hey everyone i was wondering if anyone has any thought on the R.C. long arm upgrade kit it is cheaper than buying a new complete long arm system since i allready have the 4.5 inch kit on the xj now it has the short upper cont. arms that attach to the lower arms is this a good set up compared to full length upper and lowers ANY advice on this upgrade kit would be great thanks
the Rough country is $599 and the Rock krawler is $749 but there is a huge diff. in the style and set up of each the first is a long lower with short uppers that connect to the middle of the lower the 2nd is a 3-link i would think the 3-link would be better but not sure and with price being an issue is the x-tra money for the 3-link worth it? its only a $150 diff
The Rough Country setup will NOT work with a NP242 TC. So if you have one your not able to run the RC setup currently. Supposedly they are working on revamping things so it will work but it'll probably be awhile since they batch run everything. The RC setup is a "Y" link and being that it is very easy to design; however it has some major drawbacks as far as offroad performance goes due to the design. I'm not going to say they hit the ball out of the park as there are some major problems/disadvantages with this kit; however they did open up a new (cheap) market for a low buck longarm kit for the XJ's. However just remember that you get what you pay for most of the time.
The Rock Krawler setup is pure beef. Made from solid stock (not hollow tubes). Given it does not include a belly skid like the RC setup does, it is in my opinion a better designed kit since it is a true longarm (not y-link) setup since the upper arm mounts further back as well. Offroad performance is awesome. It's a very proven kit both to the normal consumer as well as to professionals who use their XJ's in various comps.
The Rough Country setup has only been out for a month or so. So I doubt a lot of guys are running it yet. From what I have read every install has required modification to the kit to make it work and there are somewhat mixed reviews on it thus far. What it really comes down to is how your going to be using your Jeep and what type of setup works best for your application. What works best for me may totally be wrong for you.