While looking at lift kits, I have narrowed my choices/options two these two companies... I have heard both raving and terrible reviews on both.. I know that an 8" kit on rough country is 1300$, but i am unable to find/see the pricing on tuff country.. Does anyone know which is better and the pricing for tuff country? Open to other suggestions as well

 

What are you putting this kit on? Also are you planning on a full spring or coil lift or using blocks in the rear?

I have buddies that have used Rough Country, no real problems but the ride is much smoother with the BDS that I put on mine.

 

Sorry should have explained more.. Im going to put it on an '03 Lariat 7.3L Turbo Diesel..Heres the link to the kit at rough country:Ford Suspension Lift Kit

 

Kit looks good. I wonder how the shocks compare.
I think the BDS kit is a little more with a full spring lift. Mine also came with a stabilizer shock which I upgraded to the duel set up. That might be the difference.

 

Have you ever heard of N2.0's?

 

I have heard of them but have never used them.

 

X2 on BDS. It might be $600 well spent compared to a Rough and Tuff Country. Their shocks are ok, I'd try to sell them to get Bilsteins 5125s. You're talking about spending $500-600 bucks a tire for your 22" rims to go under this lift (that could be $3k in rubber alone with a spare), so don't cheap out trying to save the cost of a single tire on the lift.

On an '03, odds are at least a couple of the steering boots are torn and the joints are trashed, get a setup from Moog to put in during the install, and probably a set of Warn Premium hubs.

 

I found a site that can get me the Nittos for $431 each.. so your saying good tire over lift? or the opposite? unsure...

 

Coming from the Jeep world, Rough Country is known for making "passable" or "OK" lift products and selling them cheap, preferring quantity over quality. They're not blazing any new trails with the best suspension designs, just giving you "what it takes to make it work" as long as that's enough for you.

I've never Tuff Country and know nothing about them.

Based on your name, you like to "roll coal". There are generally two types of people who "roll coal". The first are those who are into optimizing the performance of their rig and pushing it as far as they can go, often in pulling competitions, and the other are the kids (mostly) who are interested in being as obnoxious as possible, bolting or gluing on whatever "kit" on their truck that they can get ahold of to pretty it up. They want to be able to say they have an 8" lift and 38.50's and two 12-inch subs even if they ride, roll, and sound like ****. If you're the former, you can do better, and it's probably worth the extra money if you can swing it. If you're the latter, go for what's cheapest so you can save up for that 55-gallon-drum stack in the bed and give all the rest of us diesel drivers a bad name.

 

I'm just saying that if you step back and look at the overall cost of the entire project, the incremental cost of a BDS full-spring kit over a cheaper quality kit isn't as huge a deal as it sounds when you look at just going from a $1200 kit to an $1800 kit. Looking at the lift alone, that's a 50% increase in cost going with BDS over the cheaper kit. But when you throw in $3k for the tires/rims, and $500-1500 in odd ends like front end joints, carrier bearing, ball joints, brakes, wheel bearings, hubs, an alignment, etc, it's really only a 15-ish% increase in your total cost to get better components for the most permanent part of the whole project.

I guess what I'm to get at in general is don't cheap out on components just to get a kit from a company. I would give considerable more respect to someone running 35s under a 4" lift or 37s under a 6" lift that's done correctly with good parts, compared to a hillbilly 12" ghetto lift and 44" swampers. It's not just about brands per se, but about attention to detail and quality. You're talking about 8 inches of lift and 38s, there are a TON of details on a project like this that will make the difference between mallcrawling junk and something that is actually functional, and more importantly, safe.

I know I'm pushing past the point of your original post about Brand A vs Brand B lifts, but those won't get you all the way, you have to look at the bigger picture from the start so you don't get stuck in with a kit that doesn't mesh well with the bigger picture.

 

Hahaha this was great.. I am a kid, and I like to think I'm not obnoxious, but I am not one of those kids, or cheap guys just trying to get around.. I have a true respect and love for cars and trucks, CLEAN cars and trucks... Some kids in my town are exactly what you said, and they know NOTHING and just go online, find some cheap "whatever" and go to autozone. I like to do as much of everything as possible, only being 16 I don't know a **** ton, but I'm learning and whenever I have something changed or fixed on another car in my family, I'm always doing/helping.. My dad who is a lawyer now is a big car guy in the means of running his cars to the dirt and pushing them until they blow their trannys...I want a clean truck that I can go hard on and in, not just a joy rider to get to school, and I'm willing to spend the dough as well. As far as lift kits go, I dont know much all I know is that I want them to be able to handle my big wheels, my crazy driving, and especially the mudding.

 

Feel beyond free to go off topic, this post alone was really helpful and I thank you... And I get now exactly what you mean and cannot agree more, and taking in your point about 15%, for the rest that I want to do to the truck, it will probably be more like 3%, sadly. But if you think about it, everything else is riding on that kit and those wheels and tires: your lights, stacks, mirros TRUCK... So I have a question for you.. On a big list of things (add ons and such) best to start with wheels tires and suspension?

 

Let's try to be a little more supportive of each other and not paint everyone with such a broad brush. I try to judge people based on words and actions, not goofy screen names and avatars.

 

You'll notice I didn't paint him with either brush. Just showed the two brushes that tend to exist. And you'll also notice he responded laughing, knowing exactly what I was talking about and assuring that wasn't him.

 

I just did a 6 in rough country lift on a Chevy 2500. The kit was rough and the shocks were meh. It took a lot of working and massaging to get it right. Inversly, I also did a 6 in BDS kit on a 1500, and it went in like butter. Also rode tons better. My 2 cents.