Rock Krawler 3" X Factor JT System

[drewkillsit]

A lot of us bought this kit when it was first released and due to the overwhelming demand it took a little while for most of us to get our kits. The reason for your delay is out of the control of any company. Most of these large items are not in stock at retailers and get drop shipped. Rock Krawler is not in control of what or how the retailer promises items. I can tell you this, these guys are doing the best they can and work 24/ 7 to support their products. Give them a break....understand that you are buying a niche item and it isn't always delivered like Amazon prime. I can tell you this that once you receive your products and install them you will be happy you waited.

I’m making very simple point: don’t promise it’ll ship next week if you aren’t sure. I’d much rather hear “it could realistically take 2-3 months, and we’ll let you know if that changes.” Not blaming RK for this or Northridge specifically, just saying that some proper expectations go a long way.

I don’t expect it to ship like it’s Amazon Prime, and I never said that.

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[jasonclarkusaf]

Ordered mine from Northridge4x4 on February 23rd and it still hasn't shipped from RK. Northridge has said "it should ship next week" for multiple weeks. I'm hoping to get it before May at this point. I get the staffing issues, but some accurate expectations would be reasonable.

I ended up piecing together the kit from a couple of different sources due to Northridge being out of stock on a few parts. There has been some solid demand on the RK kits for sure but, I was able to find and receive every part over the last week.

 

[Harold0819]

I’m making very simple point: don’t promise it’ll ship next week if you aren’t sure. I’d much rather hear “it could realistically take 2-3 months, and we’ll let you know if that changes.” Not blaming RK for this or Northridge specifically, just saying that some proper expectations go a long way.

I don’t expect it to ship like it’s Amazon Prime, and I never said that.

Understood and I agree with you. I can't speak for what Northridge says or promises. I personally think they are wrong on that and I got similar answers as you with my MBRP exhaust I had ordered through them which took approx. 2 months for me to get.
I can only speak from my past experiences and what I've seen with others about working with RK. What I would suggest, and is something many of us had done when waiting for our kits is to PM RockKrawler on this site. They are very active. They will respond and ask you a few questions so they can identify your order and will be able to give you an ETA.
The other thing I can say and sure others can as well, is that once you have the kit and install it. Worth the wait? Absolutely!!

 

[jtad]

I reached out to Andy from RK on here and he looked up my info and got me a more solid ship date, I would send him a message I'm sure he can help. My issue was Northridge was waiting on a warehouse shipment of parts from RK to fulfill my order instead of just having them drop shipped directly from RK to me. After talking to Northridge I had them contact RK and have my parts direct shipped to me. Northridge told me they set it up that way cause it is cheaper for them to ship parts from their warehouse instead of RK shipping them directly to me.

 

[BIG SKY GLADIATOR]

I like the idea of setting the dimensions without Loctite, installing, set to torque after install, and having shop check it right away. Then back the jam nut off and apply Loctite and final retorque.

I set the front control arms to length already and one thing I did which varies from instructions was point the Zirk fitting down on the lower control arms for 2 reasons.
1. It makes it easier to grease the Hemi joint.
2. I won’t have to cut out the bracket.
Yeah I know it places that fitting in harms way somewhat but it is still even with the bottom of the joint surface.
If it gets taken out by a rock then I would have to remove it with an EZ out and replace it or plug the hole.
Maybe I should just remove it now and replace it with a set screw that will flush with the joint surface.
Just need to remember to put Zirk back in to grease when greasing.
Now if I could just get the rest of the kit I could make an appointment with Gearheads Rent A Bay and get on with the install.

How has placing the Zirk fittings down worked out for you? Any issues with the control arms binding with uncut portion at full droop? Have you tested it out rock crawling with good flex? I'm thinking about doing there same to avoid cutting. Thanks

 

[Harold0819]

I just want to give a huge shout out to RockKrawler on the 3.0" Pro-X 'no limits' Stage 1 lift. I installed mine about 2 weeks ago or so. Recentered the wheel and drove it a couple hundred miles. Truck drove perfectly. I installed the last piece, my Synergy tie rod this past weekend and took it in for an alignment this morning. Have to say, the measurements that RockKrawler gives you for your lIft arms to preset them to is absolutely dead on. My alignment guy came out after setting the truck up and getting started and said to me, Dam... other then a little adjustment to center your steering wheel perfectly it is dead on the numbers and right in spec. Caster was perfect and when I installed the tierod. I set it to the measurement I had rotor to rotor and added about 1/16" toe in.
Next step is to install my tires. Attached is my alignement sheet.

 

[jtad]

So got all my parts in for my 3" X Factor lift.. Sorted out all the parts today and started setting all the lengths per the instructions and noticed a couple of things. When reading the instructions there is a section that lists the torque settings for all the jam nuts. So I ordered a set of crow foot wrenches that range from 1" all the way to 1 1/2" and none of them fit any of the jam nuts and the ones on the lower control arms are bigger than 1 1/2" look to be somewhere around 39 or 40mm. Am I missing something here, anyone else run into this?

Also my no limits sway bar links show to start with them at 11", mine will only compress to 11 1/4" prob not a huge deal but still.

And lastly in the instructions there are no measurements for a starting point for the rear sway bar links. Anyone know where to start?

Oh anyone know what size hole saw to use to drill out the front upper control arm mounts?


A little update, spoke with RK and they advised that the sizing on the instructions refers to the diameter of the arm not the jam nut. So jam nut uppers and track bar are 1 5/16" and the lowers 1 7/8".

Also set the rear swab bar link to 13".

 

[Harold0819]

So got all my parts in for my 3" X Factor lift.. Sorted out all the parts today and started setting all the lengths per the instructions and noticed a couple of things. When reading the instructions there is a section that lists the torque settings for all the jam nuts. The biggest jam nut it talks about is 1 1/2" so I ordered a set of crowfoot wrenches based on that. Well none of my jam nuts are SAE, they are all metric and the ones on the lower control arms are bigger than 1 1/2" look to be somewhere around 39 or 40mm. Am I missing something here, anyone else run into this?

Also my no limits sway bar links show to start with them at 11", mine will only compress to 11 1/4" prob not a huge deal but still.

And lastly in the instructions there are no measurements for a starting point for the rear sway bar links. Anyone know where to start?

Oh anyone know what size hole saw to use to drill out the front upper control arm mounts?

I used SAE crowsfeet for the jam nuts.. They are big, I think the big ones were 1 5/8". I have a large 1/2" drive set that goes up to 2". Bought it online off Amazon, worked great. Here is the link.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YYVTR1V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I had no problems getting my front links to 11" and actually could of got them shorter. Message or call RockKrawler to be sure you got the correct links.

The rear links are set to 13" long.


The hole saw for the front mounts you can use either 2" or 1 7/8" . I used 2". It cuts very easily. Then cleaned it up with a die grinder and painted it. You could use and angle grinder as well if you needed to.

Hope this helps

 

[jtad]

So started the install today of the my 3" X Factor, couple of things I've learned so far. First off I didn't have crowfoot wrenches to set the torque on the jam nuts. So I pre-read the instruction to figure out what I needed. In the instructions it list torque values for different size "jam-nuts" The sizes it list for jam nuts are not the size of the jam nut they are the size of the inner diameter of the shaft. So you will need 1 5/16" and 1 7/8". Secondly the instructions tell you to remove both the upper and lower front control arms all at the same time. If you do that you are going to have a hell of a time getting everything lined back up and get the bolts in the new ones. I would remove and replace them one at a time. Also after you get past the installation of the front upper and lower control arms the instructions tell you to install the shocks. Then at the bottom of that page you will find this...

**Note: If your OEM shock bolt runs into the control arms flip the lower shock hardware around.

Guess I should have pre-read the instructions better because that would have been super handy to know before I installed the lower control arms. So I wasted 30 mins removing the axle side bolt for each lower front control arm so I could bolt up my shock. And speaking of shocks I am using the RK shocks that came with the kit. Maybe I am missing something but the air valve on the top of the front shocks is useless, you can not access it once the shock is installed.

Otherwise pretty straight forward install. Spent about 7 1/2 hours doing the front today mostly by myself, wife came along and helped poke in some bolts while I shoved on the axle to get things to line up. Overall pretty happy with it so far maybe Andy can get the instructions updated with some helpful hints from some of the people of the forum that are doing installs.

I'll give some more feedback once I'm done with the rear.

 

[jtad]

Well got it finished up and the 37" Pro Comp's installed

 

[jtad]

I know I've already gone over this somewhat in a earlier post but I wanted to follow up. I ordered crow foot wrenches to torque all of the jam nuts. I ordered the wrenches based on what RK instructions say the jam nut sizes are.. Well that was wrong, so I called and talked to Andy at RK he told me the two bigger size jam nuts were 1 5/16" and 1 7/8" so I ordered another set of crow foot wrenches to accommodate that... Well those dont fit either.. I know other folks have chimed in on here and said that's what size theirs were.. There is no way to torque to 275 ftlbs with those size wrenches.. The nuts seem to be metric.. Every SAE wrench is either too small or too big.. If you bare down on them with a torque wrench and a crow foot the size RK says the nuts are you will round them off.. Surely I'm not the only one that has had this problem..

 

[Harold0819]

I know I've already gone over this somewhat in a earlier post but I wanted to follow up. I ordered crow foot wrenches to torque all of the jam nuts. I ordered the wrenches based on what RK instructions say the jam nut sizes are.. Well that was wrong, so I called and talked to Andy at RK he told me the two bigger size jam nuts were 1 5/16" and 1 7/8" so I ordered another set of crow foot wrenches to accommodate that... Well those dont fit either.. I know other folks have chimed in on here and said that's what size theirs were.. There is no way to torque to 275 ftlbs with those size wrenches.. The nuts seem to be metric.. Every SAE wrench is either too small or too big.. If you bare down on them with a torque wrench and a crow foot the size RK says the nuts are you will round them off.. Surely I'm not the only one that has had this problem..

I agree that my Crows feet had some play in them as well but I had no problem torqueing them and not rounding them off. Just made sure the crows foot was seated all the way on the jam nut. There is a lot of metal there to move and round it off, not an easy task. But, I pulled al my arms back out and torqued them in a vise, not in the vehicle, which makes seating the crows foot a lot easier. How did you torque yours?

 

[jtad]

I have them as tight as I could get them right now. 185, anymore than that I can jump the wrench off the shoulders of the nuts.. There is more than "a little' play in mine.. Those pics are with no force applied.

 

[mountainbum7]

What a world of difference the lift made. Love it. Took me a bit longer then most of you at just about 24 hours. But I did do it all alone on the floor of my garage. As with modding anything there will always be something that you are going to have to work through on a "bolt on" kit. Quality of the kit is exceptional though. It was a good weekend!

 

[Harold0819]

What a world of difference the lift made. Love it. Took me a bit longer then most of you at just about 24 hours. But I did do it all alone on the floor of my garage. As with modding anything there will always be something that you are going to have to work through on a "bolt on" kit. Quality of the kit is exceptional though. It was a good weekend!

Congrats brother!! Looks great!! Great color choice as well!!

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