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Rough Country Long Arm kit for my TJ?

84K views 103 replies 38 participants last post by  joe_jeep 
#1 ·
Hi all, I am kinda-sorta getting back into the Jeep thing. I haven't been offroading in about 5 years and my '98 TJ (never taken this particular TJ offroad) has been sitting undriven for about 2 years because it was a 2nd/3rd vehicle for a while. I recently started working on it again and was thinking about upgrading my 4" Teraflex lift by replacing it completely with the 4" Rough Country long arm kit.

My health isn't as great as it used to be, and I have issues with back pain and and sore muscles. The TJ is now my only means of transportation so I figured I would try to improve the ride and save my back and kidneys. Otherwise, the alternative is to sell my TJ and buy something more economical/comfortable because I'm currently unemployed so having 2 vehicles is no longer an option. On the bright side, I suppose I have the time to install a lift kit :D

For those of you who have the RC LA kit, how's the on-road ride? I'm curious to know what kind of comments you get from non-4wheeling passengers as far as the rough Jeep ride. I am not expecting car-like road manners, but I'd be happy if it road like a truck or an XJ.

Also, can someone recommend where to order the 4" LA kit for the best price shipped to CA? I'll be doing the install myself, so I don't necessarily need the source to be a local vendor.

I've attached some pics of what my TJ currently looks like and will post more after its upgraded )
 

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#2 ·
grab a jeep mag or jump on the internet.. the prices are pretty competive in either media. as far as the long arm kit is concerned.... long arms rock. they are definate upgrade in ride quality. your keeping the tera springs so that portion wont change, only how the jeep reacts to bumps in the road. the LA reduce the jaring and impact transfer. just makes it smoother ride. that RC kit looks like an ok way to get LAs under your rig. especially if its primary function is a DD.
 
#3 ·
Honestly I think the RC kit is great from DD driving to mild and moderate off road.

Its by no means a competition rock crawling suspension set up, but for the price and who its marketed at, its good enough for 98% of the public.

This coming from someone who has only looked at it....never tested it.
 
#4 ·
The ride, is good, I run 25-26psi, and tire brand has an impact. I have run 33" Kumo's, 35" BFG-KM2, Old style 35" Goodyears before Kevlar. The BFG rode the best, they seem to suffer more off road sidewall damage though.

Remember by calling RC direct you can get a 10% discount (tell them you are from Jeep Forum). There policy with vendors they discuss on here always refers to advertised price, so a call to a vendor may get you the best price. Some vendors have free shipping when purchasing "X" amount or above.
 
#5 ·
I'll second what the giant panda said about keeping the tera springs. I don't have the long arm RC kit but I do have the 4" short arm lift from RC with the performance 2.2s. The RC springs took a while to break in and were rough for a while but are really nice now. I'd recommend just going with the long arm upgrade kit from RC and keep the springs and shocks if they aren't in bad shape. :)
 
#8 ·
Thanks for all the information everyone! I've decided to go with the Rough Country 4" long arm kit. I probably shouldn't be buying a complete lift kit right now, but hey I need new shocks because the SkyJacker nitros I currently have on my TJ are too stiff. I'll have to sell off my current lift parts to help cover that gap between the upgrade kit and the full kit.
 
#9 ·
Something else that I would recommend to go with that kit and doesn't cost much more is the bar pin eliminators. I was surprised how much smoother the ride was after I installed mine. Let us know what you think after you get the kit installed and post some more pics.:2thumbsup:
 
#10 ·
I just installed the 6 inch RC long arm kit on a 06 Rubicon and have to say I was fairly impressed with the kit. Like other people have stated, it's not an extreme kit, but it is a great way to pick up many of the benifits of a long arm set up. The install was very easy IMO. There was no welding and the directions were very complete, with lot's of pictures. I wish you the best with your purchase and install.

Joe
 
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#11 ·
How was the drilling for the new control arm mounts? Will I need to order a drill guide?

I just ordered my 4" long arm kit from CCOR in GA. I also ordered a set of the Rough Country black steel wheels in 15x8 from them. Their pricing on the long arm kit was excellent. It should be here in a couple of weeks.

I need to get the tools ready. I will have to make a visit to the local HF and get the following:

-4.5" angle grinder
-cutting discs
-sanding/grinding discs
-grinder guide
-magnetic angle finder
-big c-clamp
-drill bit set
-maybe a new torx socket set

I'll take some pics as I go along. I'm really hoping that I won't have to modify the exhaust system, but we'll see.
 
#12 ·
My long arm kit and rims arrived today. I got 13 of 14 boxes. For whatever reason, the rear trackbar wasn't delivered with everything else and the tracking info says it'll be here tomorrow. That's ok with me because its so hot and humid here today that that I wouldn't want to do any grinding and wrenching. Seeing the big pile of boxes made it feel like Christmas.

Any tips out there on finding the correct drill bits? The instructions call for:

-11/32"
-17/32"
-29/32"

I was able to locate 11/32, but none of the local hardware chains around here had 17/32 or 29/32. I looked at the cobalt drill set at Harbor Freight, but it didn't appear to have those sizes.
 
#14 ·
I installed the kit in my driveway three months ago, only put 500 mi. on it and a mild trail ride so far but I love the whole kit, drives as good or better than stock. I'm still running 31" tires so it handles very well at 70 mph. As far as the bits go I think I bought a 7/8 bit for like $30 but never used it because I used a uni-bit I aquired from work. I aslo had to buy a 1/2" (17/32), and an 11/32, and 3 or 4 1/4" bits for pilot holes. Most of my time was spent grinding the old arm mounts off. I dont remember RC having anything in the instructions about adjusting toe-in or the pinion angle, I had only learned to do so reading through the forums. I aslo had to cut the old pitman arm off.
 
#23 ·
Thanks for the pics, and details about the drill bits! Your TJ looks great.

I got most of my tools ready in preparation for the install. How long did it take you to grind off the LCA brackets? Was an angle grinder the only tool you used for the removal? I'm trying to decide if I should work my way through the install in the order described in the instructions, or if I should install the new LCA brackets first, while the TJ is still on the ground. Then I will be able to put it on jackstands to do the rest.

How long did the total install take? I'm tackling mine alone, but will probably pull out the air compressor and run air tools. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to modify the exhaust system, but it looks like that is a big probability now. What size were those pipe clamps that you used?
 
#17 ·
I'm most interested in where the new control arms are near the exhaust. Everyone that has the RC long arm says that you just have to move it out of the way a little but I would like to see what they are talking about. Thanks in advance.:thumbsup:
 
#24 ·
I did the install myself with little help. I bought I beleive 4-8"x12" & 2-8"x8" concrete blocks to rest the front bumper on, and 2- 8"x12" & 2- 8"x8" blocks for the rear bumper. Aside from looseing the lug nuts, this was the first thing I did, it worked well... I then returned the blocks to home depot after the install. As far as cutting off the LCA mounts, a few cutting wheels , a grinding wheel, a sanding wheel, primer and flat black. The old LCA's are now invisible. I used 3 tubes of thread locker blue on all the hardware. I also recommend a floor jack. I purchased a 1/2" impact wrench which was a MUST! I installed everything finger tight till the tires were on the ground. It did take me at least a week to install. To adgust the toe-in, I ran a couple of laps around the tires with duct tape, with a fine pen rested & held by my hand made a nice thin line around both tires... the distance between the lines should be 1/8" larger at the rear of the tire compared to the front. I also did not need a spring compressor, I just unbolted the old control arms, and the only thing keeping the new springs from falling out is the new shocks. I had fun with the install and if you have any questions just ask.
 
#25 ·
I'm starting my install today. I pulled out the RC LA brackets and noticed that its going to be interesting figuring out where to place the jackstands.

It looks like putting the jackstands anywhere along the frame may interfere with one of the following:

- cutting the stock LCA brackets
- dropping the stock skid plate
- installing the RC LCA brackets
- installing the new LCA's

Where'd you guys place your jack stands??? I will have to see if my jackstands go tall enough to reach my tow hitch and front cross member. I probably shoulda gotten some concrete blocks like leaf.
 
#27 ·
I ended up putting my TJ up on 4 jackstands. I didn't get too much done today, but did make some progress. I probably put an hr in today.

After getting the frame up on jackstands, I removed my wheels and supported the tranny with another jackstand (on a stool) and then removed the skid plate.

I used an HF/Chicago Electric reciprocating saw on the skid to remove the corner. It was a lot easier than I expected. 1 new blade, some cutting oil, and 5 minutes was all that was needed to get the corner cut out. Another 5 minutes to grind the edges down to the proper size, and then 5 minutes more to file everything smooth.


Tomorrow I'll bolt the RC LA brackets and skidplate back on, and then start on drilling the frame. It looks like there will be enough room for me to cut off most of the stock LCA's with my 4.5" angle, but I noticed that I probably wont be able to get at all the welds without using something smaller.
 
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