Rough Country 6.5" long arm - first impressions

[travisk]

For what it's worth, I have this kit and the frame sits exactly 12" above the top of the rear axle tube with the jeep unloaded.

 

[blistovmhz]

For what it's worth, I have this kit and the frame sits exactly 12" above the top of the rear axle tube with the jeep unloaded.

12" on both front and back?
Should be 13.5 and 12.5.

 

[travisk]

I'm at 13" in the front and 12" in the rear. I'm assuming you got those numbers from RC. I would tolerate at least a 1" variance from the manufacturer spec based on spring manufacturing process and vehicle weight variances.

How much weight do you have in your jeep? I see a large spare tire and wheel on a roof rack. That will have some sort of impact on your ride height.

 

[blistovmhz]

Yea, 1" I could live with, but 2" difference between front and rear is too much.
I measured lift height fully unloaded. Nothing in the back, nothing on the roof, no non-stock accessories. Was 2" low with the first set of springs and 1.75" low with the second. Incidentally, the second set of leafs have already pushed out a bushing (driver front) so I'll be installing the first set when I get the shackle relocation kit.

As for the numbers, I didn't get them from RC . I'd asked around with a few support folk there but no one knew the numbers stock or lifted. I normally deal with Ryan or Jason who both know everything there is to know about the kit. Ultimately I talked to Spencer who informed me that there was a major data loss a few years ago and they lost all their specs... ?? I guess re-documenting XJ specs wasn't a high priority, but hopefully someone there keeps track of the numbers I sent'm.

At any rate, the stock height is always measured from the top of the axle tube to the frame rail directly above. Stock should be 7" front and 6" rear, so 6.5" lift should show 13.5" and 12.5" respectively. I understand there's always a little variation in manufacturing process but this should be taken into account at the production line. Every (leaf) lift I've ever installed has sat about 1" high for the first few days (or weeks) before settling right where it's supposed to be. I usually load up the back with a few hundred extra pounds and go wheeling until it settles .

That said, the RC coils sat about 1/2" high before break in, and settled to 13.7" after a week of abuse and 13.5" with the new front bumper and winch. The rear sat 1.5" low on the first attempt, and settled to 2" low. Second set of leafs installed at 1.25" low and settled to 1.75", so it seems like RC's springs settle 0.5" both front and back within' a few days of wheelin'. I always expect a new lift to sit a little high.
RC also said that the most common complaint they hear on new lifts is that the front is 1" over and the rear is up to 1.5" over, and that this just settles out to level after a few days or weeks (which is more in line with what I expect).
I figure this shackle relocation should solve everything.

 

[Mach2nh]

You are running the lift shackles from the kit and not the stock units right?

 

[blistovmhz]

You are running the lift shackles from the kit and not the stock units right?

Yes. I've gone over this with RC and definitely put some thought into it before asking them for replacements. No matter what, the replacements weren't the same spring rate as the first set, so there's clearly something going on in their production line. Plus the second set slipped a bushing on the first light wheelin' trip. These are the issues I remember from late 2010 when they'd first started outsourcing production of the leafs. Somehow things worked themselves out for a while (as I've seen lots of these kits installed just fine since) but back to the same issues from 3 years ago.

 

[WraithKWK]

@blistovmhz
Because of you, I didn't get my lift this week. Yes, It YOUR fault.
I was all set to order my 6.5 short arm kit and then,

You wrote such an honest and in-depth review of the long arm kit I was forced to cancel my plans. Now I have to wait 2 more weeks to shell out the coin for the long arm kit.
I really appreciate the time you took to tell everyone about your experience.
RC should send you a commission check

 

[blistovmhz]

@blistovmhz
Because of you, I didn't get my lift this week. Yes, It YOUR fault.
I was all set to order my 6.5 short arm kit and then,

You wrote such an honest and in-depth review of the long arm kit I was forced to cancel my plans. Now I have to wait 2 more weeks to shell out the coin for the long arm kit.
I really appreciate the time you took to tell everyone about your experience.
RC should send you a commission check

Well gosh. Thanks I think at this point, I'm totally sold on RC. They're horribly disorganized, their QC leaves a lot to be desired, but they're quite a bit cheaper than anyone else for what you get and they support the shit out of their gear. After beating the hell out of my Jeep for the past few weeks, nothing's broke. The leafs keep being wrong and I'm not sure how I feel about the included shocks (time will tell I suppose) but RC's been doing a shittonne of work to make sure my ass end gets leveled. I almost feel bad for asking them for replacements on the leafs because realistically, the kit is cheap enough that buying a set of leafs elsewhere you'll still save money. I'm just waiting now for the shackle relocation kit.

On that note though, with the leafs being ... not great twice in a row, and coils being easy to find, if I had to do it again I'd just order the long arm kit without springs or shocks. The CA's and cross members are beefy as hell and IMO, a ridiculous amount of BEEF for the price. The front coils are excellent, but really not impressed with the leafs or shocks thus far. I may just throw my old RE 4.5" leafs back on with the new shackle relocation kit and call it a day. May also throw my old RE remote rear shocks back in for a comparison. One of the RC shocks feels a bit weak but that may just be due to the left side being loaded about 250lbs heavier than the right.

Either way, if those flex joints hold up, I'm pretty happy with the upgrade and may lift another inch.

 

[WraithKWK]

I have a RC 3" lift now and the shocks killed my tires. Half tread and there cupping bad. My plan is to have the shocks replaced within like 6 months. I was already warned about needing the Shackle relocating brackets but what the hell my Heap has been unsafe to drive on the road for over a month now and I'm itching to get back on the trails. I can always pick up another set of leafs down the road if I have the same issues as you.

 

[blistovmhz]

Yea, don't bother with their leafs. I'd ask them to just give you the shackle relocation kit and the longer shackles and use your stock leafs or buy elsewhere. I ripped out my second set of RC leafs today and this is the result. Keep in mind, the cleaner set has never been wheeled. Just 80km of mildly rough logging road.

This one

So like, out of 4 leafs, all 4 were too weak to keep the Jeep level, even fully unloaded, and out of 8 bushings, only 1 looks to be in good condition. One bushing eye fell right out, an another of the larger bushings popped about 1/2". Only one of the smaller rear bushings looks unscathed.
If you look closely, you can see that this is mostly all due to improper bending of the top leaf. There's a 1-2mm gap between the end of the leaf where it wraps around the bushing. Also, I tore these out to re-install my 6 year old, extremely heavily trail beaten RE 4.5" leafs which, with the RC shackle, leveled out my Jeep nicely. The old RE's are 3/4" shorter than the RC leafs, so the shackle angle is almost 90 right now, but I'll push the shackles forward when the relocation kit comes in.

Also just noticed that at least 2 or 3 of the shocks are done. They've been wheeled ... mildly at most. Hopefully this is another manufacturing issue that RC can get sorted out.

I just wanted to post this ASAP to let everyone considering the kit, what to watch out for. Personally right now, I wouldn't bother with the full kit. I'd go with their CA's, cross member and t-case skid plate, coils, and their SYE driveshaft if you need it. All top notch IMO. I wouldn't even consider recommending the leafs or shocks right now, at least until they figure out what's gone wrong, acknowledge it publicly, and fix it. I WAS going to sell the old leafs to someone who needed 3" or so, but after seeing the bushings, I'm not sure I'd feel right even giving them away.

I'll talk to RC again Monday to show'm how bad the leafs are and discuss the shocks, and then do a final summation. I dont' wanna scare anyone off the rest of the kit, but holy shit those are some weak ass leafs. I'll update ya'll on what RC does about this Monday/Tuesday.

 

[Better_than_Tom]

My buddy has the RC 4.5 Long arm kit and it has been phenomenal. He has had it for about a year and done a ton of wheeling with it and nothing has bent or broken. I will sell installing it was a pain in the ass and the hardware they supply, for the most part, is lacking but ive read its that way with most lift kits. I highly recommend them as well.

 

[blistovmhz]

My buddy has the RC 4.5 Long arm kit and it has been phenomenal. He has had it for about a year and done a ton of wheeling with it and nothing has bent or broken. I will sell installing it was a pain in the ass and the hardware they supply, for the most part, is lacking but ive read its that way with most lift kits. I highly recommend them as well.

Yea, RC had issues with their leafs back in 2010 IIRC as well, and I know they got it fixed. My buddies rig is still movin' strong with his now 3 year old kit that he's beaten to hell.
I think they just have supply chain issues. I get the feeling they change manufacturers a lot.

That said, last time I talked to them, I asked if they could test fit a set of their leafs to a stock XJ to verify the springs were correct. Turns out they don't have an XJ anymore. I get the feeling they've got a bad run of leafs and just don't know it yet. Always a bad idea to change manufacturers without doing some serious QC and at least one test fit.

Forgot to mention that I measured the thickness of both the RC's and my old RE packs. The RC's are a bit over 1/16 thinner each. Multiply that by the 6 leafs in the pack and you're 3/8 thinner and I'll bet that's where the lift problem came from. Makes a huge difference in weight and spring rate. Maybe their manufacturer cheaped out on them? I dunno.

Hopefully they'll read this and take note. They're generally pretty good about feedback.

 

[Better_than_Tom]

Yea, RC had issues with their leafs back in 2010 IIRC as well, and I know they got it fixed. My buddies rig is still movin' strong with his now 3 year old kit that he's beaten to hell.
I think they just have supply chain issues. I get the feeling they change manufacturers a lot.

That said, last time I talked to them, I asked if they could test fit a set of their leafs to a stock XJ to verify the springs were correct. Turns out they don't have an XJ anymore. I get the feeling they've got a bad run of leafs and just don't know it yet. Always a bad idea to change manufacturers without doing some serious QC and at least one test fit.

Forgot to mention that I measured the thickness of both the RC's and my old RE packs. The RC's are a bit over 1/16 thinner each. Multiply that by the 6 leafs in the pack and you're 3/8 thinner and I'll bet that's where the lift problem came from. Makes a huge difference in weight and spring rate. Maybe their manufacturer cheaped out on them? I dunno.

Hopefully they'll read this and take note. They're generally pretty good about feedback.

One more comment about the leafs....I installed the kit for a friend of mine and while it does perform good my one complaint is with the leafs. When I was installing them I thought no way were they gonna bolt up due to how far off the holes were. I had to bend them with an almost 10 ft piece of pipe and use a jack to apply pressure to get the eyelets to line up. I called RC on this and they werent aware of any issues. If you had a lift shackle this wouldnt of been an issue. On a second note, when he is in the driveway he is basically maxed out on up travel and if he hits a bump hard the shackles slam against the frame, but he has down travel for days.

 

[WraithKWK]

Thanks for the update on the Leafs

 

[blistovmhz]

One more comment about the leafs....I installed the kit for a friend of mine and while it does perform good my one complaint is with the leafs. When I was installing them I thought no way were they gonna bolt up due to how far off the holes were. I had to bend them with an almost 10 ft piece of pipe and use a jack to apply pressure to get the eyelets to line up. I called RC on this and they werent aware of any issues. If you had a lift shackle this wouldnt of been an issue. On a second note, when he is in the driveway he is basically maxed out on up travel and if he hits a bump hard the shackles slam against the frame, but he has down travel for days.

It's interesting how many people had problems with getting the leafs installed, but then the leafs worked fine once on, whereas my leafs just fell right into place and never worked .
I strongly suspect their manufacturer tried to fix the fitment issue, but ended up breaking the leafs in the process.
At any rate, my shackle relocation kit is in today so I'll be installing it tonight.
Called RC again today about the N2.2 shocks popping. All 4 seem to be dead. If I give the Jeep a gentle nudge it bounces around about 8 times before settling. So I disconnected all 4 and pretty much got the same response. As soon as I said "shocks", the guy on the phone was all "oh shit, don't worry, we'll upgrade you to the N2.0's". He made it sound like the 2.2 ($10 more expensive than the 2.0) gets warranty'd a lot. I was reading the differences between the two while on hold and was going to ask for the 2.0 anyway.

I'm so torn on my thoughts on RC at the moment. The front end of the kit is awesome so far, but the rest all fell apart, ... but they back the shit out of their stuff and keep sending replacements and are even sending me stuff I haven't paid for to try and make things right. This is all well and good, but eventually I want a product that holds up. Hopefully we'll be at that point after installing the shackle relocation kit, bastard packing my RE 4.5" main leafs with the RC 4.5" lowers (RE is too stiff, but the RC's all popped bushings), and installing the "downgraded" N2.0 shocks that according to everyone, are far superior to the N2.2.

 

[WraithKWK]

All right so I ordered my lift today
6.5 long arm /w the shackle relocation brackets.
I wont get it in tell the end of next week.
Wish me luck and we shall see how it goes.

 

[blistovmhz]

All right so I ordered my lift today
6.5 long arm /w the shackle relocation brackets.
I wont get it in tell the end of next week.
Wish me luck and we shall see how it goes.

So did you just order the bare bones kit, or the full kit and swap out the leafs for shackle relocation?
Also, if you just ordered it, I'd make sure they're sending you the older N2.0 shocks instead of the newer "upgraded" N2.2. The old ones are cheaper and apparently far superior. I've heard nothing good about the 2.2's and mine blew up pretty quick. Picking up my replacement 2.0's today.

 

[WraithKWK]

Full kit and I added the relocation brackets.
Im not worried about the shocks I plan to upgrade them soon aspossible

 

[WraithKWK]

I got most of my parts in today should get the rest tomorrow

 

[travisk]

Before you install it, check the track bar heim and make sure that it's the teflon-lined version.