Rough Country Lift Kit?... Do or Don't??

[TheSolarWizard]

Not sure why all the hate on RC. Too many snobs expecting Metal Cloak quality at one third the cost. What do you expect? Lobster for the price of shrimp. There are probably more RC lifts out there than all ofter brands combined and if it were that bad they would have been out of business decades ago. Lifts are not rocket science. Some lifts from other brands are also as bad or as good depending on the eye of the beholder. It depends on what you are looking for, your expectations and a real sense of reality. If you paid $600 for a 3.5" lift that only includes nitro shocks, springs and longer sway bar links and then complain it rides like crap, it's on you and not the lift (what ever brand). That means you either didn't do your homework or decided to cheap out and wing it thinking that changing suspension geometry by quite a bit wouldn't affect the way it drives and handles, you thought wrong. That applies to any brand that sells you incomplete kits and all of them do. Most basic kits only get you so far but you have to research and do it right. That includes proper geometry correction with CAs or geo brackets, adjustable track bars, etc. I've seen people beating the day lights out of RC lifts and they hold up quite well. Again, to be fair in your RC bashing, please compare kits with similar components. 95% sure they will be similar in characteristics and feel. Don't come here saying a basic RC kit rides like crap when compared to a $4k kit from the boutique brands. That is unrealistic and the wrong comparison. Also, if you have zero experience with anything RC, please don't repeat hearsay, from other people that were repeating hearsay from other hearsayers. It gets old. Now if you have first hand experience then by all means comment but be objective in your comparidons and add a dose of reality.

Also, the shops know exactly what they are doing by over recommending the wrong lift and height, so you come back complaining about the ride so they can upsell you the rest of the stuff you needed from the get go. Oh, you should have done this or that. It's this much extra. I would only trust indys with long standing reputations and not the Best Buy of 4x4 stuff.

Rusty's absolutely annihilates RC and is the only option worth considering if budget is the most important selection when doing a lift. RC's bread and butter is hooking customers into low cost garbage then getting them to chase their tails $450 at a time

it'll end up costing more to do RC in the end because of the problems.

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[TheSolarWizard]

I always enjoy others set-ups and whether its my thing or not I either compliment em on their ride or remain silent if its wonky.
There's a pic in my signature of my JT and nothing about it says 'Carolina Squat' nor has any of my input here suggested thats what I'm going for.

You like tall n skinny. Go for it.

I like a wide foot print.. Am trying to achieve it with the least amount of lift I can get away with and still have a functioning Jeep that I dont have tire clearance or turning radios issues with.

Would love to run 15 or 16" wheels but had to go to the 20" because I wanted 10" wide. I don't like the look of my 33's on the 20s because I want some sidewall... for no other reason than aesthetic.

you should spend some time reading up on "scrub radius" and how it directly impacts turning, handling and wear. if you don't like the opinions voiced here search it on google. I think I speak for most of us when I say that we don't care what your aesthetic preferences are but we trying to help you avoid regret and early repairs. the other issue is that those wide heavy wheels are going to introduce frequently is hydroplaning. I only bring that up because I see you live in FL and ive spent enough time there to know water performance is crucial.

good luck

 

[Proximo]

And for clarification: I'm not looking to cram these fat tires under my Jeep and then be limited to only driving in straight lines while white-knuckling it at highway speeds.

I want it set up right with quality parts without going extreme.

Already have a good foundation for what I wanna do.
Put Dana 4.56s in it.
Put a Detroit Tru-Trac in it.
And I got a mini Tazer in it so the factory stuff is working in conjunction with the mods.

Even though cost is a factor in what I'm doing.. this is not a budget build.
If I gotta spend 6 grand on a lift kit. Thats what will happen but if I can get away with not spending MetalCloak money, thats my preference.

6" lift will have you "white knuckling" on the highway. I think you can do 2" lift, change inner fender liners, and throw on a stubby front bumper. That should take care of all your clearance issues, since you won't be doing any articulation and will not be disco. My .02, but I'm a budget build.

 

[Heavy D]

So an inch more to the inside and an inch bigger front and back. How close to rubbing are the current tires and where? Rear of the fender at full lock and the front bumper?

I bet a 1.5" lift and some minor trimming gets you close.

Plenty of clearance with the 33s.
Not even close at full lock.

 

[ZeeJay]

1 step up from carolina squat. but exactly what u think. enough lift that you almost need climbing gear to get in, and then the largest deepest black, andonized or machined wheels u can fit wrapped in Mud terrain rubber bands.

Thanks man, was afeared it was that. There is a Tacoma and and Escalade running around here like that. My eyes water a little when I see them. No Jeeps….yet. Now I’ll see one today

 

[ZeeJay]

One thing about RC, I would think they are improving. They use to put out some junk and they probably learned from that. Springs that sag early, shocks that leak early, arms with stiff poly bushings that would rip brackets off axles. They had a somewhat popular 4" TJ kit that came with a drop pitman arm, but no relocation for the track bar. People would install the drop pitman arm and wonder why they have bumpsteer. Cause you bought a kit from a manufacturer that didn't understand the importance of the relationship between the draglink and track bar.

They earned a bad reputation from things like this and you know how that goes with forums.

Agreed, absolutely agree.

 

[PuddleJumper]

Thanks man, was afeared it was that. There is a Tacoma and and Escalade running around here like that. My eyes water a little when I see them. No Jeeps….yet. Now I’ll see one today

as long as i ain't gotta drive it, IDC.

 

[ZeeJay]

as long as i ain't gotta drive it, IDC.

Roger that. I can look away.

 

[ZeeJay]

Cars For Sale in Fort Lauderdale, FL - South Florida Jeeps (soflojeeps.com)

Thanks for that link, that is some of the wildest shit I’ve seen…..esp liked the 6 seater Wrangler for 200K. And here I thought breakover was shit on JT….ill eat that with some salt and pepper.

 

[Green_Gladiator]

Thanks for that link, that is some of the wildest shit I’ve seen…..esp liked the 6 seater Wrangler for 200K. And here I thought breakover was shit on JT….ill eat that with some salt and pepper.

???

 

[Heavy D]

you should spend some time reading up on "scrub radius" and how it directly impacts turning, handling and wear. if you don't like the opinions voiced here search it on google. I think I speak for most of us when I say that we don't care what your aesthetic preferences are but we trying to help you avoid regret and early repairs. the other issue is that those wide heavy wheels are going to introduce frequently is hydroplaning. I only bring that up because I see you live in FL and ive spent enough time there to know water performance is crucial.

good luck

Hope you didn't misread anything I posted as unappreciative. I enjoy any and all input.

Far as my choice in wheels go.. I wasn't aware they'd be more susceptible to hydroplaning than any other but I'll keep tires on em just to stay on the safe side.

 

[Tommyd]

Sure seems like a wide tire for a 35. What kind of offset would you run with those ( to clear suspension) ?

Negative 1000 bro

 

[MudderNuker]

Rusty's absolutely annihilates RC and is the only option worth considering if budget is the most important selection when doing a lift. RC's bread and butter is hooking customers into low cost garbage then getting them to chase their tails $450 at a time

it'll end up costing more to do RC in the end because of the problems.

To be fair many of the other brands also have low cost entry level lifts that will have customers chasing their tails to fix the terrible ride. I wouldn't call basic components garbage. Shock extensions are almost identical throughout, same goes for cam bolts, spacers, sway bar links, etc.. For example on Quadratec there are two 2.5 inch lifts with nearly identical components, RC and SkyJacker with the SJ being almost 2 1/2 times more expensive for the same stuff with slight variations in design but not function. I've used RC stuff in the past, same goes for Rancho, Dick Cepek, Bilstein, TF and JKS. The RC leveling struts for a Ram 1500 I owned, were great and the quality was excellent. The ride was nearly identical as stock. What I'm trying to say is that it is not fair to bash one company that caters to budget minder consumers looking to dip their toes into lifts, when many other brands do the same with similar results such as ride quality, stiffness and failure rates.

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