rockkrawler 8 inch lift

I might have the opportunity to purchase rockkrawler's 8 inch Severe Duty Long Arm System new for way less then the retail price. Either way, I am in the market for a 8 inch or more lift. I don't go offroading this is just a project vehicle for a company. I guess my question is, since this kit requires welding should I just pay more for a bolt on like rusty's or skyjacker because I have heard bad things about welding.

For a strickly street Jeep, Skyjacker has the bling factor with all the red parts, but Rusty's long arm kit would probably give you a better(smoother) ride. I'd hold off on the Rockcrawler until you can find someone on the planet that owns one and likes it.

One of the problems of welding to the uni-body rails is that it kills the corrosion protection inside the rail where it's hard to do anything about it.

When you say this is a project vehicle for a company, is it mainly to catch the eye for advertising? Go with Rusty's and paint the parts bright red or yellow.

damn, we're too sarcastic.. ha ha ha

jeeze!

I would have thought at least the members would have a warmer welcome.

Why is this such a disturbing question? I am just an employee of a company that needs some advertising. I am responsible for this project and I need to know the pros and cons for welding and bolt-on. I wish some of you would atleast appreciate the fact that I know rustys and skyjacker is bolt-on and rockkrawler isn't. Blinker fluid, muffler bearings and body lift, thats some lame shit. I used to respect naxja and come here for a lot of knowledgeable information but this is ridiculous.

When your first post includes comments like "should I just pay more for a bolt on...because I have heard bad things about welding" then it's really hard to take it seriously. Once that started, the floodgates were opened and it went downhill from there. I didn't see too many comments about "use the Search" which is what I'd really expect for a question like yours.

While Max has a good point that there is no prohibition against street-only Jeeps here, the reality of it is that the groupthink leans toward actual use of the Jeep in an off-road environment, just as POR seems to lean toward the acerbic, hard-core highly modified off-road group. is more open than POR, while JU seems to be so full of itself that far too many of the posts are geared toward basic questions like "what color sunshade should I get?"

if you don't like my posts, give me some bad rep I could use a little more, I'm only at -1724 right now

Thats classic that you respond to yourself Brettm. I guess I should of known what I was dealing with. Did you forget the latter point of your comment? Bottom line is this post never went to crap until some members decided to go that way.

Basically to wrap thing up Bolt ons are a lot better for the XJ rather then A fabed weld job , (unless you have a different set up Ie. bigger axles).. Even though you mentioned that this vehical wont be going offroad, it will, after the build or later on down the road some one will get the "ITCH" to try it.. Welding, if not done correctly can be scary or will cause further damage, I prefer bolting thing on because it uses a pinch method, and if needed you can weld on to help the bolts out, but I wouldnt do it to the frame (sheet metal).. Personnaly I love the design of Rustys lift because it is very stout, and has a lot of thought in the engineering, compaired to SkyJackers..

XTrmXJ said:

Basically to wrap thing up Bolt ons are a lot better for the XJ rather then A fabed weld job , (unless you have a different set up Ie. bigger axles).. Even though you mentioned that this vehical wont be going offroad, it will, after the build or later on down the road some one will get the "ITCH" to try it.. Welding, if not done correctly can be scary or will cause further damage, I prefer bolting thing on because it uses a pinch method, and if needed you can weld on to help the bolts out, but I wouldnt do it to the frame (sheet metal).. Personnaly I love the design of Rustys lift because it is very stout, and has a lot of thought in the engineering, compaired to SkyJackers..

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As one of the few that run a RK lift I can give you real advice on the lift. There is only minor welding involved. you can run your stock setup until you get the welding done. The LA brackets are put in between the transfer crossmember and the uni-body. then you need to stich weld the bracket into place. That is the extent of the welding. Not at all harmful to the Jeep. I have had mine for over a year and I am very happy with the lift. I had a few problems in the very begining but they have all been worked out and the newest kits have all the changes made to them. It is a good kit, the ride is good and flexes like mad if you ever do use it. Call Jeremy at RK and he will give you the skinny on all the new updates with the kit.

shelbyluvv said:

As one of the few that run a RK lift I can give you real advice on the lift. There is only minor welding involved. you can run your stock setup until you get the welding done. The LA brackets are put in between the transfer crossmember and the uni-body. then you need to stich weld the bracket into place. That is the extent of the welding. Not at all harmful to the Jeep. I have had mine for over a year and I am very happy with the lift. I had a few problems in the very begining but they have all been worked out and the newest kits have all the changes made to them. It is a good kit, the ride is good and flexes like mad if you ever do use it. Call Jeremy at RK and he will give you the skinny on all the new updates with the kit.

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What size lift do you run on yours, Is it bolted and welded in the same locations? or just straight welded

I had the 8" but went down to the 6" after I got the nuts to cut on a Jeep with only 25,000 miles on it. The front on both systems are the same. Pinched by the t case x member then stich welded. The rear super 8 is a little bit different for the 4 link setup.

shelbyluvv said:

I had the 8" but went down to the 6" after I got the nuts to cut on a Jeep with only 25,000 miles on it. The front on both systems are the same. Pinched by the t case x member then stich welded. The rear super 8 is a little bit different for the 4 link setup.

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Pics Please..

XTrmXJ said:

Pics Please..

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what do you want pics of?

Pics of the set up at the mounting CA/ Xmember section... I just want to see how it mounts

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=24840
I've got the 8" gen 2. Jeeps for sale if you just wanna skip a big step. Only 1500.00 more than the entire lift.

wrxstifan said:

Why is this such a disturbing question? I am just an employee of a company that needs some advertising. I am responsible for this project and I need to know the pros and cons for welding and bolt-on. I wish some of you would atleast appreciate the fact that I know rustys and skyjacker is bolt-on and rockkrawler isn't. Blinker fluid, muffler bearings and body lift, thats some lame shit. I used to respect naxja and come here for a lot of knowledgeable information but this is ridiculous.

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Let's try a real answer. Half the people on this board are onroad only for 11 months out of the year.

Welding is more complicated than bolt on, but people do it all the time on the reinforced areas of the frame rails. I prefer welded suspension mounts if at all possible. I don't like the idea of bolting on critical mounts. When people advise against welding because the frame rails are so thin, and then talk about bolting critical parts through that same frame rail ...

The RK kit uses heims (spherical bearing rod ends), which are unfriendly for pure road use. You want rubber if somebody is going to be driving this thing around all day. RK also uses a 3 arm front end. For a pure road rig, I'd just want radius arms in a standard long arm kit. There is absolutely zero advantage to a three link onroad (the potential disadvantage of removing on upper control arm should be obvious).

Isn't the RK kit you reference also a four link rear? This is a definite bad move for a pure road rig unless you have some specific advantage to showing a four link to the public. Leafs are much less expensive and will be a lot more stable onroad.

I'd get either Rusty's kit for bolt on or Clayton's for weld on (use 6" BIGOffroad leaf springs to go with Clayton's kit and 7.5" RE front coils...Bilstein 5100's all around). Clayton does use square tube...maybe less bling than Rusty's.

But I think RK is about the last kit I'd choose for a road rig unless the cost advantage is so great you just can't pass it up. Remember that the welding requirement will increase those costs unless you can do it in-house. Look at the various kits and compare. For your use, I seriously doubt there is any real difference between welding and bolt-on, so if money is the priority see if one of the bolt on kits is less coin than RK at your prices.

HTH.

Nay

wrxstifan:
If you don't have an 88-89 XJ/MJ that you did all the work on, the outspoken people in (the one's who own the 88-89s), will consider you a *****.

For the most part, the knowledgeable people are really nice and helpful with questions.

I've heard that the RK lift falls apart when driving on the highway. BULLSHIT. Someone prob just bought a first generation lift of theirs and after wheeling the hell out of it, something came loose and got disconnected on the road. Then they told Brett M and he ruined the world. To find real answers, talk to real owners of their products. I'll be able to tell you soon enough as I'm ordering some suspension components.

The funny thing is that the people who criticize show quality trucks-like the one you're looking to build- have the biggest pieces of shit out there.

They wish they were in your shoes, but unfortunately they're scrambling to find money to buy new parts to fix the crappy XJ/MJs that they break every time they go wheeling. Meanwhile, their doublewide is a piece and the kids are hungry.

BAHHAAAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHA!!!!!!!!! [f2]

PC-UT-XJ said:

wrxstifan:
If you don't have an 88-89 XJ/MJ that you did all the work on, the outspoken people in (the one's who own the 88-89s), will consider you a *****.

For the most part, the knowledgeable people are really nice and helpful with questions.

I've heard that the RK lift falls apart when driving on the highway. BULLSHIT. Someone prob just bought a first generation lift of theirs and after wheeling the hell out of it, something came loose and got disconnected on the road. Then they told Brett M and he ruined the world. To find real answers, talk to real owners of their products. I'll be able to tell you soon enough as I'm ordering some suspension components.

The funny thing is that the people who criticize show quality trucks-like the one you're looking to build- have the biggest pieces of shit out there.

They wish they were in your shoes, but unfortunately they're scrambling to find money to buy new parts to fix the crappy XJ/MJs that they break every time they go wheeling. Meanwhile, their doublewide is a piece and the kids are hungry.

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PC-UT-XJ said:

The funny thing is that the people who criticize show quality trucks-like the one you're looking to build- have the biggest pieces of shit out there.

They wish they were in your shoes, but unfortunately they're scrambling to find money to buy new parts to fix the crappy XJ/MJs that they break every time they go wheeling. Meanwhile, their doublewide is a piece and the kids are hungry.

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Nice answer.

BrettM, I'd expect that response at PBB but not here. If you are tired of answering the same questions, then don't. Simple as that.

As far as the original question goes...I'd pony up the extra $$ and go with the Rusty's kit. He can get it powder coated any color that you want. You're a lucky guy to be incharge of a project like this. I think all those who flamed you are just jealous that you are able to spend other peoples money and like was said before, "thier doublewide is a piece and the kids are hungry."

Flex.