Rusty's vs. Rubicon Express

I have a 99 xj (auto)and I am going for a 3" suspension lift so I can run 31" BFG's.I do light 4 wheeling and I am on the highway alot so I prefer a smooth ride.I can only spend about 500-600.The 2 kits I've narrowed it down to are either the Rusty's 3" springpack or the Rubicon Express 3.5" super-ride kit with aal.I can't afford to do a Sye or re-gear it and I know that's probably what I'll have to do if I get the RE 3.5.Do you guys agree?Should I go for the RE with aal or the Rustys with leafpack.Which one will I run into the least amount of problems with?Do I need the t-case lowering kit with the Rusty's because I know with the RE I do.I have been doing alot of research and I'm getting very mixed results.Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

If you only do light wheeling, do the Rusty's kit. If you get into harder stuff later, buy RE hard parts (arms, trac-bar, etc.). With a 99, you may still need an SYE no matter what, so plan to budget that in. You can always do a t-case drop, but that gets mixed reviews.

What makes you say a 99 with rustys needs a sye?I've heard this a little about the newer Cherokees but never a why.

There is NO comparison.
Buy RE or youll be spending money twice, once you find out Rustys makes crap! You get what you pay for. RE too rich for you...there is MANY better choices than Rustys, IMHO.

CW

I am gonna say RE thats my 2 pennies, but i'll admit not a lot of experience with rustys

i wouldnt say rustys makes crap, i have it and im overly happy with his stuff.

its true when he first started they said his stuff was not up to par to say the least, but if you do a little more research youll see that his stuff has come along way.

they are laser cut and machine welded. imho he makes some pretty sturdy stuff.

rocklandxjer said:

i wouldnt say rustys makes crap, i have it and im overly happy with his stuff.

its true when he first started they said his stuff was not up to par to say the least, but if you do a little more research youll see that his stuff has come along way.

they are laser cut and machine welded. imho he makes some pretty sturdy stuff.

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That's what I've been hearing as well,that he turned the quality around.

yea, most of the people on here who say that rusty puts out bad quality products dont run any of his stuff (of course some of them do i am sure)

he is also great to deal with

imho ive heard nothing but great things about RE
if i remember correctly that kit comes with uppers?? if not id say deffinately go rustys cause a full leaf pack will help you out alot, an add a leaf will sag sooner or later leaving you with a much lower rear than front.

but upper control arms might get to be an issue later on, or not

my vote is for rustys, but let the thread go for a while see what others say

I bought the fixed lower control arms for a 3" lift from rusty's, quality looked good. Time Will Tell.

Anyone here running a 3.5 RE super-ride without SYE and retaining stock gears?It seems that the RE 3.5 actually gives you about 4.5" of lift installed.

I'll just say this: I won't bad mouth anyone's stuff until I personally break it. However, seeing others break it may persuade me not to buy it.

Also, most 97+ have more trouble with vibes. I'm not really sure why. Search for an answer on here.

just because rustys has good deals does not mean its crap. he, like everytoher comp. has had some bad rep and bad expeiriance with products. RE is obviously better in that hard parts catagory, but IMO rustys springs are up there with the best, besides coilovers-great and soft and flex. thats why i run his springs.

rocklandxjer said:

its true when he first started they said his stuff was not up to par to say the least, but if you do a little more research youll see that his stuff has come along way.

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well, it wasn't when he first started that people complained about welds and overall quality. in fact it has always been a complaint.

I run the RE 3.5" Superride on my '91 2-dr (my commuter during the school year). I just installed it about 2-3 weeks ago.

All I did was do the t-case drop and shim the axle 3*. I probably should have went with a 2* shim as i get slight vibes on acceleration, nothing that would make me think twice about driving it though.

As for an SYE, I don't have any experience with newer jeeps. Personally, I have the longer and lower pinion 8.25. I don't think the angle is too severe at all and I gained about 4-4.5 inches of lift.

EDIT: Forgot to add, I bought the fullpacks version with the DT3000 shocks from www.jeepinoutfitters.com. Granted my springs haven't settled yet, it's a little harsher ride than stock so I might go with better shocks if you can afford them.

I have installed at least 5 or 6 of rusty's 3" and 4.5" lifts with either full spring packs or aal's. Every single one of them has been wonderful and is still going strong and each of the owners are still happy with the products.

At 3" of lift and 31's you can use stock length control arms.

With a newer xj (96+) you will need at least a trasfercase drop and the rear to be shimmed properly. If that doesn't work for you plan for a SYE. It has to do with the output shaft of the transfercase and the interaction with different rear axles (input shafts, lengths, heights). Tons of info to reasearch here on that. You "might" be able to get away with the drop kit, might not.

At 3" of lift the RE kit will be slightly stiffer, the Rusty's kit will be slightly softer.

Michael

I just installed the Rusty's 3 inch with spring pack on my '96 with 4.0L, auto and 242. I did add 3* shims during install - drove it and had vibes, next day I added the T/C drop and vibes are gone, drives nicely on street and interstate with 31x10.5 BFG ATs on stock rims, haven't had a chance to hit any trails yet but am expecting it will do well. BTW the front tires rub LCAs on tight slow turns - need to add shims to steering stops.

Mike

A note on the 96 and up vibes thing.

Make sure the front pinion/DS angle is zero after intallation.
Make sure all of your rear drive shaft u-joints are good.
When you reinstall the rear driveshaft, be sure to grease the slip yoke while you have it off.

As someone who installed a 3" lift on my 98' and ran it around for 3 years....
Initially it had vibes. Replacing the U-joints with new and greased the slip yoke took care of it.
I also took special note of the DS angles and shimmed the cross member an 1/8".

The 4th year, and I lifted it another inch (4inch total). That's when the strange noises started durring start/stop traffic. Kind of a clunking. The only thing I found was that my cross member was junk. It was pounded up about an inch. So I figured on a new cross member.
Just for grins, I ordered the 1" drop cross member from Rustys and installed it.
After I installed a Rusty's 1" Drop cross member, the truck became much smoother than it had been in years, and I lost a good degree or two on the drive shaft angle.

The cross member does not really loose any ground clearance. Ground to Cross member clearance was better than stock and the only thing I noticed was the t-case sat lower. Still, Rusty's makes a t-case skid for this little problem.

A good 1/2 year later and the skid is doing what it was meant to do, and the truck is still smooth.

3 inches? Are u kidding me. U are wasting your money. Go get at least a 6 inch kit or u will never be satisfied and your XJ will not be satisfied. No poopoo spacers either. Get the real deal. Your XJ will love u for it.
U CAN DO IIITTT!!!

Yeah, you're wasting your time with a 3". I bought my 3" from rusty's last year.....I wish I would have waited another 3 months, I would have gotten the 6.5" at least.....

skyjackedxj96 said:

just because rustys has good deals does not mean its crap. he, like everytoher comp. has had some bad rep and bad expeiriance with products. RE is obviously better in that hard parts catagory, but IMO rustys springs are up there with the best, besides coilovers-great and soft and flex. thats why i run his springs.

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I said everything Rustys makes....Rustys does not make his springs, he too buys them and resells them. I have Rustys 4" leafs in the back of my MJ and am very happy with them. BUT the fact that they had to be shipped THREE times and took almost two months to get to me....they where IN STOCK, is a customer service problem. I ordered front coil retainers at the same time....still havent received them...Rustys collected my money for them...you can bet your last dollar on that!!!! I have written them off....almost 4 months now no word, Rustys dont care, as I said they got thier money!

CW