Outlaw Star

Alright, we all have our favorite brand of suspension each of us use, a majority of us even have mix-matched components. That being said, every so often someone asks for lift kits or components and just about EVERY response is CRAP this, CRAP that, if you dont buy Brand XXX it's CRAP!

People come here to learn and ask things they don't know. Most of us have been here long enough to know each lift companies Pro's and Cons. So if someone asks about a certain brand component, help explain what component is bad. IE: "The control arm bushings on XXX Brand are known to go bad." "The springs are too stiff/soft on XXX Brand."

Giving them the pros and cons of each will help most of these newcomers to even piece together the best components for their needs. "I don't rock crawl so no LA kit needed."..."Ok, here's some good brands of short arms for you..."

Remember, not every rig is a rockcrawler or trail blazer or mud monster. "Help to educate, not just regurgitate."

Outlaw Star

I'll give you an example. I needed adjustable control arms for my MJ. The price of the RC X-flex arms was the lowest. I got advice and reviews from various members here about the joints wearing quickly, so I shopped around and got 4 regular rubber bushing ends that screwed right in at a great price. Now with the cost of all four arms and the ends I replaced, I still saved almost 100 bucks that can now be used for other upgrades.
I owe that thanks to those members for actually pointing out, from real experience, the defect of a product.

Rogue4x4

Well stated.

I had more than one bad experience with RC Xflex short arms...the bushings were absolute garbage, replaced many times, but that was not my only issue with them. They came disassembled, which is fine, but right out of the box, the bushing ends would NOT thread into the arms. They sent me out another set, and they had the same issue. Contacted again, and they tried to blame me for cross-threading them during install, and told me to pound sand. I was in a bind, so picked up a tap and die, and cleaned up the damn threads myself, cost me extra for tooling, cost me time, and cost me my sanity. Maybe if they assembled at the factory before shipping, they might have caught it. But that lack of quality control is what you get when paying for "budget" parts, I suppose. Live and learn.

"BUY QUALITY, CRY ONCE"

Martlor13

I honestly have not seen "crap this and crap that" except for RC...overwhelming majority of the time the advice is just to skip over them and then recommendations for other companies are given. I mean I guess we can go into detail about why to not go with them, but honestly, to me just stating that their cheaply made products suffices. Other then that, I think the forum does a good job.

where I work we used to be rc dealers, then stopped because of numerous complaints, then got back recently for the budget crowd. Seeing first hand, most people that come in new to lifts and asking questions wouldn't be able to even change the bushings in the control arms like you did and instead would have to pay. So really it wouldn't be cheaper, but I do get what your saying about saying why a product is bad and the improvement needed, and letting them decide if they can do it or not.

Martlor13

this X2....alot of people may regurgitate what they hear about RC and tell others to stay away.. but actually seeing the products frequently I can honestly say that their product's are crap, a lot of the time having fitment issues as well as the known product failures. It's just like the 0331 heads...most of us have never had an 00-01 and have never had to deal with a cracked head... but we all know the issues with it and warn others..same thing applies here imo.

Outlaw Star

Yes, help explain then they can make their choice.

Rogue4x4

A lot of people out there do jump on the bandwagon, though, they just say XXXX is garbage, but don't say WHY it's garbage...then it usually turns out to be an REO Speedwagon song...heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend whoo-oo

LOL

Cane

to add to this, i'm in the market for a long arm kit. rough country is the only one that is close to reasonable in price, all the B Lee and other smaller companies that make arguably better quality products would end up costing almost twice RC price because of currency exchagne and shipping here to canada.

so back to RC long arms, the downside seems to be the flex joints, so after some research you can buy johnny joints that screw right in and don't blow after 6 months. i haven't bought anything yet, but right now that's probably what I'm going to do.

the only issues i've had with RC is the leaf springs and the heim joint on the adjustable track bar. replaced the springs with RE and replacing the heim isn't that big of an issue.

Rogue4x4

Like Lee, you have done your due diligence in researching the product, finding the weak spots, and locating alternatives to those problems. Nothing wrong with that, LOL...lots of people don't do this, they see a shiny, then look at the price, and click.

Nothing wrong with mixing and matching parts/components...just do your homework.

rcguymike

What about IRO? Only complaint I hear is the adjusting cam(never seen or heard of a failure), and you can just upgrade to the adjustable arm for $100 and get rid of it(my current plans).

mrshaft696

Call currie they will tell you which ends screw right in there, did it on mine.

beedee

Well said. I'm brand new to the XJ world (still have my Pro-4X Xterra) and have been researching lift kits and brands and have come across the same thing as stated in the OP, this brand is crap, that brand is crap, etc.. It is tiring, and I have no clue really of which brand to go with.

I don't plan on crawling, but I'll be hitting up some moderate trails in our local SoCal mountains and deserts. I do want 3" and will go with 31x10.5x15 tires. My XJ is not my daily and I'll be hitting dirt at least once or twice a month with it. I'm pretty much at a loss at which kit to go with.

Jooman07

Rusty's is pretty much my go-to recently. I started with the Trail Master kit from 4wd Hardware and learned real quick you get what you pay for. I'm not gonna lie though, I do have a few RC parts on mine currently but they were bought with a budget in mind. I currently have their adjustable track bar and their rear shock flag nuts. Both parts I've had to had something replaced not long after it was installed. The tie rod on the track bar wore out within maybe 1000 miles and on the flag nuts one of them wasn't welded straight so I wasn't able to bolt them in correctly. However, all it took was one phone call and a replacement was on the way no questions asked.

That being said, will probably stay away from them still due to both parts having issues from the get-go. Their quality control seems to be really sub-par.

Since installing the Trail Master kit with an aal I've replaced every component of that lift except for the LCAs which are soon to be replaced as well. I've mixed and matched with different companies. Pro-Comp for my leaf springs, Rusty's for my front coils, rear shackles and HD tie rod, Skyjacker for my shocks.

I can see why RC appeals to most people getting into wheeling. It happened to me and I learned from it.

4WD4EVER

Interesting thread OS.

I wasn't particularly fond of the Crown HD leafs as an oem replacement for the sacked-out original leafs on my '98. They sagged too much, too soon (1 trip to Az from Tx w/~600lbs passengers & cargo).

I also wasn't fond of the 3" Rusty's coils I had on it at the same time. Seemed to rebound too slowly for my tastes. I like when the wheels stay planted and give confident control at the steering wheel.

Having said this, I wonder how much of it had to do with matching them w/ Bilstein 5100's? The RE leafs and coils (w/ ZJ rate) work much better together w/ the Bilsteins for me and my expectations.

jbennett

My only experience has been with an IRO long arm kit on my previous XJ. I am now installing a CavFab 3-link on my current XJ.

My complaint with the IRO set up is they use the stock crossmember bolts, which are 14mm. Well, the joints they use are 9/16" I.D. so the 14mm are sloppy and they are necked down as well, which make for even more slop. I tightened them down as much as I could and the arms would still move back and forth at the crossmember. They would move back and forth when in 4x4 as the front axle loads and unloads. Not sure if there is an easy fix for it, the 14mm nut is welded to the crossmember, so you can't use a 9/16" bolt. Poor design I guess.

My only complaint with CavFab so far is poor communication and they don't seem to include all parts in their shipments. Can't speak for the actual kit itself as I can't install it yet. Initial impressions are that it will be excellent, but no way to know for sure until it's in the rocks and abused, that's a few months away for me unfortunately.

So far I would choose the CavFab kit over the IRO by a huge margin. I wouldn't even consider the IRO kit to be honest. It flexed very well, but the sloppy fit just can't be ignored.

By the way, same problem with their shackles, they are meant to work with 14mm bolts to the leaf spring, yet are almost 9/16" I.D. bushings. I say almost because a 9/16" bolt won't fit through the bushing. Easy solution is order the correct bushings from WFO, you just have to shave maybe 1/16-1/8" off the length and then you can use 9/16" bolts with no slop. Easy fix, but poor design on IRO's part. I've had two sets of their shackles, so it wasn't an isolated incident, I'm sure it's just their design.