I was looking into a 4.5" lift and was deciding between the Rusty's or the Rough Country. I noticed the Rusty's is about $150 more. I have never heard anything about Rusty's suspension. I did recently help a buddy of mine do a RC 3" on his TJ and everything seemed pretty nice except the fact that a lot of the stock hardware from the Jeep needed to be used and a lot of those old bolts are rusted and corroded.
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Rusty's or Rough Country
- Thread starter Cherustee
- Start date
dan1977p
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Virginia Beach, VA
If I had to do it all over again, I would have spent the extra coin and not gone budget lift. About the only thing in the Rough Country lift I won't be replacing within a year would be the long arms and track bar, but even with them, I'll be replacing the joints with something more reliable. Other kits or DIY will get you better stuff that will end up costing you less in the long run.
- Location
- Middle Tennessee
Compare the kits to see what is included.
I went with the 4.5" RC short arm lift but supplemented the kit with a JKS trackbar and Curry steering. RC doesn't include those pieces with their kit. I did upgrade to full rear spring packs. I'm very happy with my kit.
A friend went with a 5.5" Rubicon Express kit and it was as complete as they come, new fasteners and everything. It did cost a bit more.
I went with the 4.5" RC short arm lift but supplemented the kit with a JKS trackbar and Curry steering. RC doesn't include those pieces with their kit. I did upgrade to full rear spring packs. I'm very happy with my kit.
A friend went with a 5.5" Rubicon Express kit and it was as complete as they come, new fasteners and everything. It did cost a bit more.
dantheman!
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Houston
i bought the 4.5in long arm setup from rustys. parts are super beefy. while i wasnt a huge fan of the way the frame brackets tie together, when its all together it is quite nice. still fighting with the rear to get it on (3 of 4 broken weld nuts inside the frame rails) so once i get that sorted out ill be able to give a review on how it rides and drives.
i also opted for the HD tie rod and rock sliders from them as well.
i also opted for the HD tie rod and rock sliders from them as well.
- Location
- Houston, Tx
Neither
Never heard of that company, will look it up. Thanks.
Suggestions?
I've been running the Rough Country 3" lift with fixed lower control arms and full leaf packs, for almost a year. I also went with their track bar and steering stabilizer. For a daily driver that doesn't see a lot of hardcore offroading, I think it's great. Everything fit perfectly and the quality seems really good for the relatively low cost.
Rough Country wasn't always good, though. A lot of people encountered numerous quality control issues, up until a couple years ago. There's a lot of residual hate out there because of that. I was looking into Rusty's, but their shipping rates were ridiculous. RC offered the most complete lift setup for my budget, so I took a leap of faith and so far, I have no regrets.
I will say that if you're going to do some serious offroading and rock crawling, I suggest something a little more expensive than Rusty's or RC. I've heard great things about Rubicon Express.
Rough Country wasn't always good, though. A lot of people encountered numerous quality control issues, up until a couple years ago. There's a lot of residual hate out there because of that. I was looking into Rusty's, but their shipping rates were ridiculous. RC offered the most complete lift setup for my budget, so I took a leap of faith and so far, I have no regrets.
I will say that if you're going to do some serious offroading and rock crawling, I suggest something a little more expensive than Rusty's or RC. I've heard great things about Rubicon Express.
All I plan to do is daily drive and hit some trials about once a month. I have a Rubicon Express kit on my JK but the 4.5" for the XJ is like $1400. I know the old saying you get what you pay for but I picked up the XJ as a cheap daily driver to do some mild upgrades to do some light off roading every now and then and don't want to spend that much on a lift. Thanks for your review, helps out a lot.
chevota350
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- monterey, tn
I'll throw my experiences in here, I've seen quite a few people around me get rough country stuff and I'll never buy it. The leaf spring bushings go bad very quickly, like 2 to 3 months on daily drivers and the control arms are the same way, I've also seen 2 track bars in person snap in half while driving on the road. The failures here weren't on rigs that get beat hard either just a normal outing every now and then. I do like Rustys stuff but they are usually more expensive and shipping sucks.
POLAR_JEEP_04
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Ohio
X2
Not that I think these are terrible choices but I believe there are better choices out there.
I used Rough Country and have replaced every single part of it with another companies.
Rusty's is known for having very sketchy rod ends and I've personally broke their track bar and tie rod at the rod ends and Rusty's refused to warranty them
Clayton
T&T
Rubicon Express
Iron Rock (except I don't care for their long arm design)
OR piece your own kit together.
dan1977p
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Virginia Beach, VA
This, honestly, is the only way I would go if I had to do it again. Reasons I used a kit were because I wanted something immediately, thought the kit would be cheaper and I had never built a suspension for cars before and was scared.
There is so much information out there and folks are so willing to help (if you're willing to accept constructive criticism) that if you have even basic mechanical abilities, you can use all bolt on parts to build a great lift. It gets even more customized if you can use a welder and cutting tools.
BTW, the reason I'm hating the RC lift I have right now is that I've had to tighten and relube all the joints on the control arms about once a month since September and I've only crawled it once for real. Everything else has been fire roads or a snow run. I tightened everything after my last run in Jan and only drove around town about twice a week since and it's clunking again. Plus their belly pan has a built in transfer case drop that nobody told me about that makes it impossible for me to get rid of my front drive shaft vibes.
POLAR_JEEP_04
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Ohio
yep my RC shocks blew on my first trip and the maintenance on the joints sucked
mcguyver_xj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Grandby, MA
Piece it up my xj has Rubicon express coils, Clayton leafs, blistein shocks and tnt long arms also iro steering with heims, rides great on highway and crawls real well
POLAR_JEEP_04
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Ohio
3 years ago. I was told I got the new style joints but they still needed constant maintenance.
dan1977p
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Virginia Beach, VA
Less than six months ago.
Transpoquick
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- illinois
Rusty's.
The 6.5 kit I bought from them went on easily, I didn't have to force anything into position.
Parts and finish are high quality.
I don't have any thing to do w/ Rusty's, but I am thinking of cutting the "'s" off the window banner decal and putting it on my pick-up.
Bwah.
The 6.5 kit I bought from them went on easily, I didn't have to force anything into position.
Parts and finish are high quality.
I don't have any thing to do w/ Rusty's, but I am thinking of cutting the "'s" off the window banner decal and putting it on my pick-up.
Bwah.
How do you like the ride with those coils? I'm piecing together my aususpention now and I'm going to have a winch bumper, frame plated etc so additional weight
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