If we’re talking suspension lift kits, Rough Country, BDS, and Zone are three names that you’ll hear a lot. That’s great – they all deserve it, as they fit three important niches in modded vehicle culture.
You just have to keep in mind what each brand specializes in.
Will Rough Country make sense for extreme off-road driving? Not really.
Will Zone – and especially BDS be a total overkill if you want simple street performance? Absolutely. In most cases, an RC kit will be just about fine.
Let’s kick things off with a quick neutral outline of these 3 brands.
Affordable kit, perfect for urban trucks or light off-road adventures. Good quality considering its price.
Best warranty with any lift kit manufacturer. Comes ready for extreme adventures – thicker U bolts, heavy-duty manufacture and Fox shocks.
Best price for value if you want performance. US manufacture. A cheaper BDS without compromise on quality.
➥➥ Rough Country is a sound choice for street driving and light off-road explorations. This kit of theirs is perfect for street queen trucks and lifting most pickups. Amazing price and good performance for what you actually pay.
Don’t expect RC to cope with more serious adventures out there in the dirt, however. Also, don’t expect their shocks to handle stress or ride as smoothly as the set of Fox shocks you get with BDS or the Zone shocks.
➥➥ BDS gets you a full-on Premium Treatment with a lifetime warranty. Their kits are a must for heavy off-roading but would be an overkill if you don’t plan on mainly spending your time off the streets.
The perks are a lot. More components included, all of them with ultra-durable and thicker construction. Great upgrade options and the cherry on top – aluminum FOX shocks for superior ride performance and heat dissipation.
Obviously, the price here can be way, way more than most other brands. BDS kits do look the best, though.
➥➥ Zone is a middle ground between the other two, and a sister company of BDS. Their lift kits are oriented at off-road enthusiasts and fans of sport lifts.
Their hydro shocks, or nitro with newer kits, aren’t as good as Fox. However, they still tower above stock Rough Country shocks.
The same applies to the overall construction – from the tough front track bar to the durometer specific urethane bushings. With their comprehensive kits with custom Jeep fit, Zone emerges as the best choice for 4WD Jeep owners.
Want US manufacture and close-to-BDS-performance, but without the crazy high price tag? Go for Zone 🙂
There’s an additional important factor regarding Zone and BDS. Compared to Rough Country, you might need to do a little bit more of that cutting/grinding/welding business with your front differential.
By the way, both Zone and BDS are owned by the same company. I’m talking about Sport Truck USA. Here’s a good video giving more info on their differences:
OK, let’s take a closer look at these 🙂 Feel free to navigate to whichever lift kit interests you the most:
Table of Contents
Rough Country vs BDS:
A few important points to consider
While I agree that RC pales in comparison to BDS, there are some things I’d like to note.
First, they’re continuously upgrading their designs. I’m talking about the Vertex coilovers from last year, the upgrade to N3 shocks…
Second, they’ve added new components to their lift kits. Before they were on the scarce side, but now they’re a good bang for your buck. A lot of critics are actually criticizing the older RC kits.
As I mentioned, RC is a solid choice for the streets. BDS blows it out of the water when it comes to off-road or more aggressive suspension needs.
There’s one specific reason – the high-end FOX shocks that come with BDS suspension lift kits.
FOXes are an aluminum beast that not only drives extra smooth…they also don’t rust. Sure, RC moved on from those previous awful iron shocks to the upgraded N3 performance shocks.
However, even this upgrade can’t match the heat absorption, dampening, and longevity of FOX.
By the way, you can combine things. I’ve seen a lot of truck owners get Rough Country suspension and just grab a pair of FOX shocks/coilovers and install them. This guy did it nicely:
Affordable kit, perfect for urban trucks or light off-road adventures. Good quality considering its price.
Another thing you might see with BDS is a more heavy-duty construction.
Their U bolts are at least 1.5x thicker, their nuts are also prepared for more hardcore stress. The sleeves are slightly better welded and come with a better finish.
The same applies to Zone who follow the same manufacture process as BDS. It’s expected – they’re sister companies, after all. However, they do reuse control or radius arms on most of their lifts, unlike BDS who give you brand new ones.
Rough Country and BDS suspension lift kits:
Recommendations
First of all, I’m not sure what kind of lift kit you’re looking for.
2.5″ suspension lifts are a staple for general driving and aesthetics. You won’t see any significant effect on ride comfort and handling, parts wearing out or fuel usage.
Urban-dwelling F-150s, more casual Jeep Wranglers (check this kit here) or Dodge Rams are common 2.5” to 3” lift kit suspects.
4″ to 6″ allows for a cooler, more aggressive look. These lift heights are also better if you want to go for more off-road driving. Installation might take a bit more time and you should see some changes to fuel usage.
Ride comfort becomes more important here, including the quality of your shocks. I’ve seen a lot of Silverados, F-250 or F-350 around this level of lifting.
Above 7″ is hardcore territory. Personally, I’m not a big fan. It looks monstrously kickass, but the wear and tear and ride disruption are a bit too much for me.
Best warranty with any lift kit manufacturer. Comes ready for extreme adventures – thicker U bolts, heavy-duty manufacture and Fox shocks.
That said, here are my recommended suspension lift kits.
General use:
Rough Country lift kit
This one goes from 2″ to 6″ depending on your preferences. You can also get one with the N3 shocks or without shocks (so you can install something of better quality like Bilstein or FOX).
A very affordable, good quality suspension lift kit for most urban truck drivers…or those into light off-roading.
The kit includes quite a few parts.
In front, you’ve got:
- Lifted knuckles
- Front crossmember
- Rear crossmember
- Non-torsion bar drop brackets
- Differential drop brackets
- Sway bar links
- CV spacers
- Skid plate
- Hardware stuff
In the rear there are:
- 6.25″ fabricated lift blocks
- U bolts
- Hardware stuff
- N3 shocks (optional depending on your choice)
The reason I recommend using Amazon for Rough Country is the better price compared to other retailers or their official site.
Lots of off-road driving:
The 6″ BDS lift kit
Personally, I think BDS makes the most sense if you go for the 6″ suspension lift kit. Or at least the 4″ one.
You can either check it on their official site or once again check it on Amazon.
Remember that BDS offers richer customization on their lift kits.
Generally, the fundamentals are:
- 1/4″ steel crossmembers (laser cut)
- Steering knuckles (CNC-machined)
- Crossmember support braces
- Sway bar relocation brackets
- Cam bolts
- Upper strut mount spacers
In the rear you have:
- Offset pin lift block
- U bolt kit
- Rear brake line extensions
- Shocks (FOX or BDS per request)
Good to mention that BDS has the best warranty out there.
The company themselves refer to it as a No BS warranty. In short, if you originally purchased any BDS lift kit and it breaks, they will give you a new one. No matter what circumstances it went through!
Best suspension lift option for Jeep Wrangler/JK:
A Zone 4″ kit
Note: If you want a more modest 2.5″ kit for your JK or Wrangler, Rough Country has this great bundle.
However, if you want to embark on 4WD off-road adventures, Zone’s 4″ suspension will be a huge improvement over that.
Remember that Zone features the same manufacture quality as BDS.
Keep in mind that you’ll need to grind the frame a bit. Installation is no rocket science, but it will take a bit of time. You get:
- Coil springs (4-door specific in this case!)
- Adjustable track bar (front)
- Cam washers
- Rear sway bar links (extended); you can use the factory rear links in the front
- Track bar relocation system (rear)
- 2″ bump stop extensions for protection
- Relocation brackets
- Front/rear shocks tailored to JK – these are manufactured by Zone themselves
Overall, pretty good.
While the Zone shocks here are twin-tube (and not a monotube which I praised in my KYB vs Bilstein article), it’s not that much of a problem. They are fitted for JK and manufactured with off-road conditions in mind.
Best price for value if you want performance. US manufacture. A cheaper BDS without compromise on quality.
Conclusion
I hope that this information could help you out at least a bit. As I mentioned, it’s important to think about your own driving habits and how a suspension lift kit ties into them.
It doesn’t make sense to overpay. Much as it also doesn’t make sense to be unprepared in case you want to do some dirty and rough driving, right?
Last but not least, please check with your local legislation. Some states are pretty uptight about lift heights. There’s a chance that in some areas you’ll get in trouble if you go for the higher lift kits. The rule still stands – look cool, but drive responsibly…and in line with the law. 🙂