joester1908 Posted May 12, 2014 Posted May 12, 2014 Hey guys, I just installed a Rough Country 4-6 inch long arm on my 1990 MJ Pioneer. The crossmember ended up being a problem so I thought I would let you guys know what I did to fix it. The cross member bolted up (but the front bolts needed tapping). The problem was in the L shaped frame bracket included with the kit. The Cherokees don't have the floor brace (down the middle of the floor and to the pinch weld), so I had to cut the L bracket and drill a new hole. Other than that the install went great and everything else bolts up just fine. I will post up a few pics when I get back on my computer (I'm at school :laughin: )
daking Posted October 29, 2014 Posted October 29, 2014 Why you tease us with pictures, and no delver? :dunno:
joester1908 Posted October 29, 2014 Author Posted October 29, 2014 :doh: my bad. I can't access my Photobucket account on school computers. I'll update this tonight after work!
Jeepman Posted October 29, 2014 Posted October 29, 2014 It bolted up perfectly for mine and All you needed to do was remove the inner bracket that attaches to the unibody... XJ's only use 2 bolts per side to mount the cross member where MJ's Use 4...
desertmike Posted October 29, 2014 Posted October 29, 2014 I installed the 4 1/2 inch long arm. I tapped the third hole and and welded a spacer bracket on the crossmember and now have 5 bolts per side plus the ones on the side bracket.
joester1908 Posted October 30, 2014 Author Posted October 30, 2014 Yea it bolted on just fine I just cut the brackets so it will fit around the unibody support. Here's the finished product. I drilled a new hole on the support side, because it was trimmed off. Reason for posting: When I was considering purchasing, I found no info on the subject.
daking Posted October 31, 2014 Posted October 31, 2014 looks good. Does the kit come with the transfer case skid, or is that an add on? Have you driven with the long arm installed?
Jeepman Posted October 31, 2014 Posted October 31, 2014 Image Not Found Yup did the same thing just a notch and drill a new hole...
outlaw star Posted October 31, 2014 Posted October 31, 2014 looks good. Does the kit come with the transfer case skid, or is that an add on? Have you driven with the long arm installed? Tcase skid comes with the kit. There's two different kits. One for NP231 and one for NP242.
joester1908 Posted October 31, 2014 Author Posted October 31, 2014 Yea it comes with the skid, its not installed though. I have driven it with the long arm. Probably put around 2,000 miles on it. I really like it. Tons more flex and a lot smoother on the road.
MuddFoot Posted November 1, 2014 Posted November 1, 2014 2000 miles and your rc joints are still good???
Jeepman Posted November 1, 2014 Posted November 1, 2014 I agree Smoother ride and Better Flex... Had mine on for almost a Year and Probably over 3000 Miles and why wouldn't the joints still be good??? I grease them often so I don't see them going bad anytime soon
MuddFoot Posted November 1, 2014 Posted November 1, 2014 a lot of guys here in fl and on cherokeetalk.com had issues with the joints some right out of the box some 200mi 1000mi ect they are just $#!& i guess. i know my rc short arms i had joints went bad in a week.
Motorcharge Posted November 1, 2014 Posted November 1, 2014 RC is notorious for crappy joints and bushings and they're bad about covering them under warranty. Pretty well known among XJ forums, not so much on MJ forums it seems.
Incommando Posted November 1, 2014 Posted November 1, 2014 X2 on getting the word out about that company
JeepcoMJ Posted November 2, 2014 Posted November 2, 2014 I have NOTHING seen any "end all" issues with RC They have covered any problems I have ever had. They had a bad run on shock bushings...at the same time every other manufacturer did, because the company who makes them made a bad batch. Same happened with poly ca bushings at one point. Same happened with their flex bushings at one point. Never has someone I know of, myself included, had a bad RC customer experience. Maybe you guys should take into account that the one guy on cf, Naxja, etc. is probably impossible to please or work with on the phone...and got bad customer service for being a bad customer. Don't talk if you haven't experienced it. And if you have, then I'm sorry you had that experience...but RC stands by their warranty, so you might try being less "righteous" when you call to get a problem resolved.
MuddFoot Posted November 2, 2014 Posted November 2, 2014 tried to get my yj springs replaced with there lifetime warranty with proof of purchase. was on the phone for 2 weeks sent emails and pictures i ended up buying some jy springs. i wish i had there email that said it doesn't look like our product. its the looks wrong because the springs are repainted because they were rusting. so i havent bought a product since.
joester1908 Posted November 3, 2014 Author Posted November 3, 2014 Ive had a bit of experience with RC, Ive found to stay away from their shocks and coils. But a good friend of mine has ran the RC kit for a few years now, he told me you need to rebuild the joints once a year to get good life out of them. The problem with the RC kits is that even though the joints are greasable, they do not spread it out enough. He rebuilds it and greases it every winter.
joester1908 Posted November 3, 2014 Author Posted November 3, 2014 My brother bought a 4 inch RC short arm for his TJ. Been 3 years and it's actually holding up pretty well. He sold the Jeep to a friend of mine who has wheeled the crap out of it. The bent arms give you a lot more clearance than just straight ones like the RE short arm like my dad's XJ had. But those had rebuildable and greasable joints. and much more heavy duty. I was planning on installing those until I got my RC long arm. I'm actually impressed with it.
Kerry Posted November 3, 2014 Posted November 3, 2014 RC had problems with the poly "fixed" joint (axle side} on their long and short arms. They redesigned them to use factory style rubber bushings and also redesigned their flexible joints making the tension on the bushing adjustable. I'm currently installing their LA kits on both an XJ and a ZJ but haven't driven either one yet. RC seems to be kind of hit or miss on their products. I had a set of their 3" leafs and gas shocks on my XJ before and they rode great, but the leafs that came with the XJ long arm (4" & 6.5" short arm kits also) were too short causing the shackle angle to be all wrong. They sell a shackle relocation kit seperately which fixed the shackle angle but added another inch or so of unwanted lift. I ended up replacing them with a set from Rustys. Overall though, in my opinion, they make a quality product for the price and their customer service is great. I found it's better to call them for help rather than emailing.
daking Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 how's it holding up? How is the flex? I just ordered these, can't wait to see it installed
joester1908 Posted February 27, 2015 Author Posted February 27, 2015 how's it holding up? How is the flex? I just ordered these, can't wait to see it installed i have already replaced 3 of the joints. I replaced the upper joints with Currie
joester1908 Posted February 27, 2015 Author Posted February 27, 2015 http://comancheclub.com/topic/45040-easy-rough-country-long-arm-johnny-joint-upgrade/
Zebvance Posted February 28, 2015 Posted February 28, 2015 I am currently installing serious offroads xj long arm kit and am Having to do similar fabrication to make it fit.
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