Anyone have a Rustys Offroad set-up?

[FirstTimer]

I was just wathing X-treme 4x4 and they put a pretty sweet suspension set up on a 2010 Jk by Rusty's off road.  I took a look online for my 02 Tj and their prices beat any ones by 1000$ or so.  So I was wondering how they match-up to Rubicon Express or Skyjacker set ups for all around on and off road performance.  Does anyone have a Rusty's set up or heard any thing about them?

Thanks!

[JackstandJohnny]

all the same crap.


rustys, rubicon, etc. all use a 'radius arm' setup for the front and 5 link in the rear.
they'll all fail in the same areas;   

a GOOD long arm will consist of a triangulated 4 link in the rear, and non radius arm setup in the front. i beleive CLAYTONS makes a good TJ kit............   

[tubby]

Don't buy into some of the "hype" on 4x4 shows. Rusty's Offroad has had a buddy-buddy relationship with X-Treme 4x4 in the past. The show gets the parts for free ;so the show has an obligation of sorts to say nice things. A quick search on Google will net you pages of bad reviews about Rusty's Offroad on multiple Jeep sites.

My Cherokee came with a  fairly new (one year old) full Rusty's 4.5" suspension. There's nothing left of the kit a year later. My thoughts? CRAPTACULAR !

The coil springs sagged , leaf springs sagged, shocks wore out , and the track bar broke on the trail(would have been disaster if I was on the road and at speed)

It's an entry-level kit at best. I know the company has addressed some of their past problems on several parts but I would chose another company quite frankly. Do your homework and do it right the first time. Some people will say their "brand X" kit/suspension system is awesome and pimp it all day long. Some people just don't want to admit they bought crap parts. You'll get ten guys saying their RE or Rough Country kit is the best, and ten guys will say it's junk.

Set a realistic budget
Be honest with your intentions in regards to your rig and how you will use it
Do a lot of research

[T-BOAN]

all the same crap.


rustys, rubicon, etc. all use a 'radius arm' setup for the front and 5 link in the rear.
they'll all fail in the same areas;   

a GOOD long arm will consist of a triangulated 4 link in the rear, and non radius arm setup in the front. i beleive CLAYTONS makes a good TJ kit............   

Not entirely true because those companies offer different levels of kits and They list the longarms as upgrades in a seperate kit.Clayton even has short arms that aren't radius armed. I don't think you need to spend a ton of money to make your jeep look good and have decent offhighway capabilities. Better than stock parts anyways.

[morerpmfred]

comanche runner has a long arm on his gc i believe . It is heavy duty  ,  not the cheap replacement parts as is with the cheaper bottom end line at rusty,s . All lift kits work well the first time out and after that everything is maintenance.  All lift kits have pros and cons . What works well here and lasts is not what works well and lasts in moab or on vancover island or ......

[w squared]

We can talk all day long about lift kits on this thread...but here's the real info from a guy that doesn't have a "dog in this fight" since I don't own a TJ, and don't have anything to prove about how much I know about TJ suspension. If you want to lift your Jeep, here's what you should do:

#1. Decide what you want to do with your Jeep. Daily driver that sees an occasional trail, but nothing serious? Daily driven rig thats sees plenty of trails and you want to push your limits a bit? A road-legal rig that is heavily modified for SERIOUS off-road? A Jeep that you can no longer drive on the road, but makes people poop themselves when they watch you off-road?

#2. Go on a BUNCH of open runs, and come to sonme club meetings. Jeepers all have the same disease - we're compulsive when it comes to talking about our rigs. We'll all spout off for hours on end if you let us. Mine us for information that is useful for YOU...not what a random web wheeler wants to tell you. Qualify the information that you're getting from people by watching how their rigs perform.

#3. Eventually, one of two things will happen. Either you will find someone who's rig is EXACTLY what you want, and you can mimic their setup...or all of the information coming your way will start to sort itself out and line up in your head, and you'll be able to build a coherent plan for turning your Jeep into what you want it to be. Don't expect either of these things to happen until you've spent six months saving your money and gathering information. Even if you wait twelve months, it won't do you any harm.

#4. Remember when I mentioned saving your  money? That's where this comes in. Do it right, do it once. Spend some money on quality components that work, and will continue to work. Don't buy some crapola kit that has cam bolts instead of adjustable control arms, cheap bushings instead of quality joints, and "relocation brackets" instead of longer brake lines. Once you've spent the time getting the knowledge, don't be afraid to do a little bit of mixing and matching.

The people that I know who spent the time, did the research, and bought high quality components all seem very happy with their rigs. It didn't happen overnight, but they also don't spend time on the trail cursing at their suspension, and don't seem to continuously be spending money on repairing suspension parts.

They are able to spend their money repairing other parts 

[cLAY]

all the same crap.


rustys, rubicon, etc. all use a 'radius arm' setup for the front and 5 link in the rear.
they'll all fail in the same areas;   

a GOOD long arm will consist of a triangulated 4 link in the rear, and non radius arm setup in the front. i beleive CLAYTONS makes a good TJ kit............   

Clayton's kit is about the beefiest out there but its front is a radius arm style........

[Rubi03 jef]

clayton also have a 3link pro series front


  http://claytonoffroad.com/product_info.php?cPath=17_42&products_id=291

i personaly have a rough country 4 inch extrem flex.   it is now just over a year old nad it is falling apart
it was great for the first 9 months  but after that everything is blowing out   the sleves in the shock bushings are all broken and rattling around  control arms are doing on but on the bushing end same prolem there just falling apart

front track bar mount is moving around and bending all over the place     i know i cheaped out i want to raise my jeep in a hurry   did have lots of cash so that what i got

now its time to slowly upgrade and upgrade with quailty

dont be in a rush .. read and read some more    ask people what there running and how its holding up . dont be shy most people will give you there thoughts ..

[JackstandJohnny]

Clayton's kit is about the beefiest out there but its front is a radius arm style........

very true. i saw the claytons kit in the back of the jeep before you installed it.  wow was it beefy!

to reiterate on the long arm thing; if you do some net research, you find that even the joints in the clayton kit were wearing fast (because of the radius arm setup) 

thast what i mean by 'same crap'.....maybe i should have said same 'thing' lol my apologies!

[FirstTimer]

Thanks everyone for your input!

I'd have to say W Squared had the best advice, he always seems to be a wealth of knowledge! THANKS

Beyond getting out to events I have been doing as much research as possible, but none of it seems to make much sense on a web pages.  I'm hoping to make it out to some events soon so I can get some context on all the info I have gathered. 

Thanks again to everyone