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Rusty's 3" lift...

98XJSport

Destiny is the rising sun
Location
Western Maine
I have searched the forum for information about this lift and I have read that in a few instances it leads to the back being higher than the front. What I'm wondering is, does this happen with all of Rusty's lifts? Or were there a few that turned out like that? And does the height difference make it look/drive bad? To me being slightly higher in the rear gives a vehicle an aggressive look, whihc usually evens out when driving, but if its a huge difference then it would look terrible and i would think affect performance as well. Anyone have this lift and not have it be higher in the back? or any thoughts/opinions/info at all?
Thanks
Ryan
 
98XJSport said:
I have searched the forum for information about this lift and I have read that in a few instances it leads to the back being higher than the front. What I'm wondering is, does this happen with all of Rusty's lifts? Or were there a few that turned out like that? And does the height difference make it look/drive bad? To me being slightly higher in the rear gives a vehicle an aggressive look, whihc usually evens out when driving, but if its a huge difference then it would look terrible and i would think affect performance as well. Anyone have this lift and not have it be higher in the back? or any thoughts/opinions/info at all?
Thanks
Ryan

I have heard a lot of people having problems with Rusty's lift parts. At NAC Fest alone, there were 2 instances of his control arms breaking. If I were you I would save up for a similar Rubicon Express lift.

If I may quote bgcountry72 at NAC Fest.
"All the people running Rusty's stuff should wheel together.
It should be easy, moderate, hardcore and Rusty's...
and they should all have welders..."
 
I'm only looking into the 3" add a leaf kit, so I will be using mostly stock components anyways, so there won't be much to worry about with breakage, I'm just mostly concerned with the ride height differences. The big thing is i can get the kit with shocks for $300 bucks, and i only have $800 fot he lift, tires and wheels, shipping, etc, so i gotta go with what i can afford.
 
I have his 3" aal kit and it settled out pretty even. If I had it to do over again I would have bought an RE 3.5" or 4.5" superflex kit. After two years of fairly light wheeling it is starting to sag a little, and the shocks are average quality at best. It doesn't come with an adjustable track bar or sway bar disconnects; plus, you are probably going to have to get an sye or at least a transfer case drop kit because the chances are pretty high that you are going to get driveline vibes (I did in my '98). Oh, and as far as his adj. track bar, which I had to pay extra for, it is a stinking POS. The Tie rod end that he uses for the frame mount barely fits and 'pops' if you don't lube it every 2000 miles, the bushing on the axle mount end is to big for the stock bolt and will slide around and make a nasty grinding noise if you don't to torque the shi!t out of the bolt, and the dif cover will hit the track bar every time you go over a bump. In other words the old saying, "You get what you pay for", definitely applies here. Save up your hard earned dollars a little longer and buy an sye and a COMPLETE, quality kit like RE's.
 
I have a '98 sport also and I just bought Rusty's 3" lift with new leaf packs. I have had it for about 2 months and so far I have had no problems out of it at all. The ride doesn't seem to have changed much from stock. In the first few days, the back did ride a little higher but it settled out and the back is not much higher up if any than the front in my opinion. Now I am no expert on which lift is better than the other but I am for one very satisfied with my Rusty's lift. Just my .02 cents.
Daniel
 
I got 5.5" out of my rear Rusty's lift, but I got full spring packs. The add a leafs don't give as much, but I'd expect an initial 4"+.

Rusty's is a good company, but a lot of people shit talk it. I've never had any problems that didn't get fixed promptly with good customer service.

RE lifts give the same results as the Rusty's do. Most folks get a solid 5" out of their full packs. The spring rate is stiffer than Rusty's is too.
 
Things may have changed since I bought his full length AAL and coil springs some time ago, but I got 1 inch less than advertised lift height in the rear. If things haven't changed, then you may want to think hard about purchasing those specific lift components. I've seen my share of broken AALs. YMMV.

Tom
 
Tom R. said:
Things may have changed since I bought his full length AAL and coil springs some time ago, but I got 1 inch less than advertised lift height in the rear. If things haven't changed, then you may want to think hard about purchasing those specific lift components. I've seen my share of broken AALs. YMMV.

Tom

Thats very possible if you had an Upcountry supension from the start.
 
Rescue35 said:
Thats very possible if you had an Upcountry supension from the start.
Unlikely since I didn't remove any of the leafs from the spring pack. And I don't think the Upcountry packs have that much rate as to bring down the lifting ability of the AAL when it's clamped.

My situation was not unique; that is, I'm not the only one who got less lift height from the get-go with those products. Interestingly, the Rusty's 3" coil springs I purchased in the same package netted 1/2" less than advertised lift height from the beginning. Again, this was a couple of years ago and Rusty's products may have gone through a change since then. At least I hope so.

Tom
 
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