I had parts of Rusty's 4.5" short arm kit on my XJ. Have put roughly 8000 miles on the kit. In that time I've wheeled Moab twice with it. Outcome: All bushings on the control arms are shot (but I did upgrade to long arms last week, just not Rusty's). All bushings in rear leafs are completely shot to being almost non existant. Trac bar, total garbage. For quality sakes, I'll never buy another Rusty's product, though unfortunately I do (did) have to keep buying the leaf bushings from him because he uses non stock sizes that don't cross reference very well into aftermarket poly bushings that can be bought cheaper. The actual arms and leafs themselves are OK, just the bushings suck. But quality speaks tons when it comes to how fast stuff wears out and how soon or often you're gonna be raplacing those parts and suffering from their effects when worn.
That said, your kit is obviously different, but I'd expect the same issues if I were looking to buy thier kit for my TJ, and I'd pass. Hindsight being 20/20 and all.
Then again, on the flip side. Xtreme 4x4 built the Scout with Rusty's JK long arm kit (might have been the TJ kit), and puts its arms against the rocks a few times while wheeling without damage. So again, the metal isn't the issue, but only time will tell if the bushings will wear at an accelerated pace.
As well, I have a friend who installed the XJ long arm upgrade kit from Rusty's on his XJ. So far, no issues other than at 4.5" of lift he hits the uniframe with the arms on compression. The kit is designed for 4.5+ inches of lift so it might just be a bumpstop issue for him.
Asking for opinions though on kits you're gonna get the guys who love and hate them. I was told to steer clear of Rusty's before I bought. I should have listened.
also what do you think on arm style ? standard or high clearance ?
