Reviving an old thread...
Any further long term updates on this kit from RPG? I know Blackwidow (Paj1978) is selling or has sold his truck. Who's still running and enjoying it?
Just saw this thread. I bought a used truck with this kit & the RST 18, and have owned it for about a year now.
When things are running well, the truck is a different animal. Simply more capable, and a blast to drive. After driving a stocker, I can't imagine going back to a factory setup. The pace you can maintain through the rough stuff is really a blast. Say goodbye to all your OEM friends.
Lots of body roll, squat, lift, etc on the tarmac but I actually enjoy that. Not sure I'd want it as a daily, but as a purpose built vehicle that gets driven occasionally, it's great fun.
In about 9 months, the drivers side weld-on upper bypass mount broke twice. The second time I was 50 miles into the backcountry and there was no noticeable difference in moderate offroad performance with the one bypass removed. After the second failure I had everything torn down and it turns out the 10" bypasses are custom ordered (according to Fox) with shorter 8" shock shafts. No one could tell me why, so I rebuilt them with 10" shafts and it's been fine since.
My local shock rebuilder said the shorter 8" shafts prevented the shock from ever reaching the bump section of the bypass shock, which may explain why the truck rode the same with the bypass removed. I also noticed the front suspension somewhat violently tops-out when you jump... maybe it was the bypasses topping-out due to the shorter shafts, causing stress on the mounts, resulting in breakage? Who knows. Couldn't get a straight answer one way or the other, and lost interest in trying.
RCV axles are $2500ish for the pair. They crew over there is great, but I would consider other options. They fling grease EVERYWHERE all over the inside of the wheel well, the LCA, the UCA, the spindle, the running boards, etc etc. When I had to remove that bypass on the trail, I got covered in grease. ******* lame. They also make a loud/annoying clicking noise when going uphill in 4x4. It's annoying enough that I had everything torn down again, and paid RCV to have one of them rebuilt, but that only made it worse. But hey, they look cool!
Overall the pros outweigh the cons by a long shot. The occasional hassles are to be expected with any major mods, especially if you're doing more than starbucks runs. The big picture is that i've really enjoyed the increase in capability, but don't buy it if throwing a few grand at it every so often is going to be a dealbreaker.