Rough Country 2in Leveling Struts - 2016 RAM 1500 4x4 

Thank you!

Thank you! I’m glad i could help!

Haha seems like a typical “it should only take me 1-2 hours” job gone right! These are the comments that make me want to do more of this kind of content! Thank you for watching and I’m glad I could bring some entertainment to your rough patch haha!

You probablylove to sit on it

Agreed, the 24” pry bar I used was a struggle.

😂

Probably not a bad idea! Gotta try that next time!

Happened to me i cried lol

If they're worn out they will separate...

Did u buy just the front struts that are at a 6 inch lift? And did u do anything to the rear suspension

You won’t regret the purchase! Anytime!

Glad i could help!

It is all preference, and glad they work well for you. I personally think, that these are a true upgrade, since the coils are being replaced also.

Also what your wheel and tire set up

Absolutely do this. The pucks squeak and the ride quality is much better with the RC. I also changed my upper control arms too to improve the angle of the bolt.

@@Baldysyoutubechannel definitely going to do it as soon as I get some extra cash

@@DanielRodriguez-bv9ud yes. Save up. Believe me you'll be much happier.

😂 we’re all in this together lol. But mann im telling ya, the ride quality is 100 times better than what my spine was dealing with before

Awesome! I just ordered the front struts and the rear shocks from RC. Also rear springs because I’m converting my factory air ride to coils because it’s been having issues. Can’t wait for the install.

@@robotops2929 gotta let me know how those rears turn out for ya

@@MJAltairy I didn’t like the rear shocks, made my truck bouncy. Let RC know, they sent another set and still did the same. Ended up return them and running the stock shocks.

@@robotops2929 oh dang! Are you still rocking the front RC struts tho?

Really can’t complain for a kit that’s ready to install right out the box! No adjustments needed, spring compressor or buying different components to get a complete strut assembly together! Ready to bolt right in!

Yeah I didn’t realize how bad the pucks were till I experienced it for myself. I’m glad this vid helped out! Appreciate it!

How have they been? Any issues with rough 4x4? Did you ever need to get new upper control arms to fix the geometry? I have a 2011 ram and am looking at these also.

Thank you!

Appreciate the kind words!

Lol i stand corrected.

Mine pushed completely out . 100% necessary to replace the uppers. I went with uplift uppers. World if difference now!

@@stealthdoocatee i have a 2017 ram do you have a link to the UCA you got Why is it necessary to replace only if you're going 2" of lift?

@@--emt I got the ready lift ones. Oem ball joints literally ripped out of oem control arms and i done off road ever. Just normal driving. They were over stressed. The pressed in oem joint pulled which could have been Catastrophic

@@stealthdoocatee Did you have a 2" lift or how many inches did you lift it because I guess 2" Barley puts any stress on the ball joint if you go 3" then I could definitely see that happening my question I guess to you is did you purchase these exact 2" leveling struts and that happened to you? On the stock UCAs?

2 year warranty on struts, why didn't you have them replaced under warranty?

I know it’s only been about a week with these shocks, but the ride quality has been wayyyyyy better than it has for the past year and a half with the leveling pucks that i had originally. This truck “floats” now over bumps and ruts. Even highway driving drastically improved which I didn’t expect. Highly highly highly recommend these. I paid full dollar for these so im not sponsored by them haha!

@@MJAltairy seems like the best value for the best quality level for sure. Not a lot of reviews on them though nice job

Hell yeah that’s gonna look sweet! Make sure to tighten that upper balljoint with pressure on the lower control arm (basically gotta tighten it with truck at it’s height when under load).

@@MJAltairy alrighty thanks I gotta go pick them up at luckys next Saturday

That’s awesome man! Gotta let me know if the rears and the control arms are worth the upgrade!

@@MJAltairy I sure will. I felt like I'd rather have articulation in rear instead of the air ride so my ride may not be as good as yours

@@rockingarchangel i hear ya. I don’t have the factory air ride on mine, i just got those helper airbags in the springs to help with towing mainly.

I currently have stockers on the back and I do have the airbag airlift kit in the rear springs to help with heavy loads and towing. I think bilststein had a good set for rear shocks tho.

I gotta check them out!

I actually would not recommend doing that on a 1/2 ton truck. You can, but you are sacrificing ride quality significantly, and for what. You are no my towing heavy anyways.

I think they’re different but id say some more HW wouldn’t hurt

Hmm thats interesting. Is the whole wheel sticking out or possibly just the top? How does the truck drive? Could possibly be an alignment issue. Any previous accidents that would’ve possibly caused the body to shift a little over the frame?

@@MJAltairy no accidents that I’m aware of. Truck drives straight and on point. I’ve been doing research and finding out when you lift front end the axle pushes to one side. Adjustable track bar fixes problem. But there for Ram 2500s. Can’t find anything on a 1500. Thanks for replying.

@@markdalesandro7 yeah that’s because they’re solid front axles vs our independent front suspension setup. I was reading online about guys who lower their rams and face a similar issue with unequal sides but that’s all i could find. It probably doesn’t really affect anything as long as it drives good. Let me know if you end up figuring it out!

@@MJAltairy I saw the same thing. From what I read it doesn’t affect anything. More of a you know it’s off by 1/2” and it’s gonna drive you crazy but no else will know. Lol. I’ll update if I figure it out.

​@@markdalesandro7that's for the back axle only, not the front. Panhard bar size needs to be longer when lifting suspension. Adjustable panhard bar will correct axle offset when lifting or lowering.

If you’re talking about the factory air suspension, yes the cold weather tends to freeze up the lines once moisture enters the system. The airlift I’m talking about is the helper airbags which is really just used for additional support when dealing with heavy loads or a heavier trailer to help minimize the rear from sagging so much. The cold Michigan weather didn’t really seem to bother it much.

I have em and i still like em for the value. However for my next truck, i think id like to try the Bilstein’s since people sweat by them.

Yeah I’m super happy with the 2in struts as well! Glad I didn’t go higher

Absolutely!

If you plan on going crazy with off-roading, I recommend getting upgraded UCA’s. I’ve been rocking the stock UCA’s for a while now and have been fine so far (knock on wood). These honestly don’t kill suspension angles and you can see how easy it was for me to install the UCA into the spindle. Where as with the pucks i was wrestling the heck out of the upper ball joint to get into the spindle. Drive-wise, these feel similar to stock with just a little bit of stiffness but really not that bad at all. The pucks are just horrendous and super uncomfortable. You as well as your truck will feel every bit of imperfection on the road with pucks.

@@MJAltairy Thanks for the reply man yeah I'm not going to do the pucks I just didn't know how the ride quality was with these shocks also about the upper control arms I heard that they can slip anything over 2" of height to correct the angle. Some say yes it's mandatory some say no lol

@@--emt it’s definitely not mandatory but it’s recommended. Above 2in, I’d say yeah look into UCA’s though lol

It’s been a year with them and i’ll say for the money it was worth it however the “ride” did kinda stiffen up over time. My next setup, id like to try Bilsteins next. I just liked the RC because it was ready to install out of the box.

@@MJAltairy Fabulous thank you. I will go with the Bilsteins as well thanks for saving me time and money!

It is pivoted more but it’s definitely better than when I had the leveling pucks installed. I am planning for UCA’s next but it seems alot of the UCA’s are for 3+ inch lifts. Would it be fine to run something like that even though I have a 2in leveling kit?

@@MJAltairy idk if you ever got your answer on this but from I've been seeing those UCAs for the 3" only fit the 3". You can supposedly compound a spacer on top of the leveling kit to make up for it but that seems sketchy AF and RC does not condone doing this.

@@Admiral_Potato41 yeah that seems sketchy affff 😂

@@Admiral_Potato41 have you found the answer about using a Uca that was designed for 3 inch lift? I'm also curious. Could you get away with using it for a 2.5 inch strut

You can continue to use stock UCAs for a 2" level. You are not putting enough stress on the ball joints, and they are only slightly articulated. Anything taller is where you start to run into issues.

I didn’t at first because i didn’t think it would make a big difference but I ended up getting one eventually and it rode so much better! So yeah, I’d definitely recommend getting an alignment afterwards.

@MJ Altairy ok MJ thank you for your reply

Yes i've always kept my eyes out on my upper control arms, specifically the upper ball joints because they can sometimes "slip" out a little and that's why I wanted to get away from using the puck style leveling kit. This is my second ram 1500 that ive owned (previous was a 15 ram quad cab) and I have yet to notice any ball joint issues. The ball joint issue usually comes to play if you're pretty rough on your truck with offroading it and what not. But one thing you'll notice while installing a kit like this rough country kit is the "ease" of sliding the assembly in compared to installing the stock setup+leveling pucks. And with the truck down on the ground, not only will you notice the drastic improvement in the drive experience but you'll right away notice less "stressful" angles on the suspension compared to when it had pucks. Just my 2 cents.

Awesome! Thanks for the reply!

I got em linked in the description to the exact setup but the tires are 35/12.5/18 Thunderer MT tires and wheels are 18x10 Moto metals with a -25mm offset I believe.

Do you still like your RC N3 struts?

Very light rubbing on the fender liner at full lock. Could easily be trimmed though

Yes these struts are already designed with the extra 2 inches.

Yes, via stiffer springs!

It’s definitely recommended!

Yup they are! Can’t beat them for the price and quality! They’re actually not bad at all!

I haven’t paid attention to that but i do know that it was happening due to the marks I’ve seen on the front of my lower control arms. I thought it was happening from my previous 2.5 leveling kit.

@@MJAltairy ok thanks👍 I didnt want to spend the💰💰 on these if the factory lower arms bound up on the turn stops. Nice looking truck man👍

@@davidnelson5460 yeah i’ll try to check it out in the AM and get back to you! Appreciate it man!

I don’t think so. I think this kit’s only for 4wd models.

I never got around to measuring my truck after the install but I’d imagine it would take some time for the springs/coils to settle/lower a bit after the install. Maybe give it a few days then measure? Also, did you make sure to tighten the upper ball joint with pressure/weight on the suspension?

I’m tellin ya, the difference is night and day! I wish I went to these struts from the get go, drives soooo much better!

Yup, i’m rocking 35’s in this video as well!

@@MJAltairy any rubbing at all or any trimming needed? Thank you.

@@joseromero1400 just very slight rubbing on sway bar and fender liner at full lock turns. Nothing crazy though. I’ve been rocking 35’s for 2+ years now with no problems!

@@MJAltairy did you have to do any trimming? I’m debating between 33s and 35s. Thank you

@@joseromero1400 nope no trimming at all. I really like the 35’s on these trucks. 33’s look small on them in my opinion.

Nope, didn’t have any issues

It's only recommended when going above 2.5". Using pucks has nothing to do with it. It's all in height. Pucks are essentially doing the same exact thing as the leveling strut. All you're doing is pushing the body up 2". Stock UCA is fine with 2" pucks or struts. Don't run a wheel and tire with a huge negative offset and wheel spacers if you don't want issues with your front end. I have 2" motofab spacers with zero issues and stock ride quality. Ran another set on my Jeep Grand Cherokee for over 5 years with zero issues also. People will always say a strut is better because they are trying to justify spending the extra money. If your stock struts are not worn, then spacers are fine as long as you buy quality ones.

Highly recommend one! I drove mine without and alignment for a while and it took a toll on my tires and would sway to the drivers side alot. A good alignment was a night and day fix!

I should have the link to it in the description. It was off Amazon.

Yup, been running the stock ones this whole time

Yup they’re the “Rear Airlift” airbags link in the description of the video

Yes, definitely won’t hurt or at least new upper ball joints. unless your current uca’s are newer then I wouldn’t worry about replacing them.