Alright I started this post so I can get a feel of what you guys think about our YJ kits, I know that in the past we had leaf spring problems but we have gone to a different manufacturer and they are giving us a much better quality spring. Let me hear the good, the bad, the ugly. I want to be the link that will let us know what the YJ community thinks we could improve and what you want in a kit.
I gotta ask the obvious question, and by doing so if it's answered with good pics, should help RC clear-up any confusion.
How about posting pics of the old leafs and the new leafs so folks can compare?
More specifically; leaf eye ends, all leaf tapers, all pads, all retainer clips & approx locations. This will allow folks to see how improvements have been made and help clarify if folks have the older design or the newer.
I started working fulltime in the off-road industry ~31 years ago, and RC was about our only competitor.
I gotta ask the obvious question, and by doing so if it's answered with good pics, should help RC clear-up any confusion.
How about posting pics of the old leafs and the new leafs so folks can compare?
More specifically; leaf eye ends, all leaf tapers, all pads, all retainer clips & approx locations. This will allow folks to see how improvements have been made and help clarify if folks have the older design or the newer.
I started working fulltime in the off-road industry ~31 years ago, and RC was about our only competitor.
ok, you want the bad and the ugly? You'll get it. I made the mistake of purchasing a Rough Country 4" lift kit as my first lift back when i first lifted the Jeep. It ended up being the worst mistake of my life and cost me an arm and a leg in the long run. Not two weeks after installing the lift I started blowing rear u-joints like once a week. After talking to some people we determined this was happening because of the weak rear springs wrapping way too much. the springs would wrap and boom i'd blow a u-joint. this of course led to the eventual failure of my transfer case and having to buy a whole new t-case.
Next issue, not three weeks after installing the kit i was on a mild trail and noticed that hey, the front leaf shouldn't look like this
completely bent for no apparent reason. When I called you guys about a warranty replacement you flat out told me that your "warranty" (don't make me laugh) does not cover damage resulting from use of your products, but you would be more than happy to sell me another spring for 85 bucks plus shipping. I stupidly said fine and paid you more money. Only to have the same spring bend again about a month later. then bent the other front spring not long after that.
My next shock at the horrid quality of your products came in the spring. A buddy had blown out his rear diff so I had him on a strap and was towing him to the trail head. we were climbing a very mild rocky hill when all of a sudden i hear a loud clang! Low and behold I get out and see two broken pieces of leaf spring. One of the middle leaves in the pack had snapped in half at the centering pin and shot out the back of the YJ. Now one side was sagging. Not 5 minutes later the same thing happened on the other side. Only this time one of the chunks of spring had stayed lodged in there and gouged a nice deep ring around the entire diameter of my $175 35" tire. So now i had to replace an expensive tire thanks to your crappy workmanship. I ordered one of your add a leaf kits to replace the broken leaves and it was ok for a while. until going down a sandy wash and gee, look at that, same damn thing. both the add a leafs snapped in half.
At this point i was completely fed up. So I called Rubicon Express and bought their 4" lift kit so I could throw every single piece of crap i had gotten from you in the trash. I almost boxed all the broken rusted pieces up and shipped them back to you but i decided i had wasted enough money on you so I just took em to the scrap yard and got a few bucks out of the scrap metal instead.
To this day I have never had a single problem with my Rubicon Express lift kit. It rides a thousand times better than your crap ever did, it has never bent or broken or caused untold amounts of damage to other parts of my rig and overall i am very happy i went with Rubicon Express. Wish I had from the start instead of wasting a lot of time and money on your garbage. I still to this day recommend that everyone steers very clear of your company and your products and will continue to do so. I will never spend another penny with your company and will try my hardest to make sure others don't waste their time and money on your garbage either.
What was the cost fo the Rubicon Express kit? Anyone had problems with the Rubican Express kits? I was quoted about $500 by RC for their lift shipped to my door, I found the RE 4" lift for 819 online, for an extra $300 I would definitely get it to avoid all the other issues the previous poster had
I paid 620 for my RE Standard Duty 4" shipped to my door. I have never had a single problem with my Rubicon Express components. I'd spend the extra dough on Rubicon Express any day over wasting my hard earned money on any more Rough Country garbage
Now i've spent a bit of time coming my files looking for pictures of all the damaged springs. Unfortunately i could only find these as this was more than a few years ago now. they are all of the first bent spring. which btw i e-mailed to RC when it happened when i was trying to get them to honor their supposed warranty and they told me tough ****.
i did indeed bend a total of 4 front springs. after i replaced the first pair i stopped bothering. i just ran the second pair of front springs bent until i bought the Rubicon Express Lift. the broken rear, like i said, the first pair when i called about a warranty they once again told me i was SOL but they would gladly sell me another pair for 85 bucks each plus shipping. Since only one leaf per pack had broken i just ordered their add a leaf kit instead to replace the broken leaf in the packs. then about two months later those broke too. at that point i had two bent front springs and two busted rears. I was tired of wasting money on RCs garbage so I went ahead and ordered the Rubicon Express Kit. Like I said i was half tempted to ship all the broken rusted crap back to Rough Country but decided i had wasted enough money on their garbage.
Hate me if you want but i speak the truth. I had NOTHING but problems with their POS lift kit. I ordered the RE 4" to replace it and have never had a single problem since like what i had with the rough country crap. And I wheel much more extreme terrain and I am much harder on my YJ these days.
THIS is what QUALITY lift springs are supposed to look like.
my RE kit has not sagged at all. I have never bent a spring. I have never broken a spring. It rides a thousand times better and flexes a thousand times better than the RC lift ever did.
VERDICT: DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON ANYTHING THIS GUY IS SELLING!
We do honor our warranty we just don't cover customer abuse.
Copied out of the warranty statement....
(3) Products or components which have been subjected to abuse, accident, alteration, modification, improper installation, tampering, negligence, misuse, installed on a vehicle used in sanctioned racing events
I can say that my front spring looks the same.. well i bent it back till spring but yes mine looks that way. However I think my shackle got hung on a rock. I am not a sales rep, I do not make money from saying this. I would buy this kit again! And green yj your more than welcome to wheel with me! lol j/k.. At least he is here answering questions and taking the time. Where are the rubicon reps? However once again please add the leaf bolts for us rusty states!
I personally cant wait till I have the money to order the 6" RC lift! I have friends who run the RC kits and have never heard anything bad come from their mouths!
I have rc springs on now, i have had problems with them saging, but every time i sent pictures of the springs they send new springs out, sucks haveing to change springs so much but they do stand behind there springs.
This is interesting. When did the lifetime warranty start? I ordered my springs direct from RC 3 or 4 years ago and new shackles about a year after that. Shortly after the new shackles went on and just over a year of spring installation, one of my spings bent. I was told the warranty was only for one year. To make it worse I was then told they no longer manufacture my spring. They stopped making the 3" and went to the 4", but would gladly send me 4" srping at cost. Like that would help. Say what you want but I feel I got the short end of the stick.
I think it is a kinda you get what you pay for type of thing..... I would have no issues with a RC kit since I dont generally abuse my rigs off road. If I had a Jeep that was being built for some severe abuse I would probably pony up for a better quality product. I also wouldnt expect a company to cover the cost of repairing my rig if I broke it.... Maybe its just me but I have the mind set of you gotta pay to play. Dont race on sunday what has to take you to work on monday.
I think it is a kinda you get what you pay for type of thing..... I would have no issues with a RC kit since I don't generally abuse my rigs off road. If I had a Jeep that was being built for some severe abuse I would probably pony up for a better quality product. I also wouldn't expect a company to cover the cost of repairing my rig if I broke it.... Maybe its just me but I have the mind set of you gotta pay to play. Don't race on Sunday what has to take you to work on Monday.
I totally agree. I have the new KIT from RC and I really cannot complain. It is up to you. Beat it to death and take what comes. But from what I have been reading they are taking care of business and will continue to get my business.
I would like to know what the defaniton of abuse is as stated in the warranty? People are buying these from an offroad parts distributor with the intent of offroad use and they are sold for the same.
Copied from the RC home page.......
"Our lift kits are designed with the installer in mind and ease of installation as well as on and off road performance." This is from the RC home page.
Copied out of the warranty statement....
(3) Products or components which have been subjected to abuse, accident, alteration, modification, improper installation, tampering, negligence, misuse, installed on a vehicle used in sanctioned racing events
When a kit goes through the warranty process we require pictures of the product so we can determine if it is covered. A bent spring like the ones above will not be warrantied because it is not a product failure it is customer abuse. A spring that is sagging will be covered under the warranty. I am not on here to tell you I am the king of all lift companies and all other kits suck, I am on here to let you know that we do have a great quality kit for a great price and great customer service to back it all up.
I am not on here to tell you I am the king of all lift companies and all other kits suck, I am on here to let you know that we do have a great quality kit for a great price and great customer service to back it all up.
I had a RC 4" lift on my 93 wrangler... I would beat it up every weekend and never had sag or a bent spring... I'm sure if you baja any suspension it's going to bend...
I am planning on ordering your 1.5" kit either tomorrow or Saturday. I do have a question for you. As was stated before about those "Huge" shackles. Those look to be the Performance Accessories 1.25" lift shackles. Correct me if I am wrong. It was stated that they may have been the cause of the bent spring. I am planning on running a set of 1" lift shackles with this 1.5" kit. If these "Huge" shackles are what is causing the bent springs then either yall need to acknowledge that and fix it or I need to look elsewhere. People are going to run lift shackles just due to the fact that is a cheap and easy way to gain a inch, and if yall's springs can't take that then you either need to make that clear to the consumer or address the issue. Just my 2 cents though. Please let me know if these shackles are going to cause my springs to bend, sag, or anything at all.
Thanks
Robbie
1. The 1" lift shackles are 2 inches longer that stock(6" instead of 4"). This effects the castor anglewhich can affect steering.
2. Kickback. Any standard shackle can kickback. This happens when the axle droops to the point where the shackle is verticle. with the right forces on the axle, the shackle may pop back in the wrong direction horizontal to the frame. This forces the spring back, but since the rear is mounted to the frame, it cannot move, thus the spring must give way.
I do not see that it has anything to do with the lift MFGs to "disclose" anything about the shackles.
Your best bet is to get Boomerang shackles (AKA, anti-kickback).
I just got my new RC lift on a few weeks ago and have to say that so far I love it. Mine rides better than my factory suspension, but that could be due to many things. All in all so far I am impressed.
Since I got my jeep, I had originally planned on getting either the rubicon express or the black diamond 4" lift, and hadn't considered RC due to past comments about sagging. However, after reading and following this thread, I think I'll be ordering the RC 4" when that time/money comes around!
I may have missed it but what about the 6" kits. I have this kit going on my 92 yj as we speak.......
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