Skyjacker vs. Rough Country

[pitviper]

I love the way my Rough Country kit rides, I have their 3" coils in the front and Dakota springs in the rear. I also have their Nitro 8000 shocks I had some RS5000s when it was stock and with it lifted now it rides so much smoother and its way more comfortable. I may have the one fluke out of the bunch here but I would buy these springs again in a heart beat. I also haven't replaced control arms yet so that may be the difference.

 

[JEONLYEP]

I have had a RC 3" lift
coils and aal, no control arms. Go with the full leaf packs unless you have new/low mile leaf springs. I had to put two inch lift blocks in the rear to get the rear up to match the front.
When I was mainly on road only it was a good lift.

Off road it worked okay, but I got really good at replacing upper control arms.

If you don't think that your going to be off roading than the RC is a good cheap lift. But if you go off roading or start off roading after you get the lift, I'd say go with something else.

Daryl

Everything I say is fully substantiated by my own opinion.

 

[XJ_ranger]

i have RC 4.5" lift control arms and they are beefy. i like them. They are fixed length and have rubber bushings. There are no drvieline vibes with them at around a 5.5" front end lift...

im working on a mid arm design...

good times.
-Ranger

 

[Dragon_Fly]

Only experience I have with Rough Country was with my old 1985 4runner. Anyone not fimilar with the 85 4runner, it uses four leafspring packs setup. I bought the new kit that used new spring packs. The ride was worse then my factory springs. Wheeling was painfull to say the least. Roughest ride Ive ever had. The front packs were to short and caused the shackles to point in almost all the way. Axle drop sucked and compression was teeth jarring. The main leaf was to short was we measured it out. I called RC to ask why... they said thats the way they are made. I also bent my drivers side spring after some hard compression. So its just my own opinion when I say RC sux.

 

[Beachmonkey6]

So ive heard that the Rough Country stuff has gotten better over the years. so if yall bought and used RC lift parts a few years ago, and didnt like it, it might be different now.

 

[tazz]

I got the OME front sprins. The HD one's that are realy the 2" lift one's for the front of the ZJ but do a 3" lift on the XJ.
They are GREAT!! I love them and the ride is better than ever!

 

[KSXJ]

I have recently installed a RC and I like it. The front game me 5.5 and the rear 4.5 with aal. I am going to install a 1 block in the rear to match the front. Yes it is rough, but if you have ever riddin in wrangler that had been lifted, then you wont think that the RC is rought at all. But if you want it to ride like a car, then may want to look into something else.

 

[jpx3]

first off, there is no such thing as a good ride quality for a modded cherokee. its bullsh/t and if anyone tells you different they are full of it. anytime you mod something, i don't care if its a freakin wheel chair its gonna ride different that what i did from the factory. so if you swap out stk for bigger coils and rear packs no matter what you think or spend its gonna be a different ride quality. period.

now, ive been running 6" SJ coils on my xj for five years. ive got acos set at min 1 1/4" on top and i love em. ive got the SJ 5" packs/1" shackles in back and after five years of beatings they are sagging but i don't baby my junk. after the first of the year im getting custom packs from national done cause im going bigger.

everyone that ive ever personally know, not second hand interweb bs has hated their rc lifts. ive seen coils sagging in a matter of months with lite wheeling. guess its just crappy materials, mfg, etc but ive never heard anyone 100% satisfied with a rc lift.

its not all about what ya spend. if your just getting sh/t to see red coils you should evaluate what your doing or just gets some rc's and get them powder coated and be a poser. no one says you have to get just one companies components either, i preach this all the time. you don't have to have just a SJ lift or rubicon express or so on. i got a smokin deal on my stuff back on 00 and its served me well but after repeated beatings im starting to part things out. after you wheel enough you'll grow out of components. i like my sj coils, will be replacing the rear packs, sometime next year im looking at a full traction set up to replace my SJ sub frame assembly as well. its been great im just looking to upgrade cause my wheeling style has moved from "ill do those 1 and 2 trails" to "sh/t its only a blk 4.5" and "sh/t its just a fender" "sh/t its just a rear door" and so on....

id say don't just get sh/t cause someone will think your cool, do your researching and talk to people in person with what your looking at buying. rather than a million opinions on the net you can actually see what that person runs and if they like it or not.

jp

 

[white99z]

Hey Jpx3 no need to get your panties in a twist. Anyways from reading your responses and what you will be using your jeep for I think that you would best be suited with the OME HD lift. Dont listen to the people that say dont lift it if you want it for looks or whatever. Do what you want. But dont skimp on quality because of a certain color or whatever (you can always powdercoat). I worked at an offroad shop this summer and drove a lot of different suspension lifts. Personally I went with a full traction lift (which rides awesome with the bilstein shocks I have) but it is a kit more suited for someone that will be wheeling. The full traction 3.5 inch kit is nice but also a little pricey. I have also ridden in RE kits, skyjacker kits, and Rough Country lifts. The rough country kits are pretty poor quality. I bought a brand new 3 inch kit off a guy for $75 but sold it because of hearing about problems down the road (and i decided to go full traction 6 inch LA instead). My buddy has it on his jeep now and I dont think it rides too bad (but it is still rough). Its not much worse than some of the high dollar kits out there. He has only had it on his jeep for about 3 months now so I cannot comment on the long term quality of the components (which I hear is bad). Out of all of the kits I have ridden in though, none of them compare to the ride quality of OME. They make quality components too. And if you like the skyjackers because they are red..... well OME is yellow and good quality. Just powdercoat the springs yellow and you have yourself a nice riding, flashy street jeep. At our shop, whenever people came in wanting a lift for their streeted jeep we generally led them towards an OME lift because of the quality of the components and smooth ride that you are personally looking for.

 

[jpx3]

panties? sh/t. i just get tired of the amount of noobs not searching or just asking someone that runs a lift, of any brand. and those who give advice like picking a lift because of the color. who, how ju is that. people that lift their junk and don't wheel it are posers. people that chose a lift to say they are lifted are posers. and most of all people that are putting a particular lift on because of the color must be brain dead. must be why ft and re are so popular that black and/or gray color. lol.

jp

 

[white99z]

Dont worry man. I wasnt knockin on ya. I was just making a little fun with the fact that your post sounded so angry. Yeah picking a lift because of the color is stupid. There are some pretty poor quality lifts out there that are a "cool color" that I am sure people buy for that reason. I would not go so far as to saying lifting without wheeling means you are a poser. People like to make their property unique whether it be a house, car, etc. and lifting is a way of making it unique. Now people who talk their stuff up but dont wheel would be posers. Some people just like the lifted look. There is nothing wrong with wanting a lifted vehicle for the custom aspect.

 

[cwuwildcat]

i bought a RC 3" lift off ebay last may. so far i've loved it. i also have a daystar coil spacer/shackle kit so it sits a little bit higher but since i installed it it hasnt drooped more than a 1/4 of an inch. sure it may be a little more rough of a ride but i knew that was going to happen and personally i like the ride a little more stiff. the lower control arms it came with were some beefer suckers and seem to allow quite a bit of flex with my sway bar disco'ed. ive got 31x10.50 mud terrains and they stuff perfectly. but i could see needing some more bumpstop if i didnt have the coil spacers.

but all this is just my personal opinion. it has been a good lift for the cheap price. the only thing i would do differently is getting full packs for the rear even though i have had no problems with them yet, im just thinking ahead for the future. i dont think the aal is going to have too long of a life span. i have heard a lot of people not liking rc stuff so i feel lucky that i enjoy mine....hopefully it stays that way.

this is the same lift i got: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Jeep...ewItemQQcategoryZ33585QQitemZ8011340496QQrdZ1

 

[jpx3]

i know white its just that dealing with 17-27 year olds in clubs that are rocking 03 rubi's with sj lifts cause the color is cool, among the other 7k in mods that never do anything but wash them or go out and tear sh.t up that clubs spend years trying to keep open. i work with clubs all over the country and seeing that gets old. busting ass trying to keep trails open when people out there wont bother with a club membership but buy lifts cause it makes em look cool. should give people an iq test before selling stuff to them. lol.

jp

 

[white99z]

Haha yeah you got that right. I happen to be one of those 17-27 year olds (I'm 19) so I tend to see a lot of those kids around. I have been fortunate enough to meet some very nice, responsible kids that wheel. Enough that I am trying to start a 4wd organization at my college. But... I have also met a bunch of idiots with jeeps and other lifted vehicles including kids at home and one kid in my apartment complex who lives right across from me.

 

[raneil]

I have the 6.5in lift from Skyjacker and I like it. It doesn't ride like a Caddy, but I hope you don't expect it to. You do need a really good set of shocks though. I have the adjustable Ranch 9000's and they ROCK.

Interesting. I also have the Skyjacker 6.5 springs with Rancho 9000s, and I was going to post how I think it DOES ride like a Caddy. I am very pleased with the ride on road AND off. I have a long-arm kit, too though. Perhaps that's the difference.

 

[white99z]

Long arm improve the ride of a lifted vehicle a ton in my experience. My Jeep would ride like a caddy with my long arms.... except I need to rebalance my beadlocks because they are way off balance. It rode like a caddy before I had my beadlocks!