Lift kit advice, Rock Krawler a solid choice?

[AA2015]

Hi all, I’m a first time poster but have found tons of useful info on this site and want to thank you all.

We are about to purchase a lift kit for our 2018 JLU sport s 3.6 8spd. I want to lift about 3.5 inches in order to fit 37’s. This is my daily driver and only sees easy trails maybe once a month to the occasional camping or fishing spot and the typical fire roads. No plans on crazy rock crawling or bouncing.

Now one lift that caught my eye was the rock krawler x-factor tt. This kit caught my eye because it seems like a complete kit all together.
Are any of you folks out there running this specific lift kit or similar RK Kits?

This setup will see mostly daily surface street driving with only a short 10mile commute to work round trip.
What do you all think about this kit? Are there any other lifts you can recommend that fall under a 3k budget? I would love to spend less $ but also don’t want to sacrifice quality .
Thank you all in advance for your feedback

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[Roky]

Hi all, I’m a first time poster but have found tons of useful info on this site and want to thank you all.

We are about to purchase a lift kit for our 2018 JLU sport s 3.6 8spd. I want to lift about 3.5 inches in order to fit 37’s. This is my daily driver and only sees easy trails maybe once a month to the occasional camping or fishing spot and the typical fire roads. No plans on crazy rock crawling or bouncing.

Now one lift that caught my eye was the rock krawler x-factor tt. This kit caught my eye because it seems like a complete kit all together.
Are any of you folks out there running this specific lift kit or similar RK Kits?

This setup will see mostly daily surface street driving with only a short 10mile commute to work round trip.
What do you all think about this kit? Are there any other lifts you can recommend that fall under a 3k budget? I would love to spend less $ but also don’t want to sacrifice quality .
Thank you all in advance for your feedback

I’m on the 3.5” RK X Factor, with 37s on beadlocks. This has been an awesome lift for me......No complaints. .......

 

[AA2015]

Wow! Rig looks amazing roky. Now did you have to upgrades your driveshafts to longer ones because of the 3.5 lift? I’m not sure if rubi vs sport would make a difference in the need of longer shafts.
Also do you know if your JLU is still covered under factory warranty or is that something that goes out the window with non Mopar lifts.

 

[gsxr310]

Ran their midarm setup.. no problems! Now running their longarms!! Been happy w RK!!!

 

[oceanblue2019]

Hi all, I’m a first time poster but have found tons of useful info on this site and want to thank you all.

We are about to purchase a lift kit for our 2018 JLU sport s 3.6 8spd. I want to lift about 3.5 inches in order to fit 37’s. This is my daily driver and only sees easy trails maybe once a month to the occasional camping or fishing spot and the typical fire roads. No plans on crazy rock crawling or bouncing.

Now one lift that caught my eye was the rock krawler x-factor tt. This kit caught my eye because it seems like a complete kit all together.
Are any of you folks out there running this specific lift kit or similar RK Kits?

This setup will see mostly daily surface street driving with only a short 10mile commute to work round trip.
What do you all think about this kit? Are there any other lifts you can recommend that fall under a 3k budget? I would love to spend less $ but also don’t want to sacrifice quality .
Thank you all in advance for your feedback

RK is a good choice. By the way you might need to re-gear with 37's -- the stock gear ratio in a Sport really is not optimal for 37's.

 

[Roky]

Wow! Rig looks amazing roky. Now did you have to upgrades your driveshafts to longer ones because of the 3.5 lift? I’m not sure if rubi vs sport would make a difference in the need of longer shafts.
Also do you know if your JLU is still covered under factory warranty or is that something that goes out the window with non Mopar lifts.

Thanks brother......... I did upgrade my driveshaft because I wheel it often. IMO, you’ll be ok with factory driveshaft based on how you said you’ll be using your rig. As far as warranty is concerned that’s gonna be up to your dealership.

My dealership honors my warranty unless the issue is directly related to the lift. I’ve been a customer there for years, bought several vehicles from them so I’ve got kind of a vip standing with them.

I do all my own work on my rig anyway, so unless the computer fries or the engine blows up, I don’t take it in......

The RK is a great lift, I think you’d very happy with it.

 

[JtwJL]

Wow! Rig looks amazing roky. Now did you have to upgrades your driveshafts to longer ones because of the 3.5 lift? I’m not sure if rubi vs sport would make a difference in the need of longer shafts.
Also do you know if your JLU is still covered under factory warranty or is that something that goes out the window with non Mopar lifts.

Typically you need an aftermarket drive shaft when you're going ~3.5inches+ (Or at least its recommended) but I believe this recommendation is only in play if you actually off-road your vehicle and attempt full flex. As a DD you should be fine, but i'll let others add onto this.

 

[AA2015]

Thanks for all the input. My mind is at ease and think I will go ahead and purchase the RK kit.

My plan was to regear to maybe 4.88 or 5.13 in about 9 months. Hopefully the drivetrain won’t be too overworked, like I said not doing any major extreme wheeling or rock climbing.

Do you guys think 5.13 is over geared? One thing I notice now with my rubi take offs and and 33’s is I rarely ever hit 8th gear. Typically if I’m cruising around 60-65 I can catch it. But I typically cruise 75 and seem to be stuck in 7th.

This is our wrangler currently. Can’t wait for the lift and tires.

 

[oceanblue2019]

Thanks for all the input. My mind is at ease and think I will go ahead and purchase the RK kit.

My plan was to regear to maybe 4.88 or 5.13 in about 9 months. Hopefully the drivetrain won’t be too overworked, like I said not doing any major extreme wheeling or rock climbing.

Do you guys think 5.13 is over geared? One thing I notice now with my rubi take offs and and 33’s is I rarely ever hit 8th gear. Typically if I’m cruising around 60-65 I can catch it. But I typically cruise 75 and seem to be stuck in 7th.

This is our wrangler currently. Can’t wait for the lift and tires.

Pretty easy to work it out. Use this page: https://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto...wing/maneuvers/gear-ratio-tire-size-chart.htm

 

[ChattVol]

Thanks for all the input. My mind is at ease and think I will go ahead and purchase the RK kit.

My plan was to regear to maybe 4.88 or 5.13 in about 9 months. Hopefully the drivetrain won’t be too overworked, like I said not doing any major extreme wheeling or rock climbing.

Do you guys think 5.13 is over geared? One thing I notice now with my rubi take offs and and 33’s is I rarely ever hit 8th gear. Typically if I’m cruising around 60-65 I can catch it. But I typically cruise 75 and seem to be stuck in 7th.

This is our wrangler currently. Can’t wait for the lift and tires.

Been deep down this path...I ran a RK 2.5 lift for a year daily driving 20k miles and wheelin it once a month on 35s. I didn't love the lift and have had 3 others on here private message me saying they had similar experiences and swapped to a different brand.

What wheels are you running and do you enjoy greasing joints 3-4 times a year with RK's 000 grease? I had 2 installers and myself break grease fittings trying to grease them. Accessing the front LCA fittings is a pain bc you have to drop the arms or buy 90 degree fittings.(mine clogged) They also recommend to cut a hole in the axle arm bracket if you want close to full droop...dont like weakening anything arm mount related.

RK recommends 4.5" or less backspaced wheels to clear 37s with their LCA's bc they dont bend in for tire clearance like other lift company arms.

I swapped to maintenance free Metalcloak arms that angle in for tire clearance and their trackbar....also another company's springs and have been happier.

If you're daily driving it and plan on doing fire roads/light offroading and want to run 37s, a 2.5" lift is more than enough on a rubicon and will ride better keeping the geometry closer to stock and you'll keep a lower center of gravity. Many people also feel a 2.5" lift looks more proportional on a rubicon jlu with 37s. With a 3.5" lift, 38s looks great and even 40s if you chop the fenders.

IMHO, considering your needs, I would put 35s on the factory wheels and leave it stock maintaining your full factory warranty and current ride quality. Stock rubicons look great with 35s and are extremely capable of doing terrain much tougher than you are describing while still being liveable daily drivers. Bear in mind, when you lift it with RK parts and go to 37s, dealers wont warranty most suspension/steering/axle related components. I saw a 3-4 mpg gas mileage hit going to 2.5" lift and 37s compared to stock.

If you're set on liking the look of 37s and are ok with the compromises, I would add a 2.5" spacer lift, shock extensions, mopar longer LCA's to increase castor. You could also add adjustable trackbars to center axles if that bothers you. That would save quite a bit of cash and give you a good look with 37s while keeping a stock like ride quality. Hope that helps and enjoy the ride!

 

[ChattVol]

Oops....just saw that you have a sport. You need even lower backspacing for those narrower axles to clear 37s. A 3.5" lift with sport fenders makes sense and it definitely warrants a regear and wheel spacers or new wheels to clear.

I talked with Dana about this and they recommended to not go bigger than 35s with sport axles and sport brakes. Personally, if you are only doing fire roads with a sport, I'd regear to 4.56 and run 35s, 2.5" lift with 1.75" wheel spacers. Or look to swap in takeoff rubi axles with brakes to run 37s.

 

[ChattVol]

Wish i saw this before spending 3k on a rock krawler lift haha. Its been on a few weeks. front control arms on their adventure series are a joke. Cant achieve their recommended alignment geometry. and it says on their website that 4.5 inches of back space is whats needed for 37's. exactly what i have and we are rubbing.

Do you have a rubicon?

 

[Ferreefamilyjeepin]

Do you have a rubicon?

Yes.

 

[ChattVol]

Yes.

Nice pic....where are your 37s rubbing?

 

[ChattVol]

Lower control arms when turning sharp at an incline. That’s just going up my driveway. No off-roading on it yet. Both sides. Tires are measuring a hair over 36 and just about 13 wide. 31 PSI

That is what my RK arms looked like. I added 2 washers to the steering stops to limit the turn radius a little bit....it kept the tires off the arms. Wait until you get to access the grease fittings to grease those arms a few times...that's when the real fun starts. There's a reason Synergy and Metalcloak designed arms that dont require greasing...especially with RK 000 grease that you have to order for $25 per little tube.

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