Rough Country Shocks

dogememe

dogememe

Joined
Apr 15, 2017
Messages
4,501
Location
Napa, CA.
I have a 97 Yukon, it came with a 4" Rough Country lift with Rough Country shocks. The lift and shocks are like one year old I think.

Anyway, the suspension is absolutely horrific. I solved the steering issues with a new gearbox, makes a world of difference. So now the front end is tight. Alignment is off but whatever. But now the biggest problem is the ride quality is a joke. You can feel every little bump in the road. The shocks are not damping anything. If I had fillings in my teeth they would have fallen out by now LOL! However when you are driving over like 20mph and change lanes or something or go over a dip in the road it wobbles side to side for a long time. My coworker was driving behind me once and asked me what I was doing it's really that wallowy. I have owned a dozen GMT400s and they've all had a nice, smooth ride, with composed handling. Not like this. Now, I understand lift kits make everything worse but I wouldn't expect it to be this bad.

I'm wondering if the problem is the shocks. That's what it sounds like to me I just am surprised they're already bad? Has anyone else experienced premature failure/horrible ride quality with Rough Country shocks?

I had KYB MonoMax on a previous truck, they were amazing. I'm thinking of going that route again. The ones supposedly compatible with a 4" lift are about $65/each though. So that's like $250 for all four and money is tight right now. So I'm hesitant to buy new shocks if that won't fix the problem.
 
dogememe said:
I have a 97 Yukon, it came with a 4" Rough Country lift with Rough Country shocks. The lift and shocks are like one year old I think.

Anyway, the suspension is absolutely horrific. I solved the steering issues with a new gearbox, makes a world of difference. So now the front end is tight. Alignment is off but whatever. But now the biggest problem is the ride quality is a joke. You can feel every little bump in the road. The shocks are not damping anything. If I had fillings in my teeth they would have fallen out by now LOL! However when you are driving over like 20mph and change lanes or something or go over a dip in the road it wobbles side to side for a long time. My coworker was driving behind me once and asked me what I was doing it's really that wallowy. I have owned a dozen GMT400s and they've all had a nice, smooth ride, with composed handling. Not like this. Now, I understand lift kits make everything worse but I wouldn't expect it to be this bad.

I'm wondering if the problem is the shocks. That's what it sounds like to me I just am surprised they're already bad? Has anyone else experienced premature failure/horrible ride quality with Rough Country shocks?

I had KYB MonoMax on a previous truck, they were amazing. I'm thinking of going that route again. The ones supposedly compatible with a 4" lift are about $65/each though. So that's like $250 for all four and money is tight right now. So I'm hesitant to buy new shocks if that won't fix the problem.
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Rough Country lifts/shocks are terrible quality in general. I had some of their stuff on previous Jeeps. I currently run Fox shocks on my Wrangler, and Bilsteins are great as well. Before you replace the shocks (which are definitely part of the issue) I would have the suspension checked out at a good shop, since you bought it lifted the lift components could be improperly installed or very worn.
 
I wonder how much that lift requires the torsion bars to be cranked?? Stock length or extended?
 
D60 said:
I wonder how much that lift requires the torsion bars to be cranked?? Stock length or extended?
Click to expand...

I checked the rough country website and here are the instructions:

78. Reinstall the stock torsion bars into the lower control arms, and the torsion bar adjusters in the stock cross members, Be sure the torsion bars are installed the same way they came out. Using the torsion bar tool adjust the bolt to the same length as stock.

So it seems the torsion bars are not modified?
 
I have always liked Bilstein shocks. I have a set of Bilstein 4600 on my Tahoe, those are stock replacement as the truck is stock height.

I think the 5100 are for lifted vehicles. Maybe a set of those would work well for you.
 
Those rough country lifts are notorious for being … rough.

Shocks will help but not a much. If I had to guess I’m betting your torsion bars are cranked up, this is where most of the rough ride is coming from. Are your control arms level at rest or on a angle?

I would find a recommended shop that deals with this stuff regularly and see what they say/recommend.
 
JWC86 said:
Those rough country lifts are notorious for being … rough.

Shocks will help but not a much. If I had to guess I’m betting your torsion bars are cranked up, this is where most of the rough ride is coming from. Are your control arms level at rest or on a angle?

I would find a recommended shop that deals with this stuff regularly and see what they say/recommend.
Click to expand...

If they were just a rough ride I'd be fine with it. But the wobbling and bouncing is just horrific.
 
Pull the front shocks and drive a little. Does the "roughness" diminish considerably?

Also this will give you a chance to feel them. Can they be easily compressed by hand? If gas charged, do they return?

You've said your alignment is out....and "wobbling" could mean a lot of things but poor alignment could cause a wobble.

Also if you're not married to the current ride height you could back the torsion bars off a bit and see if ride improves.
 
Rough Country is a running joke in the offroad world. They sell lots of stuff to newbies. Surely through your work you know someone from an offroad shop you could take it to to be checked out. There's a lot to get wrong when a lift is put on. Is this another 300k mile unit? You said you think the lift is 1 year old but if the rest of the suspension is loose a lift and big tires make it all worse.

I wouldn't spend any money on replacing anything until you know what you're working with.
 
Remove the lift kit, Check everything while it's apart. Install some factory GMT900 18" or 20" wheels & tires. Some kits have you cut off a differential bracket that will need to be sourced & welded back in the CORRECT place

Bilstein 4600's are a very good shock.

Usually....When I get a 4wd GMT400 in for frontend work, It needs everything but tie rods.

If you're married to the lift kit.....Start with retorqueing all the lift kit hardware. Then have a frontend guy check it out. The premise of this lift kit is to space everything down 4" & keep the factory suspension geometry....The flimsy crossmembers like to move around!
 
clinebarger said:
Remove the lift kit, Check everything while it's apart. Install some factory GMT900 18" or 20" wheels & tires. Some kits have you cut off a differential bracket that will need to be sourced & welded back in the CORRECT place

Bilstein 4600's are a very good shock.

Usually....When I get a 4wd GMT400 in for frontend work, It needs everything but tie rods.

If you're married to the lift kit.....Start with retorqueing all the lift kit hardware. Then have a frontend guy check it out. The premise of this lift kit is to space everything down 4" & keep the factory suspension geometry....The flimsy crossmembers like to move around!
Click to expand...
Yeah I’m pretty attached to the lift kit. I love how it looks! I will definitely inspect the lift kit components and take it to a competent place to have it inspected.
 

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dogememe said:
The tires are too wide, I looked it up and they should not be mounted on those wheels. They are GMT800 wheels.
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Just lower air pressure to get a reasonable contact patch. What pressure are you running now? How is present tread wear?

I used to run 37x12.50x15 MTR's on 15x7's. Zero problems and drove great. I only ran about 24psi on the highway in a full-size Bronco. And I had a live front axle so that's dead simple compared to GM IFS, but still.....I also had 2.5" BS to clear 60 calipers with steelies which doesn't exactly aid handling (or at least scrub radius)

With 17's you've got less sidewall (and air volume) so you'll need a bit more pressure.

I'm again running 37's on stock 17×7.5" JL alloys. Drives fantastic....but again, SFA
 
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