What seperates lifts?

[Douger]

I apologize if this has been hashed and rehashed. But as Im looking at all the different lift kist out there I find myself asking. What seperates a good lift kit from a bad one? Are there specific things I should look for when chosing a lift? Ive seen Rubicon, Rock Krawler, Rusty, Old Man Emu etc. and Im sure what makes one lift better than another.

[Fergie]

RE for anything over 3".

OME for anything under 3".

Look at shock valving, arm construction, and component quality, including online reputation.

Fergie

[AZRockRunner]

Man is this an overasked question or what?????

There are good and bad of every lift kit out there. I went with the Rusty's 4.5 and love all about it except the track bar. Rusty has been there for great customer service and is even making me a new track bar to fix the issues I have at no cost to me.

If I were to build another XJ all over again, I would do Rustys coils and leafs. Probably his adj upper and lower control arms as they are very strong. TnT customs track bar and WJ steering.

Just my .02

[rockwerks]

you have to be the first who likes Rusty's

Ive seen their trackbars fail, their steering setups fail, their arms fail, the leafs sag on one side but not the other, and coils snap in half

I would after 6 years of dealing with others having to replace the stuff go anything BUT Rustys

RE is top of my list of quality parts, and TNT also is up there.

long arms there is only one that stand out and that iis TNT. With it you have MORE ground clearance than stock, all others will cost you 3 to 4" of LOST clearance

[azdesertrhino]

The 5.5" lift on my rig is RE. Been real happy with it so far. :patriot:

[AZRockRunner]

Anthing fails if not taken care of. I have not wheeled my rig super hard yet but it always goes where I point it.

Its true that he had some leaf spring issues a while back, but I have not had that issue.

All I know is that I have ridden in a few jeeps and mine rides pretty nice for being at 6" lift on a short arm kit.

I know that RE is pretty nice stuff also, but man its pricey. I would agree that the TnT Y-Link is the SHIZNIT mang if u got the cash.

but, as with anything, some chevy's and some fords, but your mileage WILL vary.

[rockwerks]

Anthing fails if not taken care of. I have not wheeled my rig super hard yet but it always goes where I point it.

His welds constantly give way...........not good when driving down the highway and the welds separate on the steering...day after installed

Its true that he had some leaf spring issues a while back, but I have not had that issue.

Last year


All I know is that I have ridden in a few jeeps and mine rides pretty nice for being at 6" lift on a short arm kit.

rubber bushings everywhere rather than johnny joints or other ride better but loose too much articulation



I know that RE is pretty nice stuff also, but man its pricey. I would agree that the TnT Y-Link is the SHIZNIT mang if u got the cash.

You get what you pay for, or pay for what you get......once you start wheeling it hard the parts will start to fail.......I hope not but they usually do with Rusty's

[FLAGXJ]

I've had my Rusty's lift (6.5) for a year and a half and no complaints. Daily driver, Moab, and several trips around Arizona. Great Ride quality, good articulation, good customer service, little sag (even on all 4 corners).

I always hear generalized statements about Rusty's products but have personally not experienced anything like that. I know several people who run Rusty's lifts and use his stuff.

[rockwerks]

I've had my Rusty's lift (6.5) for a year and a half and no complaints. Daily driver, Moab, and several trips around Arizona. Great Ride quality, good articulation, good customer service, little sag (even on all 4 corners).

I always hear generalized statements about Rusty's products but have personally not experienced anything like that. I know several people who run Rusty's lifts and use his stuff.

I do like his curved lower arms................ but thats about it LOL

Im glad to see more guys are having better luck, Im hoping his quality as turned the corner

[AZRockRunner]

Lack of FLEX????? you REALLY need to come wheelin with me sometime. My rig flexes like a MOFO man. I stuff those 33's as far as the inner wheel well will allow.

Maybe you got a bad kit. My question to you is did you call and talk to Rusty? Cuz I have and he backs his stuf up like no other company I have ever dealt with. I look for quality but also good customer service and a company that stands behind what they sell.

Sorry this has gotton off topic, but I want to share the experience I have had with his stuff and him. I WILL buy from him again.

Hasta

[Wounded XJ]

I'm going to back AZRanger on this one. My Rustys lift has work out just fine. I would buy it again!

[Wounded XJ]

Lack of FLEX????? you REALLY need to come wheelin with me sometime. My rig flexes like a MOFO man. I stuff those 33's as far as the inner wheel well will allow.

Maybe you got a bad kit. My question to you is did you call and talk to Rusty? Cuz I have and he backs his stuf up like no other company I have ever dealt with. I look for quality but also good customer service and a company that stands behind what they sell.

Sorry this has gotton off topic, but I want to share the experience I have had with his stuff and him. I WILL buy from him again.

Hasta

Amen

[AZXJ]

Curved lowers are a FAD... Watch and see....

Kits that work....
Rubicon Express
Rock Krawler
TNT customs

The others are decent kits for the average trail runner. If your going to be crawlin you need beef and the three mentioned above deliver beef !!

Dave

[AZXJ]

AZROCKRUNNER and WOUNDED XJ how long have you had experience with Rusty's parts ?? Just curious.. Brian and my self have both delt with failures of Rusty's parts.. Maybe Rusty's as a company has finally gotten over the growing pains and has turned the buisness around.. If this is the case great news for everyone as he does offer some great pricing on parts..

Dave

[rockwerks]

AZROCKRUNNER and WOUNDED XJ how long have you had experience with Rusty's parts ?? Just curious.. Brian and my self have both delt with failures of Rusty's parts.. Maybe Rusty's as a company has finally gotten over the growing pains and has turned the buisness around.. If this is the case great news for everyone as he does offer some great pricing on parts..

Dave

What he said.............we can only hope........as for his customer service it has improved drastically

It can be hard for some of us who have seen and dealt with the failures many times over the last 5 or 6 years to forget the quality and lack of service from the past

I hope Rustys has gotten it all straighted out now!

[AZRockRunner]

I have been running his stuff for almost a year now. I twist my rig as hard as I can and the only thing I have had an issue with is the HD track bar mount bent an end. He promptly sent me a replacement and a spare. Now he is building me a new track bar to resolve the entire situation. The bend was my fault due to hitting a LARGE hole in the road which I am SURE would have bent or broke anything in there.

I own a comuter business and I deal with quality issues ALL the time. I know that there are good days and bad days with anyone. I look for and trust a company that stands behind there products NO MATTER what, and he has done that.
So, moral of my comment was, if your budget minded, Rustys has some good stuff. I am happy with mine and will buy again, if only for the customer service.

:yelclap:

[jmfelty]

Dave,

Out of curiosity, why are curved LCR's a fad? On the surface it appears a way to keep a tight turning radius with less track width. Just asking your opinion. I was guessing that the strength could be slightly lower.

Thanks,

John

[rockwerks]

They are not curved in, but up to help eliminate the need to drop brackets on short arm rigs

[rockwerks]

Amen

OH by the way that dana 44 wont work with Rusty's junk.................J/K

nice to meet you today

[Wounded XJ]

AZROCKRUNNER and WOUNDED XJ how long have you had experience with Rusty's parts ?? Just curious.. Brian and my self have both delt with failures of Rusty's parts.. Maybe Rusty's as a company has finally gotten over the growing pains and has turned the buisness around.. If this is the case great news for everyone as he does offer some great pricing on parts..

Dave

I have had my lift for two years or so. I can not claim I have been on super hard trails, but I have been on a few my fair share of good ones. I have always heard of people having issues, but have never seen any issues so far. I'm not going to say it can be done because if it can be built we can destroy it. I have had one issue with an order and received nothing by great service from Rusty's. I broke a RE brake line once and to get a new one I had to take pictures of it on my jeep, as well as sending the part back. The guy on the phone seemed shocked as if I were trying to get free parts. Kinda pissed me off.

[Wounded XJ]

OH by the way that dana 44 wont work with Rusty's junk.................J/K

nice to meet you today

:bawl:

[jmfelty]

Gotya, I should have looked.

They are not curved in, but up to help eliminate the need to drop brackets on short arm rigs

[AZXJ]

They are a fad because everyone is doing it.. :D

Short arms can be made to flex just as well as a properly setup long arm. the problem that short arms have is that the onroad ride suffers from the steep angles. Long arms provides a much better onroad ride due to the length of the arms and the geometry. The curved arms are nice for clearence offroad. But bent steel is bent steel even if it's 1.75 or 2 inch thick.. once the bend is started it will continue eventually.. But really this is all irrevelent we wheel, we should be prepaired to repair what ever we break.. no matter if a manufacturer warrenties the parts or not.. If you wheel your rig on a regular basis on class 3+ or higher you are exceeding the means of the stock suspension mounts, brackets. 1.75 thick arms don't make the rig better.. They make the arms better.. the brackets at the axle are still stock, and will tear. remember this.. There is always a fuse, it's up to you how expensive you make the fuse..