Question about Tuff Country lift kits

[scott25a]

Do these kits have the drop bracket that punch holes in the case? Would this be a good lift since the worst thing my truck sees are New Jersey pot hole infected streets. Should I go with basic lift or one with extended radius arms? Basically whats the best "bang for the buck", since truck does not go offroad and will not cause damage to the truck. Thanks, Scott

1996 Super Cab STX 4X4
3" Body Lift
2" Suspension Lift
32" BFG's

 

[RangerSVT]

I would stay away from the RC lifts, I personnally find skyjacker to be the best bang for the buck, while superlift is also good quality
SVT

 

[99RangerKrazy]

It's a "get what you pay for" type of thing. I've seen people run the Tuff Country, and they liked it. It did what they wanted. They also would break far before, for example, a Skyjacker lift kit would. IMO, I would save up for at least a SuperLift, I've heard a lot of good things about them. Not high end, but not el cheapo. Skyjacker is known for making great kits, same with James Duff. Skyjacker and James Duff lifts usually will outlast the truck itself.

 

[4x4junkie]

Tuff country is a decent budget kit. It does not have the diff-buster bracket. No need for extended arms if it's not going offroad where you'd need any extra wheel travel.

Be sure you get a drop pitman arm if it doesn't come with one.

 

[legoms013]

I have a tuff country kit. Has held up fine. It is no skyjacker kit but it is strong enough for most wheelin, and is easy to beef up. One thing i like about it is the eccentric cam bolts on the axle brackets, they make aligning it a dream. those cam bolts basically make the brackets both 3 and 4 inch drop brackets, with adjustment for the in between for when your coils settle. btw the coils are a little stiff, but with my extra 250lbs on the front they flex to the limits of my suspension setup.

Dont get their long radius arms tho they suck, go with skjackers radius arms they are way better.

their shocks arent really long enough, so buy them seperate and for a 6" lift.

overall, its a good kit with a few minor annoyances.

if you have the money tho just go with skyjackers stage two kit, thats what i should have done

 

[JoseBronco]

Can be done the steering alignment with Tuff Country 2.5" drop brackets and 4" lift coils?

 

[legoms013]

JoseBronco If your question is will it be align-able with 4" lift coils and 2.5" drop brackets the asnwer is no you'll need 4" drop brackets to go with those coils.

 

[Tyler_b]

Tuff country brackets have been great for me, my truck sees highspeed, crawling and occassional jump, no damage yet or any problems from these brackets. As for joes bronco yes you can run 4" lift spring with the 2.5" drop brackets but you will need to lower your radius arms or build extended ones to get right caster, also youll need to get yourself some 2.75 to 3 degree camber bushings and dont forgot to get it to steer right youll need drop pitman arm. I am getting 16-17" wheeltravel with my custom lift which cost less than a full kit put out by the big names....

 

[legoms013]

16-17" of travel??? what exactly is your suspension setup? Are you running soft jeep coils or something?



I feel like he wont be able to address the huge camber problems and 3.75-4 degree eccentric alignment bushings wont even come close to being able to get it to align correctly. 4" coils go with a minimum of 3" drop brackets. If he's got 400lbs hangin off the front of his truck then yes 2.5" drop brackets with 4 " coils would work....otherwise no.

When i first put my 4" coils in with 4" drop brackets it had 1..25 degrees of positive camber, with 250lbs extra (winch, bumper) so im not thinking 2.5" drop brackets will cut it.

Thats just MY experience so whatever, maybe i dont kno what im talking about but thats WHAT SEEMS logical to me because of what ive SEEN.

The coils are stiff and take a long time to settle, but not enough to use 2.5" drop brackets. I think those would be better suited for leveling coils and steel washers for around 2-2.5" of lift.

 

[Tyler_b]

16-17" of travel??? what exactly is your suspension setup? Are you running soft jeep coils or something?



I feel like he wont be able to address the huge camber problems and 3.75-4 degree eccentric alignment bushings wont even come close to being able to get it to align correctly. 4" coils go with a minimum of 3" drop brackets. If he's got 400lbs hangin off the front of his truck then yes 2.5" drop brackets with 4 " coils would work....otherwise no.

When i first put my 4" coils in with 4" drop brackets it had 1..25 degrees of positive camber, with 250lbs extra (winch, bumper) so im not thinking 2.5" drop brackets will cut it.

Thats just MY experience so whatever, maybe i dont kno what im talking about but thats WHAT SEEMS logical to me because of what ive SEEN.

The coils are stiff and take a long time to settle, but not enough to use 2.5" drop brackets. I think those would be better suited for leveling coils and steel washers for around 2-2.5" of lift.

I am running 4.5" Duff 2wd lift coils for a ranger in my exploder, dont know if you can get them anymore they are just a tad stiffer than the aftermarket jeep coils but not as much as the superlift or skyjacker 4x4 ttb ones, cant remember the ppi on them right now think there some where in the 375 410 range. I am running tuff countrys 2.5 Drop brackets, small drop pitman(steering is level), dana 44 knuckles and outers with tie rod flipped to top, heavily gusseted superlift longer radius arms, 12" travel bilstein 7100s, and 0 to 2.75 degree bushings.

If you use the tuff country brackets(adjustable too) and get your 2.75-3 degree bushings you will be able to make it work, despite what people think 2.75 to 3 degrees actually moves your camber in a large amount, doesnt sound like much till you put it on rack and actually see the change in camber, i do tones of these ford ttb alignments(i am technican) and i havent gotten one i couldnt fix, one of the biggest issues is to make sure your steering is parrell, make sure you have a drop pitman or using somekind of swingset steering. I can dial my alignment into factory specs or even better, little bit of negative camber seems to work best for me despite what they teach you...

Hope this helps, oh if your wondering i have extra 250lbs or so on the front of my exploder too

 

[legoms013]

Tyler_b, ok sounds like a bitchin' setup. How do you like the bilstein 7100's?


Original Poster: IMHO the Tuff country kit is your "best bang for the buck" budget kit that is offered for the TTB suspension. If you must go for the cheaper kits I'd highly recommend the Tuff country, that being said if you have the money Skyjackers stage II kits are hard to beat.

 

[88_Eddie]

i dont see why the tuff country wouldnt be right for him. he said it does not go offroad. it should last longer than someone who has one and does go wheelin.

seems like last time i checked though, the superlift 4 inch kit wasnt that much more than the TC.....and the 3 inch duff is on ~$150 more. just throwin that out there

 

[Tyler_b]

Tyler_b, ok sounds like a bitchin' setup. How do you like the bilstein 7100's?


Original Poster: IMHO the Tuff country kit is your "best bang for the buck" budget kit that is offered for the TTB suspension. If you must go for the cheaper kits I'd highly recommend the Tuff country, that being said if you have the money Skyjackers stage II kits are hard to beat.

Bilstein 7100s are the shit, they are so smooth and really not that expensive to buy, i would recommend them to anyone. Crawling or hauling they are smooth like butter...

 

[Tyler_b]

i dont see why the tuff country wouldnt be right for him. he said it does not go offroad. it should last longer than someone who has one and does go wheelin.

seems like last time i checked though, the superlift 4 inch kit wasnt that much more than the TC.....and the 3 inch duff is on ~$150 more. just throwin that out there

Lol i had to post up, so whats wrong with the tuff country brackets?? I do go offroad and beat on my truck, i have no issues with these brackets, they are beefy, and i trust my life with them, they have taken some serious hit's from rocks and havent bent or cracked and some serious air time come down hits on the front. Superlift on the otherhand i have cracked two of their drop pivot brackets in two years then i went to tough country, its been 2 years and counting and no problems yet. I will admit skyjackers are nice looking and i know they are beefy too, my point is that tuff country does make an excellent reliable drop pivot brackets, i would hold them up there with skyjacker.


Buy the tough country pivot brackets and build your own kit is the way id do it, or if your not comfortable in it but the complete tuff country lift, it wont let ya down

 

[legoms013]

Lol i had to post up, so whats wrong with the tuff country brackets?? I do go offroad and beat on my truck, i have no issues with these brackets, they are beefy, and i trust my life with them, they have taken some serious hit's from rocks and havent bent or cracked and some serious air time come down hits on the front. Superlift on the otherhand i have cracked two of their drop pivot brackets in two years then i went to tough country, its been 2 years and counting and no problems yet. I will admit skyjackers are nice looking and i know they are beefy too, my point is that tuff country does make an excellent reliable drop pivot brackets, i would hold them up there with skyjacker.


Buy the tough country pivot brackets and build your own kit is the way id do it, or if your not comfortable in it but the complete tuff country lift, it wont let ya down

I can vouch for Tuff Country's brackets once again, they aren't cheese whiz and will hold up for sure for what ever the OP has in store. I've beat mine pretty hard too with no breaks (yet, fingers crossed). They are plenty strong for the weekend warrior and moderate wheeler. So if pot holes are all that he is going to encounter, there is no need to spend lots of $$$ on a big time kit. Save the money for other stuff. As far as strength is concerned this is how I rank the drop brackets strengths in order from least strong to most strong (and this is just from what ive read here on the site):

Rough Country
Rancho/BDS
Superlift
Tuff Country
James Duff
Skyjacker