XJIrish4x4

Valid points and no I'm not naive. That is why I will never pay anyone at any shop to do things for me. I do all my work on all my vehicles even if I don't know how I will learn how. I simply do not trust anyone with any of my vehicles. I'm a mechanic by hobby not trade but I know enough around the garage and the internet is a huge asset. Aside from that I will never ever take my vehicles to a shop to have work done unless I absolutely have no other way. Then when I do I will scrutinize the **** out of them on exactly what they are doing and always always try to watch if possible.

XJIrish4x4

For the record I'm not arguing that rough country does not have a bad name for valid reasons. I just wanted to know what exactly was the claim? What caused everyone to get a bad taste in their mouth for this company and their products? My personal experiences were that I had "0" issues and I have stated that a # of times. I just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts. I'm doing some research now just becuase I don't want folks to have to repeat what they have said over and over wasting peoples time.

Rough Country is a budget kit for the average person. Not necessarily the right kit for the hardcore user!

SatiricalHen

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. He could probably use drop brackets, but at that point why not just go long arms? its another failure point. I try to keep things as simple as possible. when you have multiple components things fail more easily. If you could run a pipe with 3 or 4 joints or just 2 but cost a little more, do you want more points of failure and leakage or spend a touch more and not have to worry as much?

XJIrish4x4

I couldn't agree with you more! I learned that going out and buying my RE 4.5" kit knowing people have told me go long arms go long arms. I didn't listen bought the kit I thought was right at the time for the price and then ended up going long arms later. Only because I got a good deal on them I really didn't waste too much money. That does not work every time.

I really had no idea if the drop brackets would work effectively so I was kind of asking for him and just the knowledge of knowing.

SatiricalHen

I'm also not arguing just stating my experience and stance on the matter. I used to support rough country too, but I realized I was being stubborn and the kit was in fact falling apart. The bushings, springs and shocks all wore out while it was still a daily driver, wheeled a couple of times never very seriously though. When I got to college though, I met Clemson Offroad and then I started beating it and pushing limits and it just got worse. So far the new components I've replaced the rough country with have held up. I have wheeled 4 trips very hard with them with no real issues yet. The Rubicon express springs I'm running were also run on a Cherokee before mine, and judging by the body it was beat pretty hard.

XJIrish4x4

Good points again and maybe after I run mine a few times I will find out it does not hold up. Hopefully that is not the case costing me more in the long run but then I guess I will have learned my lesson and move on to another brand. I have heard many good things about RE so I do plan to put those springs in my XJ soon.I already have RE leafs ready to go in this weekend I hope.

NewKindOfClown

Rough Country sells badly engineered products to people who don't know better, and then sells them cures to fix the flaws in their engineering

For example:
Do some research on their 4.5" leaf springs and look at how many years they've been selling a product that doesn't fit correctly. The leaf packs are too short, so they up-sell their shackle relocation brackets instead of redesigning them.


They're also flat dishonest. I needed leaf spring shims for my Wrangler, and I wanted steel shims. Their website was unclear, so I called RC and asked about them.

"They're steel with Grade 8 centering bolts."
"Do you sell aluminum shims, or are they all steel? I don't want a mix up."
"All of our shims are steel, no worries."

They shipped me aluminum shims and then told me it was my fault because they don't even offer steel ones. "Well, at least I have new centering bolts. How could they **** up a bolt?", I thought. Wrong. The threads completely stripped off of both bolts before the leaf packs were even snug.


If people want to support them, that's fine. They'll never get my money again

XJIrish4x4

Noted and thanks for your reply with personal experience. The only rough country product on my XJ now is the long arms and cross member with side braces. Everything else associated with my lift will be RE or another brand such as IRO or others. I will defiantly post back my thoughts on the arms once I get a chance to play with them.

Martlor13

That's not really a good argument imo. And besides installing lifts is like a secondary thing. We are a tire shop first and foremost. As long as we have a good reputation there, we are good because that's what we are known for... and I do warn everyone about RC before they commit. They know all pros and cons before anything.

XJIrish4x4

Like I said people will buy what they want no matter what you tell them. I could not do that if I ran a buisness and maybe that would put me out of buisness but just not something I would do. I would find a way to become a dealer for another reputable product on the market. I get it though it happens and nothing anyone can do about it.

Martlor13

I'm not the owner so I only get to make recommendations...but we are a dealer for a few others as well. Rough country is just the most popular because it's cheap an people want a lift cheap hahah.

XJIrish4x4

Okay so from your personal experience installing these on customers vehicles what have you found defective about them? Now I understand they make kits for all types of applications but what is the going trend you see that people come back complaining about and end up going with something else?

Sicknessiv95

Martlor13

parts not fitting upon installation is a big one. And then trying to get them to send a new, correct fitting part is a nightmare...Their bushings are notorious for premature wear. Their control arms are a weak point on truck applications as well. Their ride once installed is also a common complaint. The company name includes the word rough, and man are their kits rough riding compared to nearly all other companies. That is probably the biggest thing i hear from customers...for comparisons sake, we also are a dealer for superlift. They are low to mid range lifts. The ride comparison is night and day.

Basslicks

I have that same lift. Do yourself a favor and ditch the overload leafs (the short, straight ones) or you'll have virtually NO suspension uptravel in the rear.