Rusty's Lift Kits?????

MrKTroop · Jan 20, 2011

I'm a newbie here, so please don't hate me yet. I know it has been debated many times but, I've done lot's of searches and read about the Rusty's Trackbar haters. First question...Is it the TRE or HD heims style that sucks? or both? Second question......I haven't read too much negative or positive about the lift kits. Are they ok? I know people will always recommend better, but it seems you get alot for your money with their spring pack lift kit. It comes with the HD Trackbar which is the reason for my first question. It is a '95 XJ. It will be a weekend warrior, mild off roading. Should I stay away from the lift and/or the HD trackbar like the plague or is some of it just internet "band wagon" hype? Thanks for any info!!!!

Alex E · Jan 20, 2011

I run almost Rustys everything on my Jeep, the only thing I would do is run the heim joint for the trac bar end and their inverted "T" steering is plagued with problems, I would rec Currie. I made the switch and the Currie set up is awesome for what I do.

whitexj98 · Jan 20, 2011

Alex E said:
I run almost Rustys everything on my Jeep, the only thing I would do is run the heim joint for the trac bar end and their inverted "T" steering is plagued with problems, I would rec Currie. I made the switch and the Currie set up is awesome for what I do.

They offer a heim joint? Or you switched to a heim? I'm wanting to change mine to a heim.

I have rustys coils and rustys HD track bar but Like said am looking to change the frame side end because that seems to break the most. Ive seen lots of pictures of them broke and had a guy break his when I was wheelin with him.

ROBZ95Xj · Jan 20, 2011

his hiems are great to

MrKTroop · Jan 20, 2011

So the Rusty's heims style should be ok? I don't want any worries if people have had trouble with them. All the posts with broken trackbars don't specify whether it was TRE or heims. Anybody had any issues with the lift kits themselves?

94xjstud · Jan 20, 2011

Just avoid Rusty's offroad.

My experience with their 4.5 lift kit:

Broke 3 Trackbar TRE's, bent a rear main leaf, the fron't sagged heavily with a bumper, the shocks wore out in less then a year, it didn't come with a shackle or stronger upper control arms. I also bought their OTA trackbar mount and was not impressed by it at all. I have replaced everything that originally came with the lift and will permanetely avoid Rusty's offroad.

Everyone that I know personally will tell you to avoid Rustys

ROBZ95Xj · Jan 20, 2011

MrKTroop said:
So the Rusty's heims style should be ok? I don't want any worries if people have had trouble with them. All the posts with broken trackbars don't specify whether it was TRE or heims. Anybody had any issues with the lift kits themselves?

look at the pic i posted, thats his hiem, he uses cheap shit that breaks spend the extra money on somthing better then his crap

MrKTroop · Jan 20, 2011

I appreciate the help and advice. Too many people have had personal bad experiences with the trackbar. I think I may lean towards the Rock Krawler one. It looks pretty good and people seem to like it. For being a weekend off roader, fairly mild, I'm just wondering if the Rusty's lift and Rock Krawler trackbar would be a suitable combo. I know there are better lifts out there, but I'm not planning on being super hardcore, and it won't be a daily driver. Anybody else had good/bad experiences with this type of setup?

muddeprived · Jan 20, 2011

It's not the joints that are problematic, it's the thickness of the threaded rod he uses. it's cheap-ass thin.

Here's an example. This is what Rough Country uses on their double sheer bar. It's the same as what Rusty's has, or maybe rusty's is a bit thinner.

It's no thicker than my pinky. I swapped that out rather quickly for a 1.25" bar.

There's a reason why the price tag is low on these kits. They cut corners.

clean4drxj · Jan 20, 2011

I was less than pleased with any of the rustys stuff I had, stay away from rustys!

BobDog · Jan 20, 2011

I have at least 50% Rustys on my 96XJ_some of it is 6 years old I think. I have never had a failure or even close! Never have had a chance to test customer service altho once they where out of stock on a part and sent me a free Jeep hat. I beat the piss out o my XJ. Altho I'm not a crawler i am hard on my jeep and i usually don't back down on rocky 2 tracks unless I'm alone...which never happens since i became disabled, but i used to test my stuff pretty much to the limits.
Rustys stuff is top shelf in my opinion......never a problem.

eace:
(hey Rusty if you're reading this....that hats worn out ;>)

MrKTroop · Jan 20, 2011

muddeprived said:
It's not the joints that are problematic, it's the thickness of the threaded rod he uses. it's cheap-ass thin.

Here's an example. This is what Rough Country uses on their double sheer bar. It's the same as what Rusty's has, or maybe rusty's is a bit thinner.

It's no thicker than my pinky. I swapped that out rather quickly for a 1.25" bar.

There's a reason why the price tag is low on these kits. They cut corners.

"A PICTURE IS DEFINITELY WORTH 1000 WORDS". Rusty's sure does a great job advertising they are high quality, but you can't argue with a side-by-side comparison picture. Thanks for the insight!

muddeprived · Jan 20, 2011

MrKTroop said:
"A PICTURE IS DEFINITELY WORTH 1000 WORDS". Rusty's sure does a great job advertising they are high quality, but you can't argue with a side-by-side comparison picture. Thanks for the insight!

Remember, that's a Rough Country track bar BUT the broken rusty bars I've seen use the same thickness and that's where it breaks.

001cherokee · Jan 20, 2011

Have you looked into Iron Rock Offroad? I have heard alot of good things about their trac-bar and lifts. They are more into the ZJ & WJ world but have some good stuff for the XJ as well. Some guys on here may flame you for going with whoever you go with but just remember its your money and your rig. So however you spend it you should be happy with it.

I also just purchased a IRO long arm (radius arm) upgrade kit along with their trac-bar.

coldoath · Jan 20, 2011

001cherokee said:
Have you looked into Iron Rock Offroad? I have heard alot of good things about their trac-bar and lifts. They are more into the ZJ & WJ world but have some good stuff for the XJ as well. Some guys on here may flame you for going with whoever you go with but just remember its your money and your rig. So however you spend it you should be happy with it.

IRO trac-bar is legit. Unpacked it and compared it to the stock one....got a good lol out of that. F it brb I'll take pics of my track bar from IRO, just installed it like a month ago......

coldoath · Jan 20, 2011

Ok here are some pics. I got the double sheer trac-bar. Gives you extra piece of mind of the single sheer POS.

Sorry the last two are blurry, it's kinda cold was in a hurry...0 degrees is not cool.

Warlock1 · Jan 20, 2011

I bought their heavy duty 3.5" full leaf lift kit. Within 1 year, the leaf springs sagged 3/4" and within 2 years, the sag was 1 1/2". I don't carry anything heavy or beat on my XJ. I take it easy and I don't do any rock crawling. I was very disappointed with the leafs. The front springs, however, were fine and rode really nice. Also their 1 1/2" rear extended greaeable shackles work well. Avoid the leafs. I now have the Iron Rock Offroad springs and am very happy with them so far.

MrKTroop · Jan 20, 2011

I like that IRO one. Looks solid. I appreciate all of the input. I don't care what other people think of my rig or set-up. It doesn't bother me at all. I'm just concerned about safety when my family is in it driving down the freeway heading to the desert. I'm just new at this and am relying on other people who have a lot more experience.

Safety first, or maybe a beer, then the money.

BobDog · Jan 21, 2011

MrKTroop said:
"A PICTURE IS DEFINITELY WORTH 1000 WORDS". Rusty's sure does a great job advertising they are high quality, but you can't argue with a side-by-side comparison picture. Thanks for the insight!

Some things don't have to weight a 100 lbs to be strong enough! Never had a rustys track bar fail yet.

Lowrange2 · Jan 21, 2011

BobDog said:
Some things don't have to weight a 100 lbs to be strong enough! Never had a rustys track bar fail yet.

I have. Along with about 95% of the other people commenting on this topic.

I think you're outnumbered but thanks for playing.

Rusty's Lift Kits?????

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Forum User

Similar threads