CherokeeMan96

ive already priced out a rough country lift but ended up in advance auto, (i prefer autozone) but i ended up askin the guy what a 4.4inch sus lift would cost n he started spoutin bs about skyjacker n all these expensive brands and i said i had looked into roughcountry and he was goin on about the more namebrand the kit, the easier it would be to put on and the cheaper alignments would be n all. i sat and humored him n everything n held my tounge cause ive heard good things about roughcounty and im kinda cheap, and i guess just got to kinda thinkin and was wondering what yalls opinoin on the matter was, is quality that big an issue with different namebrand kits, obviously yes in some respects, but in general.

ZachsXJ

I've heard plenty of good things about Rough Country kits. Thats what me and all my buddies run. They're reasonably priced but make good stuff. can't beat that.

trapper

It should be good.. just dont go above 4 inch and 33s unless you want to get into some big $ proactive maintenance... I went big and have been told that I will break it first time out unless I fix the weak points.. saving and fixing bit by bit has cost me more time than I care to admit.. I am cheap... but I went with Rubicon Express Long Arm b/c it's articulation scores outperformed everything else out on the market at the time.. or at least that what I found back then..

At 4 inches you wont get a long arm kit i dont think.. but Long Arm kits nearly double wheel travel so... I guess you gotta pay to play.. but if you never had one you would never know the difference anyway.. pay half the price.. and increase your performance form stock or near stock...

sounds like a win win

CherokeeMan96

thats what im sayin, ive always heard good thing about RC lifts, i just didnt wanna get into something thatll cost me more money down the line, i figure 4.5 is as high as im gonna lift it while shes my daily driver, anything over that is just gonna be a pain in the as with tires and gas. plus id be more apt to break stuff from doin dumb things with er, not that i dont already haha. are there any specific issues with rc liftkits, even small stuff just to know about

builtnotbought89'

I've installed both the RE & RC kits & neither were all that bad!!! If I had to do it again to my rig I'd go RC 4.5"

Hylander

I have had Rough Country and Tough Country on two previous XJ's
No complaints, both were just fine.
That being said I went RE this time and the quality is a step up but so is the price, well over double the price.
I would recommend going with full Leaf Packs whichever brand you get.

CherokeeMan96

deff goin withthe full leaf packs, i know sometimes when you put a lift on the back end will sag, i have gabriel airshocks on now, could i keep those with the lift or would the stretch be too much you think, in case my back does sag, cause those airshocks are great for fixin that

TrekkerJmm

I'm running "Zone 3 inch/RC 1/3/4 BB" and couldn't be happier. The Zone kit is made up from other lift kit companies so its good quality. I have had mine in now for almost a year and it only came down from 4 1/4 installed to 3 1/4 after a year...Tj

Desert Rat

My 2 cents. I've run Skyjacker lifts on my last two XJ's. They ride great on and off road, relatively easy install as well.

Chumperdink

Hello all. I am looking to install a rough country kit with 8000 gas shocks. Do any of you know of, or have a how to on extracting the current suspension out, and putting the Rough Country. This Jeep is my work horse and beater so I am not looking to spend tons of money. The lift Kit will be the 1.5 inch kit as well. Any advice or expertise would be greatly appreciated.

98 JeepJeep

RC has there new 4.5 And 6.5" LCA kits out....

blkcherokee

i have a the RC 3in on my 98 2 wheel drive XJ an i am debating on the RC 4.5 short arm for my 93 4x4 XJ just because i dont have the money for the long arm i have had my 98 now for a yr an i will stand behind RC the kits are nice

whowey

The concern with Rough Country always has been how complete is their kit and the short-cuts they take with them. At 4.5" you will need to address the track-bar. Do they use a HD style track-bar or do they cheap out and use a factory style TRE bar, or even worse use a drop bracket.

How do they address brake lines, sway bar, lower control arms, extended bumpstops, is there any way in the kit to address rear drive line vibrations(IE: SYE, T-case drop). These are all questions you need to address before you even think of buying let alone installing ANY lift kit on your Jeep.

ZachsXJ

Thats also very very dependent on which kit you buy and how much you're willing to spend. Rough Country isn't any worse than all the other manufacturers out there. They all have their downfalls and unless you plan on shelling out an arm and a leg they will all have a downside. At 4.5" RC doesn't offer a track bar, but for not much more you can easily buy an adjustable track bar from rusty's or some other vendor.

For the 4.5 Series X kit from RC:
they use brake line drop brackets. I can't say if they're long enough but I'd assume they work fine if RC offers them with the kit.
They include new LCAs with Poly bushings at the axle mounts and flex-joints at the body mounts.
Nobody that I've seen offers extended bumpstops as part of a standard lift kit. Its a regularly over-looked thing by many people so few people sell them because there's not much demand.(and those who do care usually use the hockey-puck method)
For the sway bar, RC has fantastic Gen2 disconnects that I've heard nothing but good things about. From what I know they're adjustable for 3" of lift all the way up to 6.5"
Last but not least, RC includes a T-case drop kit. As does most everyone else. Its a band-aide plain and simple. If you have driveline vibs then a SYE with driveshaft is the only right way to do things. thats also a significant investment at a minimum of $400.

If you want to compare manufacturers, they're about even for the price you pay. and with most you generally get products of similar quality. Thats just how it is.
If you truly want to do things the right way, the best thing to do is buy a kit from someone, and then buy all the add-ons that really should be there but aren't.(HD steering, track-bar, SYE and a set of good shocks)

rdeskater

my RC 4.5" x-series kit with full rear packs came with EVERYTHING you need to install it. brake line relocation brackets, I went with nitro 9000 shock upgrade and the big bore steering stabilizer (for 25 a piece you cant go wrong) I couldnt be happier with the kit and ease of installation. do yourself a favor and buy a couple of cans of pb blaster and start lubing every component you will be taking apart, it'll save alot of headaches. as far as the trac bar goes order one of those too. rough country will tell you to use the stock one and drill a hole 3/4" over from the existing mounting point on the axle, kind of a temporary fix till you do get a HD trac bar.