Which lift kit? SJ or RC?

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

Have a diesel Rubicon I want to lift 3.5" mostly for appearance and to eliminate the dreaded bottoming out that plagues this
"Trail Ready"® vehicle.

Im looking at rough country with N3 shocks, and skyjackers with blackjack shocks.

Is there anyone with experience with both that can tell me what the differences if any in ride quality are? Im looking for a lighter suspension that will handle dirt and washboard roads better.
If there's another budget brand out there that fits the bill I'm open to suggestions, thanks.

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[DankjeeP]

Have a diesel Rubicon I want to lift 3.5" mostly for appearance and to eliminate the dreaded bottoming out that plagues this
"Trail Ready"® vehicle.

Im looking at rough country with N3 shocks, and skyjackers with blackjack shocks.

Is there anyone with experience with both that can tell me what the differences if any in ride quality are? Im looking for a lighter suspension that will handle dirt and washboard roads better.
If there's another budget brand out there that fits the bill I'm open to suggestions, thanks.

A suspension is not a good place to skimp IMHO. I have no personal experience with either one of those, but I've never heard good things about them. If you end up having to do things twice it doesn't save you anything in the end. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

A suspension is not a good place to skimp IMHO. I have no personal experience with either one of those, but I've never heard good things about them. If you end up having to do things twice it doesn't save you anything in the end. Just my 2 cents.

I would reckon the vast majority of suspension lifts out there are budget lists and it's not as though front ends and rear ends are dropping through right and left. There's a lot of really generic stuff on Amazon for instance that I probably wouldn't bother with but I don't think rough country and skyjacker are disreputable they just may not be able to take the day in and day out pounding of the better brands. And what I'll be doing with them is pretty light

 

[Free2roam]

Clayton, Rock Krawler, AEV no actual experience with any of them. Just what I've read on here.
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...ift-kit-clayton-vs-rock-krawler-vs-evo.42096/

 

[ShastaJT6]

Ive posted in other threads regarding the Skyjacker kit - I have the 3.5" front / 2" rear with the M95 shocks on my 3.6l Gas JT. Cant speak for the diesel side of it, but Ive been pretty happy with the kit, its done lots of road trips and trails and held up well. Ive got around 15k miles on it and its been through 5 states.

One major complaint - The bushings on the sway links rotted out in about 5000 miles. Id recommend getting some different bushings or just using different sway links that are the same length.

 

[JRODZ]

I've had my 21 Willys w/a RC 3.5 coil kit on for a 1000 miles now. Ive got the cheaper N3 shocks too. Been happy w/the ride & all. It sits level, but sometimes looks like the rear is a little lower. The rear springs are soft, so I ordered a set of 3/4" spacers, but haven't gotten em in yet. I also ordered a set of airlift bags for a Ram, cause theyre black not red, but havent gotten them in yet either. The install was simple w/good directions & hand tools.

 

[cuellar13]

I put RC on my JTR and my JKU. No issue with either. I think there are a lot of brand snobs out there, just like with everything else. Take that with a grain of salt. It also depends on what you use it for. If I were doing true rock crawling, I'd spend the extra cash for a complete suspension upgrade. For my FL off-roading purposes, the RC 3.5" made the most sense for me- I use my JTR on our rural property a lot, so I don't need the flex that others might (and FL is pretty much flat). I just need to get around in the woods/off the beaten path and get through mud/standing water. I'm happy with the ride quality, and their customer service has always been awesome. Just to be transparent, I would've bought the Mopar lift, had it leveled out my JTR and added a little more lift, so cost wasn't my number one reason. Welcome to the painstaking world of analysis paralysis!

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

Welcome to the painstaking world of analysis paralysis!

My middle name.

How would you characterize the ride? Softer or firmer?
So this isn't 3.5" front and back? I'm looking to keep my factory rake.

 

[DankjeeP]

I put RC on my JTR and my JKU. No issue with either. I think there are a lot of brand snobs out there, just like with everything else. Take that with a grain of salt. It also depends on what you use it for. If I were doing true rock crawling, I'd spend the extra cash for a complete suspension upgrade. For my FL off-roading purposes, the RC 3.5" made the most sense for me- I use my JTR on our rural property a lot, so I don't need the flex that others might (and FL is pretty much flat). I just need to get around in the woods/off the beaten path and get through mud/standing water. I'm happy with the ride quality, and their customer service has always been awesome. Just to be transparent, I would've bought the Mopar lift, had it leveled out my JTR and added a little more lift, so cost wasn't my number one reason. Welcome to the painstaking world of analysis paralysis!

"I think there are a lot of brand snobs out there"

Not so sure there is any "snob" aspect to it. Just the reputation of the not so great brands that sticks with people over many years. The two mentioned, plus Rusty and a few others are forever in that group due to problems people have seen over the years. Rock Krawler is getting a bad rep due to the bushing issues that have plagued them for quite some time. I was ready to pull the trigger on their lift until I found out about it. No one wants to buy a lift that has quality issues and have to deal with it AT ALL. Buy something with proven quality and dependability and great customer support. The research you put in to such a purchase pays off in the end. Maybe these brands have improved over the years, maybe your gambling, not a chance I'm willing to take. Horror stories abound out there. Notice I never mentioned any brand in the positive column. There are brands I like, but I'm not selling anything, just telling it like I see it. YMMV

 

[cuellar13]

My middle name.

How would you characterize the ride? Softer or firmer?
So this isn't 3.5" front and back? I'm looking to keep my factory rake.

I would say the ride is about the same as my OE Rubicon ride, maybe a little stiffer. As far as the rake, you will lose it with the RC Kit.

 

[cuellar13]

"I think there are a lot of brand snobs out there"

Not so sure there is any "snob" aspect to it. Just the reputation of the not so great brands that sticks with people over many years. The two mentioned, plus Rusty and a few others are forever in that group due to problems people have seen over the years. Rock Krawler is getting a bad rep due to the bushing issues that have plagued them for quite some time. I was ready to pull the trigger on their lift until I found out about it. No one wants to buy a lift that has quality issues and have to deal with it AT ALL. Buy something with proven quality and dependability and great customer support. The research you put in to such a purchase pays off in the end. Maybe these brands have improved over the years, maybe your gambling, not a chance I'm willing to take. Horror stories abound out there. Notice I never mentioned any brand in the positive column. There are brands I like, but I'm not selling anything, just telling it like I see it. YMMV

My apologies @DankjeeP I didn't mean to imply you were a brand snob, I was actually just making a generalized statement. I say brand snob because there are a lot of them out there. The "I only buy xxxx brand" type that looks down on anyone that buys anything other than that. For example: I know guys that will buy some Smittybilt parts because it fits their needs, and know other guys that won't entertain walking into a 4wheelparts store because they think they're above it with all the Smittybilt they sell. Those are the guys that I'm talking about. Their wallets are usually their toolboxes. I personally went with RC for my JKU a few years back on the recommendation of a knowledgeable buddy of mine who's known to be a bastard on his rides. I was hesitant at first, but he said he had better luck with them in recent years than he previously had, so I rolled the dice and have been happy thus far. Now, if I was out doing serious wheeling, I would have probably went another route. Like you said, no one wants to deal with suspension quality issues, and I certainly wouldn't want to find that out in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Jerhemi]

No experience with RC on a Jeep. But I ran a RC 6" (maybe 5.5", can't remember) lift on my old ram with no issues. They had great customer service as well.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

"Brand snob" is as ubiquitous as it is obvious.
To say some brands are better than others doesn't make one a brand snob.
To say some brands are need more maintenance and are more susceptible to breakage doesn't make one a brand snob.
To have a threshold where only mid-upper tier brands will do to be bolted to any vehicle even considering the lightest of
off-road use despite thousands of well-served customers, and can't admit they reliably serve the larger portion of the market, yeah, probably a brand snob.

 

[Panthers65]

I would look more at the components in the kit than the brand itself. Nobody is making a kit that is going to have a coil spring break in half, and I really doubt you'll find one spacer is better than another, it's the parts that surround the kit that make the difference.

Is a $3500 metalcloak kit that includes all new adjustable control arms and Premium shocks going to ride better than a $500 roughcountry kit that doesn't? Of course it will. That's not to say the springs and spacers from RC are poor quality, it's just not as complete a kit. Now, would the same Rough Country kit with Core4x4 adjustable arms and Premium Fox/Bilstein Shocks ride and flex as nice as the MetalCloak kit? Probably close enough that 99% of the folks out there couldn't tell the difference.

The RC/SJ kit would probably ride fine for most, the good part is there's nothing crazy where you couldn't get the RC kit now, and the adjustable arms in a few months, and the premium shocks after that, ect.... but you'll likely spend more money in the long run than you would just buying the complete kit outright, but you'll have to let your budget decide that. Where it helps is if you have specific parts of the lift that you want (different sway bar disconnects, piggyback shocks, ect... you could end up with the exact kit you want from the start without buying components twice)

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

I would look more at the components in the kit than the brand itself. Nobody is making a kit that is going to have a coil spring break in half, and I really doubt you'll find one spacer is better than another, it's the parts that surround the kit that make the difference.

Is a $3500 metalcloak kit that includes all new adjustable control arms and Premium shocks going to ride better than a $500 roughcountry kit that doesn't? Of course it will. That's not to say the springs and spacers from RC are poor quality, it's just not as complete a kit. Now, would the same Rough Country kit with Core4x4 adjustable arms and Premium Fox/Bilstein Shocks ride and flex as nice as the MetalCloak kit? Probably close enough that 99% of the folks out there couldn't tell the difference.

The RC/SJ kit would probably ride fine for most, the good part is there's nothing crazy where you couldn't get the RC kit now, and the adjustable arms in a few months, and the premium shocks after that, ect.... but you'll likely spend more money in the long run than you would just buying the complete kit outright, but you'll have to let your budget decide that. Where it helps is if you have specific parts of the lift that you want (different sway bar disconnects, piggyback shocks, ect... you could end up with the exact kit you want from the start without buying components twice)

I get the quality issue.
A lesser spring isn't as likely to break in half as it is to sag over time. A lesser control arm isn't as likely to break as the bushings are to experience premature wear. It's the little details not the catastrophic failures.

Whether the multitudes of satisfied long-term peasant brand lift owners have lasting products or they aren't as attentive to details remains to be seen. Could be either or as far as I know.

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