Topic: why does everyone hate Rusty's?

[pioneer4x4]

does anyone know why on alot of other forums everyone always talks down Rusty's stuff, i know their stuff is reasonably priced and usually u get what u pay for...but was wondering if their stuff is really junk like everyone says. if anyone has any reasons or experiences, please let me know. my lift is real old now and i need some odds and ends and figured id just go and replace everything with a complete kit since it would probably cost more in the end piecing everything together. thanks

[Jesse-James]

Only thing I've ordered from them is hook mounts for my brother's ZJ. Was very happy with the quality/price/service. 

[smashcoast]

I dont know anyone with their Wrangler lifts, but I know a  few guy's with Cheeroke lifts from them and havent heard any complaints.

Remember you can get individual lift parts from any MFG. Just check their web sites or give them a call.

[pioneer4x4]

Remember you can get individual lift parts from any MFG. Just check their web sites or give them a call.
[/quote]

yea thats why my deal is, was gonna get shocks for my xj so i measured my lift and found out i have a 5" lift in front and 2.5" lift in rear. i knew the rear was saggy but didnt realize that much. the guy i got it from said it was a 3" lift. and when i replaced control arms 1.5 yrs ago i got fixed arms for a 3" lift(should have measured it then). so i figure shocks, rear springs & shackle, adjustable control arms, adjustable track bar, etc... i mine as well get the whole kit and kaboodle including new springs for around the same price. was looking at Rustys or Rough Country +-6"  lifts as they are more in my price range, anyone have experience with RC lifts?

[Bounty Hunter]

Rusty and Rough Country lifts are both decent kits for the money, they work very well on the trail.

Rusty's had more issues years ago than they do today, most dealt with timely shipping through UPS.  I spoke with Rusty on an order or two and he always blamed UPS, but I always got my part.

He had some quality issues once with leaf springs, I think he switched manufacturer's and solved that problem.  Then another issue with his steering conversion, but I'm sure he addressed that also.

I enjoyed the fact that Rusty always answered the phone when I called, and did his best to resolve any issues.  I would use him again.

[oldjeep]

Only knock I have against Rustys is their insane shipping costs.

[Jeffy]

I've never had a need to buy anything from Rusty's.  I'm usually buying parts off ebay these days.

[4-stankertj]

From everything i hear. Rubicon Express is good but exspensive, Rough Country is better priced but, poor quality-less stuff included. I currently have Rusty's 3 inch suspension and 1 inch body/motor lift and cant complain. I've seen other guys with Rough Country and notice sagging issues

[sharpxmen]

From everything i hear. Rubicon Express is good but exspensive, Rough Country is better priced but, poor quality-less stuff included. I currently have Rusty's 3 inch suspension and 1 inch body/motor lift and cant complain. I've seen other guys with Rough Country and notice sagging issues

can't speak for the quality of Rough Country yet, but as far as stuff included it comes with everything - just got one (it's a 4'' lift for a  YJ, I received it 2 days ago) but is the most complete kit i've seen (even has a 1.5'' t-case drop kit)- the only thing that it does not have are the shackle bolts but i don't think any of the other kits comes with that. I had a thread about it asking if anyone uses the RC for YJ, some mentioned the sagging but others said that the later models didn't have that issue. It does seem a bit stiff from their videos, but so was my 2.5'' kit i had. Was a hair under $500 shipped (3 day delivery) including an HD steering stabilizer and is the cheapest i've seen for all the hardware that is included.

I would've preferred RE but most likely double in price

[dwtaylorpdx]

I have their springs with Black Diamond Shocks. The RC shocks died after about 15000 miles.
My first set of rear springs sagged, but they replaced them with a 5 leaf pack instead of the 4 leaf
pack that I got originally. The replacement set lasted about 75K and I replaced them again they
had sagged about 1" form the original 4. They were not treated nicely at all... :)

My YJ has 200K on it so I don't feel too bad about a couple sets of leaf springs...
Especially since I caught about 10' of air on the first set avoiding a accident....

Dave

[sharpxmen]

I have their springs with Black Diamond Shocks. The RC shocks died after about 15000 miles.
My first set of rear springs sagged, but they replaced them with a 5 leaf pack instead of the 4 leaf
pack that I got originally. The replacement set lasted about 75K and I replaced them again they
had sagged about 1" form the original 4. They were not treated nicely at all... :)

My YJ has 200K on it so I don't feel too bad about a couple sets of leaf springs...
Especially since I caught about 10' of air on the first set avoiding a accident....

Dave

the replacement sagged 1'' after 75,000 miles and you think that's a bad leaf spring?  that's pretty good actually, i wish the set i got would last that long (they are 4 leafs for both front and rear though so not sure how they'll work out). anyway, i'm not sure what your expectations are but there is no steel in this world that would keep it's properties indefinitely especially when it's worked out on the road for that long.

EDIT: how long after you bought them did they replace your original set? and was the 5 leaf replacement stiffer (was the back or the front that sagged or both? do you have a hardtop?)

[dwtaylorpdx]

the replacement sagged 1'' after 75,000 miles and you think that's a bad leaf spring?  that's pretty good actually, i wish the set i got would last that long (they are 4 leafs for both front and rear though so not sure how they'll work out). anyway, i'm not sure what your expectations are but there is no steel in this world that would keep it's properties indefinitely especially when it's worked out on the road for that long.

EDIT: how long after you bought them did they replace your original set? and was the 5 leaf replacement stiffer (was the back or the front that sagged or both? do you have a hardtop?)

The first set were shot in about 12 months of install and they sagged flat.
No serious activity on them at all.

I have the Hardtop, The instructions said use the 5 leaf pack on the front, which
turned out to be for the soft-top 6 cyl with winch kit and I had the 4 Cyl with hard-top.
the 4 cyl is kinda bad for sagging the rear because ti squats pretty hard when you launch it WOT.
RC took good care of me, And as far as the 1" of sag, I was not real upset about it. I had really
run it hard in the sand and knew I was stressing them. I caught some serious air..
The bushings were shot because the metal sleeve was turning in the bushing and with the sag I
popped for new springs. When you buy them without the kit they were not priced too bad.

They sent me 4 of the 5 leaf packs at my request at the first replacement, I knew my winch installation
was going to equalize the weight and the 5 packs ride better! They are just a tic thinner, so more pliable.

I was mostly trying to give a history for a daily driver that get rode hard and put up wet as the cowboy's say 

Dave

[sharpxmen]

The first set were shot in about 12 months of install and they sagged flat.
No serious activity on them at all.

I have the Hardtop, The instructions said use the 5 leaf pack on the front, which
turned out to be for the soft-top 6 cyl with winch kit and I had the 4 Cyl with hard-top.
the 4 cyl is kinda bad for sagging the rear because ti squats pretty hard when you launch it WOT.
RC took good care of me, And as far as the 1" of sag, I was not real upset about it. I had really
run it hard in the sand and knew I was stressing them. I caught some serious air..
The bushings were shot because the metal sleeve was turning in the bushing and with the sag I
popped for new springs. When you buy them without the kit they were not priced too bad.

They sent me 4 of the 5 leaf packs at my request at the first replacement, I knew my winch installation
was going to equalize the weight and the 5 packs ride better! They are just a tic thinner, so more pliable.

I was mostly trying to give a history for a daily driver that get rode hard and put up wet as the cowboy's say 

Dave

on my current kit the front sagged, the rear is still standing ok but mind you was meant for the hardtop and i only have a softtop - when i bought the Jeep the guy i got it from took off $1k as he had another Jeep and asked me if i'll take that deal - i wanted a soft top and at the time had no place to store the hardtop and was happy with that. It was however quite bouncy. The thing that got me thinking is that i have the 4 leaf ones, but it's good to know that they have a 5 leaf version so if they start sagging i'll just send them back for warranty and ask for the 5 leafs version (thanks for the tip) - i'd be extremely happy if they last $75k, it is a cheap kit afterall and i wasn't expecting top quality out of them anyway.

funny thing is that my old shocks are the exact same length as the ones i just got with the kit, but it is only 2.5'' compared to 4'' on the new one - i measured the position on the axle and frame and it is perfect for the 4'' with the new bumpstops, the old kit was probably coming short and bottoming out on the shocks rather than the stops and most likely that's why they are currently shot.

good history of the RC kit, i'll for sure know what to look for, thanks for all that info.