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How's Rusty's 4.5" lift?

mission-inc

NAXJA Forum User
Location
OREGON
I know RE has the best of the best in terms of lift kits, but when money's tight and you want a lift any thing will do. With this in mind i've started looking at other manufacterer's (sp?) and Rusty's was the first on my list. How is this lift (the 4.5" one). $669 for the complete kit:

2 - 4.5" Front Coil Springs
2 - 4.5" Rear Spring Packs
Front Adjustable Trac Bar
Lower Control Arms
Transfer Case Drop Kit
Brake Line Extension Kit
Front Sway Bar Extensions
4 - Rusty's Hydraulic Shocks
Complete Instructions

I'm assuming this is all I need. However I would like too eventually upgrade to JKS discos and get some nicer shocks (i've heard bad things about Rustys, but we'll see). Any feedback would be nice. Thanks guys.

PS is there anywhere cheaper where I can get Rusty's stuff, and where's the cheapest place for wheels (black rock crawlers) and tires (Goodyear MTR's)?
 
My suggestion....

KEEP SAVING for an RE kit or buy used. Also, check around with some of the online vendors, you can get a lot better prices than what's listed on RE's website. The ONLY good product I've had from rusty is his coils. I'm on my second set of leafs and they're netting me 5" unloaded after adding a 1" shackle and a 2.5" aal. Fully loaded for wheelin I'm gettin about 4":rolleyes: I never bothered with his control arms or trackbar 'cause I never heard anything good, and I scored a great deal on RE stuff used. Just my .02. I don't mean for this to turn into a Rusty bashing thread, but it just seems like in the long run it's better to save the couple hundred dollars than skimp and deal with the lesser product. HTH

Ary
 
I've got the 6" rusty's, I haven't had the XJ long, so I don't know about sagging. The ride is good and it flexes pretty good, but the only thing I have to compare it to is my TJ. If you're looking for great prices on RE stuff, check out DC4wd.com the best way to get in touch with him is to call, he's slow with email responses. I've ordered lots of my tj stuff from him, and he sells at near cost.
Just for comparison, a TJ 4.5 superflex lists at over $1200, and he sells it for $870.


HTH,
Patrick
 
Risking to be called a whinner (someone did, on another thread), I have to agree with Ary.

If I were to do my lift again, I would definitely not go with Rusty's, too many problems.

As an indication, here are the problems I faced with his 4.5" kit:

- Rear springs too stiff and too short for the application, they left the shackles almost all the way forward. Had to eventually remove the lower leaf and add some extended shackles to get a decent ride. Also the front bushings were allowing the springs to move around. Rusty replaced them with some different ones to solve this problem.
- Track bar TRE dead on arrival. Had to replace it with a heavy duty end and corresponding frame mount. Admitedly he offered to send me another TRE, but I declined.
- Shocks going dead within six months.

I have to admit that in most cases (but not all), Rusty offers to send new parts to replace the faulty ones. Some people seem to think that this is enough to justifying buying his kits. For me, this is unacceptable, since you pay twice for having the initial things installed and for removing them and changing them with the replacement. I do not do the work on my truck, due to limited time, which might not be the case with you.

Finally, be prepared for some more expenditure. You might need to invest in some adjustable upper control arms, on my truck I couldn't get near the factory specs for caster using his setup. I guess that this might not be the case with you, since his kit gave me almost 5.5-6" of lift, but my truck is the 2.5 lt, which is lighter than the 4.0 lt one. Also, you might need to invest in some longer extended brake lines, since the small brackets he ships for the brake lines are not always satisfactory.

If you need more details, please check my Cherokee site in the signature.

Kind regards
 
I know some have had problem sbut I have not...ran Rusty's 4.5" lift for 3 years with the stock upper CAs....I now have his 6.5" Long Arm and LOVE IT...the ride is so much better and it handle great....I have had no porblems with the sagging or the leaf being to stiff...
 
Mission-inc,
I recently went through the same decision you are facing. After some research I realized that by the time I included the shipping cost I could, for very few dollars more, get a full RE kit from a supplier that doesn't charge shipping. I ended up with the RE 6130 4.5" kit from Jeepin Outfitters ( http://jeepin.com/outfitters/catalog.asp?ID=124 ) and even talked myself into upgrading to the heavy duty track bar and bracket. You get DT3000 shocks with the kit, both upper and lower control arms, no tax, and no shipping.

Just a thought...
 
I have been running Rusty's 4 1/2" lift for about 6 months and I really like it. It has a nice soft ride and has good flex. The rear spring pack was about 2" to high when first installed and it was pulling the stock shackle forward. It took about 200 - 300 miles for it to settle and is now about 3/4" higher than the front and the shackle is almost straight up and down. After I add a tire carrier and my full sized spare I think it will be about right.

If you have any questions on the install or anything else just pm me.

Steve.
 
It all depend what you gonna use it for. hardcore offroading R.E. might the best for you but just moderate offroading rusty's are others might work for you. There are some people on this board that badmouth any lift other than R.E. and no i don,t have a rusty lift kit.

Scott
 
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