Jeep Rough Country brand lift for LJ?

gijohn40

too poor to wheel... :(
Location
Layton, Utah
So I finally saved up enough to get a lift on the LJ... I looked around and found the rough country x-series is priced right and has more parts in it compared to others that I have looked at.

Does anyone have any experience with their lifts? Are they good quality or junk? I have looked at a few sites and no one carries their lifts that I can see...

So what am I missing?

http://www.roughcountry.com/jeep_tj_4x.html
 

Toad

Well-Known Member
Location
Millville(logan)
I have a buddy with a wholesale account with rough country. He uses them all the time. Last time he was in moab with me. He had a brand new track on his xj that failed two days into the trip. He has rolled that XJ and moved onto a ZJ. He had me install their 4 in long arm kit on that. By the time it was done I had dropped more f-bombs on that hunk of junk then I do all year. The quality and design sucked. I assume it is very close to what you are looking at for your LJ.

I have another buddy running a Tera kit on his LJ. I believe it is one of their LCG kits. Kit is probably 4 years old. Has been wheeled all over utah and colorado. When we were in moab in august he told me finally rebuilt some of his jonny joints.

Yes Tera is lots more than the Rough Country kit. But you get what you pay for.
 

TJDukit

I.Y.A.A.Y.A.S.
Location
Clearfield
I've never run anything from RC but every thread I have read about them on any forum talks about how terrible their joints are. There is a reason they are able to include all the parts at such a cheap price.
 

UFAB

Well-Known Member
Location
Lehi Ut
Weld up your trac bar mounts as well as bolting them. By looking at the pic it seems complete, even has sway bar stuff and dropped pitman.

Watch for the bushings, little cheaper made but work fine if you do the preventative maintenance.

The sway bar lower ball joint are a little weak, can always upgrade to a stud 1/2" heim assembly.

As for valving in the shocks, most house brands on the market today are all the same.

Make sure stock clevite OEM upper Front housing bushings are ok first before installing front upper control arms.



Good luck, that is a price grabber for sure...

UFAB can accommodate RME member special pricing as well.
 

Samersen

Active Member
Location
Heber City
I had a good buddy with a short arm are on his TJ as well. No issues! But it was a 4 1/2 inch and after a few months it settled down ended only being about 3 inch. Not knowing this when I bought my lift for my LJ I got the RE 4 1/2 think it would fit 33's perfect because it would settle down a bit. Needless to say it didn't and now my 33's look like donuts... I guess there are worse problems to have. :rofl: But I wouldn't suggest the RE control arms it sounds like I have squirles chattering under the Jeep when ever I drive. :rolleyes: And I am on my third set of bushings since Aug of 2010
 

mesha

By endurance we conquer
Location
A.F.
the price point for the Rough country lifts is really hard to beat. I have bought several lifts from them. Never a long arm, but I would imagine it would be the same. They were good for the first little while and then the springs started to sag really bad. To the point I had to replace them with new springs from another company. Then the bushings were bad and I had to replace them(rough country sent me those for free), but I had to replace them again because they wore out so fast. It was a cycle I repeated a few times with XJs, TJs, and even my other JK. I won't go that route again. That being said I have had some friends that didn't mind them at all. They didn't wheel as much as I did, so maybe that was the difference.

I would put a short arm from another company on my jeep before I put a long arm from RC on. If money was the main factor.
 
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gertsch

Well-Known Member
Location
West Bountiful
Rough country joints suck! Other then that my long arm on my zj has performed amazingly! I've bashed the crap out of the belly skid and the control arms themselves with out any issues. The joints wear out prematurely so those will need upgrade with currie joints, which is what everyone with a rough country lift does sooner or later.
 

OB1

Active Member
Location
West Point
I have a 4" RC short arm on my JK. It's been over a year and I haven't had any problems with it yet. I feel its a stiffer ride than stock and as soon as I win the lottery tonight I'll be switching to a Tera Flex long arm.:p I haven't wheeled it hard. But it has worked fine for now and haven't noticed any sagging in the springs yet.
 

skippy

Pretend Fabricator
Location
Tooele
I had a 2 inch rough country lift on my JK and it was the worst ridin thing I have ever rode in I installed a Teraflex long arm kit and it rides and handles amazing now. TeraFlex hands down is the best lift if money is an issue check out the rubicon express line up cheaper than TeraFlex but still better than rough cou try
 

gertsch

Well-Known Member
Location
West Bountiful
I've liked my Tera springs but they are super soft. My re springs are way stiffer and ride a bit rough. I've found that super lift springs to be the ideal ride quality on my old tj. I wish I had them on my zj. It all comes down to you though. What's your price range and are you willing to hold out and do it righ the first time? Or be like most of and constantly upgrading. Learn from most of us and maybe old out for awhile and get what you really want. If you can't wait then buy the rc lift but be prepared to upgrade what you might have to. If you want that much lift go long arms the ride quality is way better. My friend ran. 3.5" re lift on the tj for years it worked well. I installed a 4" Tera long arm last month and she loves it! Best bang for your buck. Skippy her got me a killer deal on it and if you know how to weld its a super easy install. So in my opinion long arm is the only way to go. The rc 4"x series is gonna ride terrible clunk within a few months cause of the bad control arm angles.
 

Cake

New Member
Location
Durango, Co
you get what you pay for. I got a good deal on a RC lift, and have kinda regretted it since. Leaf springs keep popping out, even on the new pair they sent me. They're hopefully sending out clips to keep them in. I got their 3" kit w/ LCAs, and they said they were the same LCAs they use on their 4" kit, but I feel they're almost too short for 3" based on the position my wheel is in the well. I had to add 1" spacers to the springs to level out the jeep, so I'm not sure if their coils are less than 3, or the leaf springs are more than 3".

As a cheap kit to get you lifted... meh.. ok, but I wouldn't count on it to keep you going. I probably wouldn't purchase their brand again, the only reason I did in the first place is because I got my Jeep with bald tires, and had to immediately put new ones on- if I'm replacing tires, I'm going bigger, and bigger needed a lift, quick and cheap.
 

gijohn40

too poor to wheel... :(
Location
Layton, Utah
Well ALLJEEP.Com came thru for me and got the Skyjacker 4 inch (short arm for now) kit and got it for me for just about the same price as Quadratec! It will be here sometime next week!

Any one need a transfer case drop bracket? lol
 

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