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Rusty's Off Road

ridesdirt

NAXJA Forum User
Location
SC
Just wondering if anyone runs their suspension, bumpers, anything and what they have to say about the products. All the reviews I find online (except for Amazon) are old, and I was hoping to find some more current feedback.

Search feature here wasn't much help...
 
I bought their steering upgrade for my XJ and their long arm crossmember skid plate. Prices aren't cheap. It's a quality product in my opinion. Instructions are pretty clear and easy to understand if you read them. I can't say the parts I bought made a massive difference in how my jeep drives and performs BUT they're packed very well, go on as easy as the instructions make it sound, and haven't failed me yet. I wouldn't hesitate to run their suspension. I did read a few negative things about them in the past. I've never needed to contact them after I paid for my order.
 
Thet don't have much of a better rep than they did 20yrs ago. Buy a good product, what are you looking for?
 
good deal, that is the kind of info I was looking for.

Some pretty bad reviews online, most from over 10 years ago, and... almost all of them are bad which is suspicious IMO and almost all on Amazon are good. It has been my experience that if someone has what they consider a bad experience, they are quick to exaggerate it on the internet.
 
I have Rusty's:
trans cross member
t-case skid
3" lift coil springs
upper control arms
tie rod end track bar
cat back exhaust

Everything is good quality stuff. Some people complain that they are rude on the phone, and about the shipping costs, I don't recall shipping was much more than anybody else. I would buy more.


Whatever bumper you buy, make sure that it ties into the frame rails. The stock bumper mounts are for looks only.
 
The issue before was their customer service sucked and when their parts failed they didn't do anything about it. I'd spend my money elsewhere, there are better shops dedicated to XJ than cRustys.
 
The issue before was their customer service sucked and when their parts failed they didn't do anything about it. I'd spend my money elsewhere, there are better shops dedicated to XJ than cRustys.

This.
CRustys earned the rep they have online by skimping on product designs and being a holes when the crap failed.

I don't care if tesla bought em and turned them around... i can't and won't promote them after the experiences my friends and I have had- and all the fellow jeepers who's frustration levels I've felt.

To each their own. Id rather support a company like SFR or boostworks engineering (make a SAWEEET hidden winch design) or JCR, or TR, or dirtbound, or ironrock offroad, or insert any other American made Jeep shop
 
I have Rusty's gas tank skid, transfer case skid, steering box brace, drop-transmission cross-member. These all do their jobs. The gas tank skid design improved between 2008 and 2015 and cleared my hidden-hitch without modification on the second one.

The steering box brace is better than the one I made for a previous jeep.

I probably still wouldn't buy a suspension there (OME on the current XJ) but even that might be fine now.
 
This.
CRustys earned the rep they have online by skimping on product designs and being a holes when the crap failed.

I don't care if tesla bought em and turned them around... i can't and won't promote them after the experiences my friends and I have had- and all the fellow jeepers who's frustration levels I've felt.

To each their own. Id rather support a company like SFR or boostworks engineering (make a SAWEEET hidden winch design) or JCR, or TR, or dirtbound, or ironrock offroad, or insert any other American made Jeep shop

Good info, thank you. I have looked at those companies. All are good. Some only do DIY bumpers, I can weld, but have too many projects going on right now so staying away from the DIY for now. I like the "cut and fold" mod for the rear quarters and have only found 3 or 4 rear bumpers that work with that mod and some are super pricey.

I have a Ironrock suspension kit to install. Leaf springs are now in stock and I think are shipping today, front shocks still on backorder...

plan on laying under the XJ a lot this weekend, cleaning and painting the bottom side and will get some of the suspension installed. And if my gears get here I may work on setting those up too.
 
I guess the ONLY major downside to Rusty’s is shipping. They charge what it costs. No discount and rarely do I see a sale or discount offered.
 
I just received a set of Rusty's XJ 0.75" lift shackles. Way more beefy that the IRO shackles that I tried to use but didn't fit.

I don't understand how so many places can do free shipping even if it only kicks in after spending $50 or $100. I used to ship a lot of stuff, and its expensive. These companies must be getting steep discounts on shipping rates.
 
I took a gamble, ordered Rusty's bumpers. I can say I had a very good experience with them. Customer service was very good. They offer a "trail bumper" package on their website. I needed different bumpers than what was listed for the kit and they worked with me and made me a kit with what I needed.

And I can say the items were packaged fantastic. I have ordered a lot of bulky things off the internet. The bumpers were packaged better than I thought could be done. They were wrapped in sheet foam and plastic, placed in huge heavy duty boxes and then expanding foam surrounded. Two huge thumbs up on the packaging job! Not a scratch on anything.

I havent installed anything yet so we will see how everything fits when the time comes. But quality looks great, even better than shown on their website. Welds are perfect with no splatter. All the flat panels are that, flat, no wrinkles or waves, edges are crisp and straight, powder coating is flawless too.

I do understand these are not the strongest or heaviest on the market. The rear bumper mounting does appear to need additional support, and I have plans for that. The front looks okay to me, frame brackets are about a foot long and have five or six bolts if I remember right.

So far I got nothing bad to say. But again, I am not "in the know" on Jeep parts. I am not looking for the best rock crawling items I can find, just good quality parts for a mild trail rig. I will say these appear to be miles ahead in build quality of anything Smittybuilt I have seen, but I'm not knocking that product either. I have friends with Smittybuilt stuff that has stood the test of time, it was just a bear to install.
 
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