It's stronger than stock and the change is reversible if I ever wanted to put it back to stock. Again, I took some video of the solution that I'll post when I have a spare moment.

Attached are pre/post measurements from stock to lifted with stock tires to lifted with larger tires. The measurements are slightly different on each tire, but some of that could be my own measurement inconsistency.

Let me know if you have any questions.
 

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#13 ·
Truck looks great! I am also really interested in how you moved the inner wheel well forward with the stock parts.
 
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#22 ·
Love the look. I just ordered the Bora 1.5" and just to keep the factory 18s. Still up in the air on the 4"or 6" R/C. I had thought about a level kit till I FINALLY saw yours with the 4". I like the look of the 6, but I also think the 4" looks great and since its a daily driver I think the 4" is more practical. How are you liking it so far?
Thanks


From somewhere in Arkansas.
 
#51 ·
what width is your rim? and what offset as well, gonna try to shoehorn in 20x10 -25 offset into the collie after I get a 4 in kit!
 
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#25 ·
Go back to the #7 post and below the pictures is a pdf. Look at that. With his lift and tires the ground to fender height is right at 40" at all 4 corners. I just saw that myself today. I also called Rough Country and they said they are designs to level the vehicle.


From somewhere in Arkansas.
 
#27 ·
I took his measurements and put mine on jack stands. Gave me a good idea of the height. For me it was perfect. I'm gonna try and go 1" taller tire and keep the same height. If your unsure of what you want to do, that is a good way to see how you like it. Just use a good jack and quality jack stands.


From somewhere in Arkansas.
 
#30 ·
How much loss in turning radius was there? I've only ever done 1 lift on an independent front suspension f150 and it turned like a school bus. It's the only reason I'm planning just leveling and not lifting right now so I'm curious how yours turned out. Especially with those spacers on
 
#35 ·
Well I ordered the 4" and it came in today. I have an appointment for next Tuesday for the install. Hopefully my 1.5" Boras will be in by then. Still can't decide on tire size. Headed to Discount Tire Direct for that. They swear I can run a 33 with OE wheels and the spacers. We will see.


From somewhere in Arkansas.
 
#53 ·
My last truck was a Rancho lifted H3 Alpha on 35s. I just really thought the 4" and 32s or 33s will work better for me.



From somewhere in Arkansas.


Ha man my last rig (still got it) is an H3 Alpha with the Rancho lift & tons of other mods. Current build is a long bed 4 door duramax Canyon. Got a 4x4 shop down here at my current job locale setting me up with either the Zone Off-road 5.5" or a Procomp 2.5". Decisions decisions


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#41 ·
From a hopefully soon to be canyon owner, does this lift provide any offroad benefits, ie additional travel?

Love the looks of the 4" lift, and so far it seems ride quality stays good on road, but curious about when the pavement ends.


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#42 · (Edited)
With any IFS, you won't really gain any additional travel without extensive modification. A long travel setup requires different control arms, (longer) resulting in a wider track width, and needing longer axle shafts and steering components.

What you do gain with a standards suspension lift is ground clearance, which in most cases is more beneficial than more travel. Especially on a longer wheel base vehicle like these.

The rear leaf spring suspension usually provides pretty generous droop, giving you decent articulation. Don't know for sure on these trucks, as I haven't seen one flexed out yet, but on the H3s as pictured above, the rear would flex like crazy. To gain more in the rear you would really need to go to a link setup, which would be all custom.

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#43 ·
Ok, so mainly ground clearance. I'm good with that as long as the ride is fairly close to stock (aka kinda soft).

Do have a quick question about what the kit includes. The pic on RC's site shows two shocks. I assume those are longer rear shocks to account for the lift correct? And the fronts use an extension bracket correct?

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#44 ·
Rough country 4"

You are correct. 2 longer shocks for the rear and front extensions that attach to the bottom of the strut.
Honestly it still feels like it has the same ride as it did, but I haven't driven it too much yet.


From somewhere in Arkansas.
 
#45 ·
That would be correct. If the kit uses the stock coil over with a spacer, then there would only be two longer shocks for the rear.

Unless you change the springs or the shock valving, you aren't changing anything about the ride at all. The only difference would be your center of gravity is higher, so you would feel more body roll in hard cornering.

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