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Un biased cheap lift review coming soon from a seasoned Jeeper

22K views 146 replies 45 participants last post by  shaggyjim 
#1 ·
Ok guys. I figured I'll help out the f12 crew and give a unbiased review of a entry level kit. In a couple of weeks I will be ordering a 4" lift for my 89 which is currently stock. I will be choosing one of the 3 following lifts

1. Rough Country
2. Zone
3. Superlift 3.5"

The tires I will be using are the 33x10.50 BFG KM2's off my XJ since my wife does not like them on road in snow and I am replacing them with Duratracs so there is no sense in wasting a set of tires with 10k miles on them. I will also be throwing in a set of 4 banger axles with 4:10's and possibly front/rear Spartans lockers.

Keep in mind I have run very good setups on my 95 so I will be giving an honest assessment asfar as bang for the buck

On my 95 I ran a 3.5" Rustys lift which failed after a month. It was replaced with a 4.5" Re lift W/ Bilstein 5100's. I ran that for years. Then I replaced the RE springs with a set of Alcan springs so I know what I can get out of a quality lift asfar as ride and performance.

If I could afford to go Alcan again I would but being a home owner, and having 2 kids with 1/2 the income as I made a few years ago I simply can not afford that anymore. This building the smurf on a ramen noodle and steel reserve budget. Vs a Filet Mignon and Top shelf Bourbon budget
 
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#2 ·
Sounds great! I have heard really good things about Zone Offroad. From what I hear, they are a sister company to BDS. I personally would gravitate in that direction due to how many positive reviews I have read about their kits but looking forward to seeing your decision.

Obviously we have probably all heard things about rough county, but I have not heard much about the superlift yj lift kits.
 
#3 ·
Un biased cheap lift review comming soon from a seasoned Jeeper

Sounds great! I have heard really good things about Zone Offroad. From what I hear, they are a sister company to BDS. I personally would gravitate in that direction due to how many positive reviews I have read about their kits but looking forward to seeing your decision.

Obviously we have probably all heard things about rough county, but I have not heard much about the superlift yj lift kits.
You are correct Zone is indeed a sister company to BDS (both are owned by sport truck USA) however each company is run independently and has their own R&D department.

RC has said to have improved over the last few years and have a great warranty. And the most economical of the 3 I am really leaning towards the RC cause I can get it to my door for $400 vs 600 for zone and Superlift is about $ 620 with decent shocks

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#4 ·
I'm glad you clarified the Zone/BDS thing. I just read it in another thread this morning. It bugs me when people always say that they are "sister companies" so you are getting the same spring for less. That is not true.

I received this (in part) from Steve at Sport Truck USA when I inquired about Zone and BDS:

Zone and BDS are considered sister suspension companies being we're both owned by the same parent company, Sport Truck USA, however, we do operate as separate divisions in different markets. BDS does not make our parts as we have our own engineering team and design philosophy to achieve such aggressively priced, quality products, but we do share a similar mindset to BDS when it comes to engineering and designing a quality kit that performs well while utilizing as many American made components in all our products as possible. BDS offers their lifetime no fine print warranty whereas we offer a more industry standard limited lifetime warranty, though we do have an extremely low warranty claim rate on all our products so kit/part issues and failures are certainly not a common topic for us. Our limited lifetime warranty essentially covers manufacturer defects while we do look at each issue on a case by case basis. We started up Zone about 8 years ago to compete with the other brands offering a similar price point while our goal has always been to offer better quality and performing, as American made as possible, parts while keeping our price similar to the other affordable brands out there. BDS typically competes with the more premium product brands and are typically known for their lifetime no fine print warranty and including more "bells and whistles" in their kits. We typically compete with the other affordable brands while avoiding including "bells and whistle" type components that most customers don't need and don't want to be forced to pay for.
 
#6 ·
I agree.. rough country leaf springs are not what you want. I cant say anything about coils because I don't run them. Their leaf springs sag quickly. Yes they have a warranty but how many times do you want to mess around changing springs before you just say effit and get a different brand of springs.
 
#8 ·
Ive had the old RC Lift and the New RC Lift and i have to say that the New one is MUCH Nicer Alot Softer ride and seems to flex much better. One thing i would like to try is to replace the shocks i feel if i do It will be even better of a ride. The shocks that come with it are Super Stiff it took me and a friend to compress them by hand
 
#9 ·
I may be a Guinea pig and try their new 4.5" Kit with the Military wrapped springs .....

Either way It's going to be a complete Honest assessment. My YJ is going to be more of a DD then trail rig anyway considering my XJ already has plenty of armor, rock rash, its locked and has a 100" wheelbase. Now lets not turn this into a Bashing thread I figured I would be a great candidate to make an honest assessment considering I've ran different quality lifts on a YJ so I can give an honest judgement
 
#14 ·
Richard_ said:
I was hoping you would lean towards the Zone kit , we have heard a lot of negative about RC , it would be nice to hear about an inexpesive alterantive
Which is why it's a contender in the mix. I PMed zone about prices shipped with a JF discount they have not replied yet
 
#20 ·
The_Goob said:
When I was looking I thought the zone springs were around $70-75 a corner. are you getting the whole kit or piecing it together?
That is kit price May piece it to save money since I only need springs, bushings, shocks, dpa, u bolts. I'm doing a 1" mml in place of tcase drop
 
#21 ·
Those mil wrapped springs look pretty nice, and the complete kit w/ shackles, shocks, brake lines, etc is a nice price. My only issue is (and not speaking from experience, just from pics I've seen posted) that the RC springs seem to be too short. Most rigs I've seen with them almost seem to have a slightly shorter than stock wheelbase, and the shackle angle is never better than vertical. If they just made them a little longer they would flex, and probably ride, better.

Interested to see what you go with and how it turns out. My wife really wants to run 35s on her YJ eventually.
 
#22 ·
Due to Zones shipping rates through Zone and Other vendors and local venues the Zone is going to be out of the question It'll be in the $750 range
Super Lift is on a Backorder I've delt with them working at 4WP so Who knows how long that will take they build in batches

So it looks like I'll be a Guinea pig for the new Military Wrapped RC lift !
 
#24 ·
I was pretty sure you were going with RC anyway... I am sure the other reviews on it were unbiased as well but this will be interesting. Keeping in mind that every Jeepers Jeep is different and from the sound of it, every spring that comes out of RC is as well, I went with BDS for piece of mind... I will follow to see what the bottom line is for you. How soon do you plan on getting them?
 
#26 ·
I have Decided I'll be a Guinea pig for the new 4.5" Military Wrapped RC kit for this forum, I can get it for $519 shipped to my door with it being the only kit with military wrapped springs and a life time warranty in the price range I want to be in it'll the one I choose . I should be ordering it in a couple of days so I'll start spraying the Jeep down with PB Blaster now ! Once the lift is installed I'll be picking up a set of axles with 4.10 gears to replace my axles with 3.07's and running the 33x 10.50's KM2's off my XJ (its getting duratracs)
 
#31 ·
sounds good. i look forward to your thread as well.

probably be ordering up the same lift in the future.
Sunday I have my buddy brady (90lsturbo) coming over to help install the lift
The military wraps look pretty decent the leafs are a little thicker then OEM asfar as length it appears to be the right length
 
#33 ·
Gage56 said:
i got a few miles on them now and as i thought i have nothing bad to say OTHER Than they told me they were 4.5" springs and really they are only 3.5" so other than that they ride NICE and they are flexing well, So to me what more could you need :highfive:
The kit is 4.5" with a 1" boom shackle. Depending on how early I finish the lift there may be a quick shake down run 😄
 
#37 ·
YJjeeper1 said:
This is the exact lift I was looking at, let us know how it goes! Your the deciding factor on the lift! Is it the x series with the sway bar disconnects and braided brake lines? Or the regular 4.5 military kit? Did you need a sye and cv shaft?
the only difference between the x series and this are the discos and brake lines. I did not get the x series since I have no swaybars and I have a set of extended lines already I saved money. I'm gonna see how it goes wo a sye for now of I need on I'll install on but I want to hold off for a few months on a sye
 
#38 ·
On the rc website it mentions brake line relocation brackets, were these included in the kit you purchased? I don't have extended brake lines so I wouldn't be opposed to using the "relocation brackets", however if they are garbage I wouldn't mind paying $100 more for the braided lines and discos. If the standard kit is good to go tho then I'll save myself $100 lol. What do you think?
 
#39 ·
YJjeeper1 said:
On the rc website it mentions brake line relocation brackets, were these included in the kit you purchased? I don't have extended brake lines so I wouldn't be opposed to using the "relocation brackets", however if they are garbage I wouldn't mind paying $100 more for the braided lines and discos. If the standard kit is good to go tho then I'll save myself $100 lol. What do you think?
it came with relocation brackets to be honest they are just he normal run of the mill brackets
 
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