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lift quality, and popularity

01jeeper

NAXJA Forum User
Location
long island, ny
First off, thanks to everybody who helped me on the sand questions. I am new to the message board, and i think its great. Now here comes another question, as i read through all of the hundreds of threads, i see many questions about lift kits. Every one i see is posting the brand names, from RUSTYS, ROUGH COUNTRY, RUBICON EXPRESS, OLD MAN EMU, BUDGET BOOST, ETC. However i never hear anything about SKY JACKER. When ever i open up a mag, or get a jeep catalog, i almost always see a very large section of nothing but SKY JACKER. Why is this, is sky jacker crap? or is it to expensive for the product. Does anybody know about the ride quality of the 3 inch lift, cause i really want to lift my 2001 sport, but i dont want to regret later, i just want to find the best parts that i can, not something i will have to replace in a year or two. I always seem to think that there kits appear to be complete, and i have never herd any problems of people trying to talk to one of there reps. All i really want to go is 3-4 inches, i am only looking for 31's. its also a daily driver. Thanks for your help - tom
 
I can tell you from experience, skyjacker isn't too bad. Two years ago I put the 3" kit (full rear leafs, not add a leaf) on my 98 classic. Overall, it has been a pretty good kit. I also put on a skyjacker adjustable track bar and steering stabilizer. I had to have the heim joint on the track bar replaced, but it was under warranty. I have not had a problem since. The hydro shocks that came with the kit leave a little to be desired. I, like you, was new to lifted jeeps, and I saw skyjacker had an add in every mag., so I thought it must be quality stuff. Like I said, I am not disappointed.
Recently, I purchased an 89 Pioneer, for an off-roader and I put a Rubicon Express 4.5" superflex kit on it, and I am very impressed. I haven't gotten a chance to off-road it yet, but the ride quality if very good, and I just went w/ the doesch tech shocks, I did not get the OME upgrade. I took almost a month to get, ( some parts of it were on backorder I guess ), but it was worth the wait!
So from my experience, if I were you, I would get the the rubicon express 3.5" kit. That will easily clear 31's, and for a daily driver, it should ride well. Just my .02.
 
Yeah, SkyJacker really knows how to hype their products. Doesn't matter where you look, their in your face. From a marketing/advertising standpoint, their on it! Here I'll give them a thumbs up.

The consensus is they are pricey and you'll most likely break pieces if you push it even slightly. Here they get the thumbs down. :(

You should work with quality manufacturers and put something together that fits you budget and needs. Many of my peices are ORGS and myself and many others swear by them. Rubicon Express, JKS, Currie, etc., etc. All very reputable names. There's a lot of very good stuff out there, you'll just have to research and keep asking a lot of questions.:) Good luck.
 
Haven't owned one but seen those who did. Really seems like overpriced, overhyped, badly designed crap. And no cherokee needs a 3" drop pitman arm or a track bar bolted to the steering damper mount. That's just stupid.
Maybe their 3 and 4.5 inch lifts are OK, but stay away from the higher ones.
mattk
 
I have Rusty's 4.5" kit on my truck (which netted me close to 6"), but if I were to do it again from start, I would go the Rubicon Epxress way.

Rusty's parts have given me nothing but headache. Especially, his rear springs, shocks and track bar.

I promised myself I wouldn't buy anything from him again, unless I can't find it from someone else. And in that case, I wouldn't deal with Rusty, but with a dealer.

He has supposedly send me four Bilsteins to replace the crappy hydraulic shocks he sells with his kit, on May 15th. He choose to send them as "Insured AirMail" instead of "USPS AirMail Express". I still haven't got them, and on top, I have no idea where they are, because the method he used is not trackable (the one I told him, is).

If you want to read my problems with his kit, go to the Cherokee page in the signature.

I am sorry, but I have no experience with Skyjacker. The average opinion on all forums is that Rubicon is the way to go for lifts for the XJ.

Rgds
 
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