Problems with the RC control arm drop kit

Ok so I have a 98 jeep xj with the 6.5 inch Rough Country lift kit on. I have had this lift on for about a good year now so I have there old control arms not the new x series. I called and talked to RC and told them what I have and will the control arm drop kit work with my kit. They said yes it will work no problem. So i get the control arm drop kit and I start installing the kit. I run into bunch of problems trying to adjust the control arms to the correct length. By installing this lowering kit this pushed my axle so far forward that my wheels hit my front bumper when i turn and my springs are way to far forward. I tried to adjust them shorter keeping my caster angle correct. But there was no way for me to accomplish this. So I figured I was doing somthing wrong. So I took my jeep to Maximum off road here in las vegas. They where unable to get it correct either. They told me that the control arms are just to long with the control arm drop kit on to adjust anything. My passenger caster is at 2 and my driver side is at about 2.5. My passanger upper control arm screwed all the way in is at 15.5 inches center to center and my Driver side is at 15 inches screwed allt he way in. And both of my lower control arms are at 16. So I called rough country while I was at maximum offroad and had the maximum offroad guy talk to them. Rough country said the problem is that some of there old control arms got shipped out with the thread not threaded far enough to screw them in short enough for the control arm drop kit. Has anyone else had this problem yet?
I asked Rough Country if they can help me out to get this fixed being that its all rough country products and they are not fitting together problerly. I asked if they would sell me the new x-series control arms with a discount being that the ones I have were not threaded far enough and they said no. So I said maybe i should just say screw the drop kit and upgrade to the long arm kit. I asked if they would subtract the 180 i spent on the drop kit from the long arm kit and ill send there drop kit back to them. They said they will only give my money back if i send the drop kit back, then they can take the 180 off. So im going to have to pay maximum off road to take the drop kit off and go back to stock, then pay out of pocket to ship them back to RC. Then buy the long arm kit with my 180$ credit then pay maximum off road to put the long arm kit on. Im going to have to pay twice as much money to fix somthing that isnt my fault in the first place. Is this normaly how Rough country works? If so im going to go with another lift brand and stop dealing with rough country. Im new to the jeep industry, i went out with a friend and got hooked and have been slowing building up this jeep. Let me know what everyone thinks about rough country if i should go with another brand for now on and what brand is better and has good customer service. Thanx

First welcome im new to ..but as for your question somewhere in the sponsors section for sale theres a guy with them thats who i see people say to deal with mabye he can help you i believe there a big sponsor here and i have heard lots of good stuff about them and thats who i bought my kit 6.5 from recently..hope this can help.

Cool thanx ill check out the sponsors section. Im just trying to figure somthing out that isnt going to kill my pocket book being that I have already spent alot of money trying to figure out why these parts arent working in the first place

Buy a set of used fixed length uppers and lowers that are the same length as stock, or run WJ control arms with the drop kit and call it a day.

What tire carrier is that?

The whole point is not to spend more money if you were iron man has adj uppers and lowers for good prices..Other than that how do you like the 6.5

Thanx ill check into that, and the tire carrior is a tire gate. It goes into my hitch u can check it out here http://www.tiregate.com/hg_series_0.shtml

Jason is the name and selling Rough Country is the game lol
call me if you need anything
800-222-7023 ext 121

Try him..

Thats the add i was talking about..good job scottmcneal..

You can always cut some of the thread off, there by shorting the length of your control arms. Free Fix

If I decide to just buy the long arm upgrade kit and just get rid of the control lowering kit, Is the Rough Country long arm upgrade kit a good kit or should I look into another brand? I have already had so many problems with the rough country lift kit, but at the same time i want to keep it all the same brand on the jeep. Let me know what you think.

Have done a search yet? Look up rough country long arms..

Good idea exjay82, ill check into that tomorrow, and get back and let you know if it worked

Pvpmedic said:

If I decide to just buy the long arm upgrade kit and just get rid of the control lowering kit, Is the Rough Country long arm upgrade kit a good kit or should I look into another brand? I have already had so many problems with the rough country lift kit, but at the same time i want to keep it all the same brand on the jeep. Let me know what you think.

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I ran/run both RC drop brackets and 4.5" long arm kit. The drop brackets do push you axle forward a bit and I had to order custom arms from Iron Man that adjusted 14"-18" so I could run the right wheelbase and caster. I was only at 4" though.

The long arm kit is sweet. It's a big change though and takes quite a bit of time to install and get stuff aligned and working right, as all all long kits that do away with stock short arms. It's totally worth it cuz it rides so nice and flexes like mad. It rides alot better than drop brackets BUT drop brackets rode alot better than stock angled arms. Check out my write-up somewhere in this forum. It's got pix and info on the LA kit.

I would say get rid of the short arms and drop brackets and put your penny towards their long arms (if you want to stay with RC) or another brand long arms like Trek's.

Sense I already have the 6.5 kit on, will the long arm upgrade be a pretty simple prcess? I just cut off the old lower mounting spot from the fram, install the new mounting back buy the transfter case bracket, then put on the arms right? Then I can take it down to my guy at maximum and have him adjust all the arms and caster angles? Is there anywhere on the forums that I can find people from vegas to help me with this stuff. I have the money to buy the long arm kit just not the money to dish out somone else to install it. I really dont know anyone in vegas yet. So I would have to put this on myself

Pvpmedic said:

Sense I already have the 6.5 kit on, will the long arm upgrade be a pretty simple prcess? I just cut off the old lower mounting spot from the fram, install the new mounting back buy the transfter case bracket, then put on the arms right? Then I can take it down to my guy at maximum and have him adjust all the arms and caster angles? Is there anywhere on the forums that I can find people from vegas to help me with this stuff. I have the money to buy the long arm kit just not the money to dish out somone else to install it. I really dont know anyone in vegas yet. So I would have to put this on myself

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That's pretty much it. Cut off lower arm brackets and then start bolting up the new stuff. You'll need specific size drill bits for the frame bracket and self tappers. I couldn't find mine locally so i ordered from amazon.com. Bit sizes are in the pdf instructions on RC's site.

Here's a thought: trim your bumper.

Seriously, though, the consensus I've found in three minutes of searching (try it, it works) is that at 6" lift, you want 15" ucas and 16" lcas, give or take 1/8. That's real close to what you've got.

If you're rubbing, trim.

:dunno:

Robert

Well like I said I have showed my jeep to a couple people an they all told me my axle is a bit to far Forword and it's making my spring sit to far forward and when I fully compress my front end the axle goes forward more which is normal bit because I'm already to far forward this binds up my spring on that bump stop in there . Also I'm a picky person and when I spend a bunch of money on somthimg I expect it to install correctly or what is the point in buying? Ya I could cut my bumper, but I shouldn't have to.

Pvpmedic said:

Well like I said I have showed my jeep to a couple people an they all told me my axle is a bit to far Forword and it's making my spring sit to far forward and when I fully compress my front end the axle goes forward more which is normal bit because I'm already to far forward this binds up my spring on that bump stop in there . Also I'm a picky person and when I spend a bunch of money on somthimg I expect it to install correctly or what is the point in buying? Ya I could cut my bumper, but I shouldn't have to.

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It's not worth cutting up the bumper if the axle isn't centered. I bet since your axle is too far forward that if you flex the passenger side tire down and turn to your right, your tie rod will hit the sway bar link. I had this problem with drop brackets when my axle was scooted forward a bit too much.

call me to get this squared away i have a hard time thinking that someone here would of said no to a little discount for the new arms however i guess anything is possible. If you are interested in the long arm upgrade kit I can also give you a lil off as well. Dont get me wron the 180.00 is steep to give credit however I can give you some and then you could sell the drop brkts to cover the rest. Either way I am cool with helping you.

What other issues have you had with the kit?

muddeprived said:

I bet since your axle is too far forward that if you flex the passenger side tire down and turn to your right, your tie rod will hit the sway bar link. I had this problem with drop brackets when my axle was scooted forward a bit too much.

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I have this problem right now with my RC drop brackets. im trying to remember what length i set the Adjustable uppers but im sure it was shorter than stock. where the TRE the meets the drag link, it hits the steering stabilizer bracket and the TRE hits the sway bar mount as well. Im thinking since im at about 5.5-6" of lift that the pitman arms angle is off and this cause this but im thinking its also cause my axle is a bit forward, more than it should. I need to purchase the lower adjustables soon