rough country ok?

i was thinking of geting a rough country lift. probaly the 3 inch and i would like to know wha size tire i need and what all isnt included in the kit. i've heard 31s was the max without rubbing. this will be my college ride so it has to get me to school but also tear it up in on the trails.

If you have to drive it too much, id reccomend something other than RC, it is cheap, but cheap in quality from what ive heard.

Check out RE

rough country is ok... but if you are planning on the 3 inch kit from jc whitney then you have to buy shocks for it to. I used the kit for like 6 months and liked it at the time and I still dont regret purchasing it but I already had other stuff to make the kit better like new CAs and track bar and shocks

Of course there are the obligatory "Spend 5 times as much and get a RE lift" answers...

I had a RC 3", and it was all right. If I had to do it again, though, I'd get Rusty's full length 3.5" AAL, and some 3" lift coils on the front. The total cost should be about the same as the RC lift, but without the crappy lift block.

Just my opinion.

-Mike

i had the rough country kit on my old xj and i cant say a bad thing about it it was a good lift i did have blocks though that is a no no after useing them with my current lift i broke them and that caused the yoke to break spend the extra 135 and get it direct with the shocks and the long aal instead of the jcw one i got

I had the three inch RC. Both front coils snapped in half on the interstate. You get what you pay for. I'd spend a little more and go with Rusty's. Keeping costs down is fine, but watch for poor quality.

Check out Black Diamond. That was my first lift and I loved it. It worked real well and is still floating around the club I belong to. Stay away from blocks, I spit 2 aluminum ones out and that could have been disasterous if it happened on the highway, get an add-a-leaf or make a pack and use a smaller block. I made my own blockbut it is 7" lift long and provides 1.5" lift and really acts like a anti wrap device. I drilled it to be bolted onto the leaf packs.

could i have some info on Rusty's lift please. i was planning on the rc lift direct with shocks and the add-a-leaf and some kind of spacer like some peices of 1/4 plate to level it out with holes for the u bolts.

i also need to know about brake lines. i want to make some disconnects for the roll-bar to get flex and i dont want to tear my lines. i've herd yj lines work or get some kind of flex extender. but thats just what i've heard

please help me out. i dont have much money with college comming up and all so i cant go trial and error on this.

MCD said:

could i have some info on Rusty's lift please. i was planning on the rc lift direct with shocks and the add-a-leaf and some kind of spacer like some peices of 1/4 plate to level it out with holes for the u bolts.

i also need to know about brake lines. i want to make some disconnects for the roll-bar to get flex and i dont want to tear my lines. i've herd yj lines work or get some kind of flex extender. but thats just what i've heard

please help me out. i dont have much money with college comming up and all so i cant go trial and error on this.

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www.madxj.com

Great info on brake lines and a ton more. As far as blocks, I think Rocky Road is the only one that would have some 1/2" blocks, they stack them to make a custom block. Coils spacers, Rusty caries these as well.

MCD said:

could i have some info on Rusty's lift please. i was planning on the rc lift direct with shocks and the add-a-leaf and some kind of spacer like some peices of 1/4 plate to level it out with holes for the u bolts.

i also need to know about brake lines. i want to make some disconnects for the roll-bar to get flex and i dont want to tear my lines. i've herd yj lines work or get some kind of flex extender. but thats just what i've heard

please help me out. i dont have much money with college comming up and all so i cant go trial and error on this.

Click to expand...

I'm going to have to do the "Dutch uncle" routine on you and recommend that you step away from the checkbook before anyone gets hurt. If you are indeed a college student with not a lot of money (and not very many college students these days do have a lot of money), this is probably not the time to be jumping into lifting your XJ.

The way you phrased your original question ("... probaly the 3 inch and i would like to know wha size tire i need and what all isnt included in the kit ...") suggests that you're putting the cart before the horse. You don't "need" a particular size tire to run with a 3" lift -- you can run stock tires. It works the other way -- decide what size tires you think you "need" (i.e. lust after), then figure out how much cutting you're willing to do and how much lift you need after you park the sawzall. But all of this costs money, and despite what some people will tell you, lifts and larger tires affect fuel economy, driveability, and ride.

A stock XJ is a very capable machine on trails. You can enhance that a lot without spending a ton of money by doing a 2" budget boost with full-length AAL and running 30x9.50 tires on stock rims. That setup will take you most places a 3" lift and 31s will take you, without requiring new shocks, extended brake lines, or any other enhancements.

And when you have some spare cash and feel the need to move up, the budget boost parts can be used on top of a mild lift kit for additional height, so the moeny isn't wasted.

Remember the KISS principle.

no i dont need it now but i will need it wen i go to college. i will be attendig WyoTech and want to have a capable off-roader to play around in on my off-time. right no i think im gonna go with the kit from Rusty's and just lower my front brake lines. the reason i ask about the tires is that i've heard that 31s need extended bump stops so they dont rub. with 30's ive heard they arnt needed so i will have more flex in the front. i would really like to get the lift before the strain of college get hold of my money and time. i will robaly run stock tires since mine are in good shape. they should last a while since i rotate and balance them about every 6000 miles and keep about 30lbs in them all the time. (when i got it one tire had 45lbs and the lowest was 25lbs) i guess you could call it a graduation present to myself.

MCD said:

no i dont need it now but i will need it wen i go to college. i will be attendig WyoTech and want to have a capable off-roader to play around in on my off-time. right no i think im gonna go with the kit from Rusty's and just lower my front brake lines. the reason i ask about the tires is that i've heard that 31s need extended bump stops so they dont rub. with 30's ive heard they arnt needed so i will have more flex in the front. i would really like to get the lift before the strain of college get hold of my money and time. i will robaly run stock tires since mine are in good shape. they should last a while since i rotate and balance them about every 6000 miles and keep about 30lbs in them all the time. (when i got it one tire had 45lbs and the lowest was 25lbs) i guess you could call it a graduation present to myself.

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I have to agree with Eagle, save the money and maybe shoot for a 4.5" lift. When I had a RC 3" lift and 31's the rubbing was not bad at all with stock rims. It did not hurt the tires and only rub some paint off. Lower contraol arms do rub, but no big deal, adjust the steering stops.

From a wheeling stand point, when I went to 4.5", wheeling was a lot better than the 3" with 31's. Aproach angle and over all body clearance got me over the rocks. At 3" I really creamed my crossmember and frame rails.

If you really need to buy something, get skids or tools to fabricate the stuff you want to have. A decent welder cost about the same as a 3" Rusty's lift. Just something to consider from those who been there and done that.

Happy Holiday's

i already have a welder and a full tool set in my shop. (i live on a farm) but when i go to wyotech i wont have access to all the stuff i'll need.

MCD said:

i already have a welder and a full tool set in my shop. (i live on a farm) but when i go to wyotech i wont have access to all the stuff i'll need.

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What are the trails you plan on running? What do you think about fender trimming? How do you feel about body damage? Does tire size mater to you as far as looks? WyoTech that's in Wyoming right?

These questions are important, many of us have started from scratch, with out any advise, but most all of us have found out that it would be better to save our money for the exact lift and tire size we wanted the first time around.

Also to take account for body damage, I really don't care about mine, but I still have rocker guards and good skid plates for tranny protection. Rusty caries all this stuff, but if you have access to tools in your off time or now you may want to save yourself some money and build the portection yourself.

A stock XJ with good protection can be just as fun.

Wow, there's sure a lot of Rough Country lovers here. I hate being the one to bad mouth it but you really should stay away from them. They sag, ride rough, flex bad, etc, you name it. I don't know how many people come into us with these kits asking why they have death wobble, rough ride, sagging etc.... They are crap, you get what you pay for, a cheap kit, and that's all. If you're going to go with a three inch kit you need control arms.
Buying a cheap lift on a tight budget before you head to school isn't a very good idea. A cheap kit's going to cause more problems which are going to cost you more money(at the most inopportune times). You're almost definitely going to develope some kind of wobble in the near future, especially if you go that large without control arms. If you absolutely need lift, then look at one of the other inexpensive kits, a Rusty's like you mentioned is a good kit, procomp, tuff country, even a racho kit would be a better decision. In any case plan on spending money on other things like a T-case drop and probably a new trac bar in the near future. It's better to be safe than sorry

Some things you left out for us to accurately help you were Year, & engine? Eagle has a good point though. What type of wheeling do you do? Where will you be? What size tires do you want to run? If you want 30's I'd say skipp the lift and get a BB from Daystar or someone like that.

you mentioned disconnecting the sway bar, i have not done it yet and thank god. when i flex the lines are at the limit. With only 3 inches of lift so far. u may not have to worry about bump stops, i have no problems with 31's at all. I have always seen these black diamond lifts. Really damn cheap for a 4.5 inch lift kit. look into that, where i read it it was only like 400 with shocks.

I have a 3" RC lift on my 1998 xj ,2 door,2.5 4 cyl, 5 spd l 285-70 BFG sport truck tires on
1999 Jeep 7" aluminum wheels,1.5 wheel spacers,blue. It used longer coils in front,add a leaf in rear. I had a shimmy right after I installed it, traced it to the idiot who balanced the tires. Rebalance fixed the problem. No other problems,plan on buying the same kit for my 1999 xj ,hope the quality has not craped out,RC add said they were " improved" not a good sign. Thanks

HOLY THREAD REVIVAL! I was like "I don't remember posting in that thread..." :laugh:

PS: I have not changed my 13 year old views on RC. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

wow, zombie posts.

RC did improve for a while. sales increased, and they stopped improving.

its total crap again.