The new RE LA 5.5" Extreme Duty???

Is anyone out there running the 5.5" LA kit from RE? I am seriously looking at it and wondering who has an opinion on it? I want a smooth streetable vehicle but will be doing a fair amount of wheeling too. Is it worth my money to get the LA?

Will the LA ride that much better on the street and also provide that much more flex offroad. The plan is to run the ACOS adjustable front tower and a 1" block in the rear in addition to the 1.25" shackle that comes with the kit to give me around 7" total lift.

Joe
PS The Marine Corps doesn't let me see my jeep that often so I want to enjoy what little bit I can. I wish I could take it to Iraq this time. It certainly would have been nice the first time.

turbobaja1835 said:

I want a smooth streetable vehicle but will be doing a fair amount of wheeling too. Is it worth my money to get the LA?

Click to expand...

Yes.

the little problem is that RE hasn't released the kit yet.

You can pre-order it, though!

Well I guess that works, if they haven't released it yet. I won't be back from the middle east until next fall anyway. I just hope it is available by then. I am really curious as to why they don't have it available if they are advertising it, maybe they should make a lil note that says, "COMING SOON".

That of course is my opinion.

Joe

it was supposed to be out last spring. i'm guessing they are having problems with those frame brackets. last i've heard there is only one prototype in existance to date.

I talked to RE in early december and they said they put the LA lift on hold to further R&D on ford lifts, and the xj lift would not be available for 5 months. I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my chair. Anyway I went with 5.5" HD SA with relocation brackets.

I called RE about two weeks ago, and they said that the kit should be ready to start shipping by the end of this month/beginning of next. Who knows for sure. I've heard all sorts of things about when it was going to be ready-even that it was going to ship next month- five months ago...

Sounds just like the Marine Corps, they tell you one thing and you have to consider about 5 other possibilities as to when it is actually going to happen even if they tell it is for certain.
Joe

92 XJ 31" BFG AT's, Cut fenders, Stock axles(soon to be changed) and the best for last. 4.7 stroker

Who out there wants to comment on the Rusty's 6.5 " versus the RE LA 5.5"??? They seem quite similar to me from observation. Someone has to be running the Rusty's or is that one not out either? j/k

Thanks Joe

I just put the R.E. 5.5" Extreme Duty on my 90 XJ. I do have the adjustable UCA's but was very very surprised with the street ride.....very smooth. Handles great, I guess I would say more like stock than my 3.5" kit. With the new R.E. shocks everything is perfect. Why the long arm kit? If all you are after is the street ride IMHO go with the standard(save the $$$ for other stuff). this is my DD(88 miles r/t) so comfort was somewhat of an issue.

david.

I'm running the Rusty's LA kit. What about it?

I just called RE again today. I was told that another company makes all of the bracketry for the new kit, and so RE is waiting for the other company to get done with the brackets. They will have the kit ready to be shipped by the end of February now. Two weeks ago it was by the end of January. I suppose if I call again in two weeks it will be the end of March, and so on. One of these days... I keep telling myself that it is worth the wait.

this is in part of a topic on a local board we had going. first part is a guy that is in with some of the RE guys. and the second was a reply to an email he got back from RE.

Hey Fella's,
I am not going to give any details but I will tell you I have some friends in high places when it comes to Rubicon Express. They, just like you and I, are doing the best they can with what they got. What makes a company work is competent people working towards a common goal.

I know that they have had some trouble with employees in the last several months that have caused many projects to fall behind schedule. Obviously RE has suffered because of this, but a few of the employees have been terminated as a result.

I can assure you that RE is very picky about what goes out the door with there name on it. Even though schedules have not been met, I would stick it out a little longer rather than give in to a possibly inferior product.


reply letter


The sales staff apologizes for the misguided dates but, unfortunately
this is the information that has been passed on to us. The people in
the design department have not been satisfied with many of the belly pan
samples. Therefore, they continue to redesign and unfortunately this is
not the only project they are working on. We have even increased our
staffing in the production department to meet the deadline.

As of today, we are expecting to be able to start shipping in March.
The drawings are complete and being finalized. The last test kit is
being sent out for the final install on Friday. As of next week, we
will know if there are any more problems that need to be dealt with.

As you know, Rubicon Express does not like to put out a bad product.
Please, be patient and I'm sure you'll be happy with the end result.

I am not really considering the Rusty's setup, I am just finding something to complain about while I am waiting for the release of the RE. If I can't work on the jeep i have to have something to do. I do agree with you though, RE doesn't put a product out that they won't stand behind. Sometimes Rusty's makes me wonder though. Joe

The LA 5.5 will ride better than the drop brackets, especially at highway speeds.

Long arms are much better than drop brackets for road (and offroad, IMHO) use. I have had both, and upgrading to long arms over brackets does about as much as upgrading from stock to the brackets. For a 7" lift where you want good road manners and will do difficult, but not extreme, wheeling, long arms are a great choice. As we know, they also have their problems, including clearance.

Having said that, I don't see any major reason to wait for RE when other stuff is out there. I run Clayton Offroad long arms with BIGOffroad 6" leaf springs and RE ZJ coils plus spacer, 1.25" RE shackle along with Bilstein 5100 shocks, and it is a perfect setup for my usage, which sounds a lot like yours. You want it tall (my lift is 8"), you do difficult but not extreme wheeling, and it needs to get you around town and out on the highway with relatively good manners.

I'm sure the RE kit will be good...but I don't know how it is going to be "better" than the other stuff out there...just depends on who you like and why. RE's advantage will be selling a pretty complete kit, I guess.

Nay

Nay said:

I'm sure the RE kit will be good...but I don't know how it is going to be "better" than the other stuff out there...just depends on who you like and why. RE's advantage will be selling a pretty complete kit, I guess.

Nay

Click to expand...

RE frame mounts will be tucked in above the frame rail, providing better clearance over Clayton's mounts.

dennisuello said:

RE frame mounts will be tucked in above the frame rail, providing better clearance over Clayton's mounts.

Click to expand...

Ohh crap, then lets all sell our Claytons and wait forever to get REs kit. :twak:

The RE LA kit is still a 2-link (radius arm) setup. I'm a big fan of RE stuff but check out Full Traction's 4-link kit. Very close to the way the stock setup is made and should ride much better than RE's and probably avoid the DW. I don't have enough details yet to compare clearances. Components look great from what I can glean. They claim it will be available in a few weeks.