Rough Country Long Arms [Archive] - xjtalk

OrangeXJ

03-08-2011, 02:25 PM

When I got my XJ it had a 4.5 Rough Country lift on it so I had no previous dealings with them. I decided to up grade it to long arms. Saturday I placed my order with RC and I'll be damned it was sitting on my door step today. Un f##king believable ! :thumbsup:

steph74

03-08-2011, 02:29 PM

:cheerleader: :cheerleader: :cheerleader: :cheerleader:

OrangeXJ

03-08-2011, 02:32 PM

Now I'm going out to the garage and open the boxes and drool on them :eek:

OrangeXJ

03-08-2011, 02:53 PM

Now I'm going out to the garage and open the boxes and drool on them :eek:

Here now everyone can

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m470/GregKnowles/Picture098.jpg

Mudderoy

03-08-2011, 02:59 PM

Here now everyone can

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m470/GregKnowles/Picture098.jpg

I know you are in a hurry but take the time to paint them orange. You'll feel better about you.

OrangeXJ

03-08-2011, 03:10 PM

I know you are in a hurry but take the time to paint them orange. You'll feel better about you.

:smiley-laughing021::smiley-laughing021::smiley-laughing021:

modestmar00xj

03-08-2011, 10:24 PM

yeah man! thats awesome! did it come with the pitman arm too!

BrianXJ

03-09-2011, 12:49 AM

very nice

OrangeXJ

03-09-2011, 04:51 AM

yeah man! thats awesome! did it come with the pitman arm too!

Yep came with the pitman

bluedragon436

03-09-2011, 05:22 AM

that is awesome.... might have to save up for that one then... I could use the pitman upgrade... hmm... Looks good, can't wait to see it installed...

muddeprived

03-10-2011, 01:06 PM

That's strange that it comes with a pitman arm, which appears to be a drop arm? I would think you'd need to drop the t-bar as well.

My full kit came with the DPA but it also came with a trackbar and bracket that required a DPA.

Good luck with the install.

LizardRunner

03-10-2011, 01:51 PM

smack, droool, those are tasty looking!!

OrangeXJ

03-10-2011, 02:37 PM

Mudderoy

03-10-2011, 02:52 PM

This kit is for the long arm up grade for my lift I guess we'll see after the install

My Rough Country 4.5" lift came with a drop bracket for the factory track bar. I removed that bracket (which bolts to the Dana 30) when I installed the heavy duty RC track bar last summer.

Mudderoy

03-17-2011, 12:18 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvDI6uWN6GI

OrangeXJ

03-17-2011, 04:55 AM

Going into day 2 of the install. In the vid the guy says several times how easy it is to install. Not so much with mine. First off it was a bitch to screw the hime joints into the arms because they powder coated the threads next all the bolt holes in the cross member had to be reamed out to get it to line up. But over all I'm sure I'll be happy with it when it's done.

cantab27

03-17-2011, 04:57 AM

looking forward to pics Greg

OrangeXJ

03-17-2011, 05:01 AM

I'll put some up when finished showing the mods we had to do to make it right

XJ Rat

03-17-2011, 06:39 AM

Waiting impatiently for the pictures!

muddeprived

03-17-2011, 06:44 AM

Mine installed relatively easy except for drilling through the frame rails. There was something inside the rails (metal and THICK) that required drilling for 20-25 minutes per side just to get all the way through. Others have said they drilled it in less than 5 minutes. Dunno what was in my rails but it was a PITA. Other than that, it was pretty simple. The measurements they give for the arm lengths vary depending on your front axle (HP or LP). Mine was a LP and the supplied measurements killed my pinion angle so I had to adjust it alot.

OrangeXJ

03-17-2011, 11:39 AM

I don't think we are going to bolt that bracket to the rail instead going to weld it on.

OrangeXJ

03-17-2011, 02:10 PM

One side on one to go and weld it.

OrangeXJ

03-17-2011, 02:12 PM

One side on one to go and weld it.

:worthlesspics:

I'll save someone some time. I'll post pics when finished :thumbsup:

muddeprived

03-17-2011, 04:02 PM

If you weld the side brackets on, how will you drop the crossmember if you need to service the drivetrain?

OrangeXJ

03-17-2011, 06:12 PM

If you weld the side brackets on, how will you drop the crossmember if you need to service the drivetrain?

We are welding the brackets on first then putting the cross member on. It's all bolted up that way and have on Issues. I don't know why they did it that way. When I post pics you will see. Plus I was running a 1" tc drop this way it's dropped 1/2 in with no vibs.

muddeprived

03-17-2011, 06:23 PM

We are welding the brackets on first then putting the cross member on. It's all bolted up that way and have on Issues. I don't know why they did it that way. When I post pics you will see. Plus I was running a 1" tc drop this way it's dropped 1/2 in with no vibs.

Their old crossmember design had a built in drop and you could've made use for that I bet. Mine came with it but RC sent me the new crossmember with the raised mount.

So you are putting the side brackets on first and welding em on and then crossmember on the bottom? Or welding the side pieces to the crossmember and bolting it all on as one piece?

Pictures...pictures.......:popcorn: :D

OrangeXJ

03-18-2011, 03:23 AM

Their old crossmember design had a built in drop and you could've made use for that I bet. Mine came with it but RC sent me the new crossmember with the raised mount.

So you are putting the side brackets on first and welding em on and then crossmember on the bottom? Or welding the side pieces to the crossmember and bolting it all on as one piece?

Pictures...pictures.......:popcorn: :D

Welding the side brackets on first then bolting the cross member on. I'm not going to drill any holes through the frame rail.

muddeprived

03-18-2011, 03:52 AM

Welding the side brackets on first then bolting the cross member on. I'm not going to drill any holes through the frame rail.

I see. I always thought the side brackets were crucial in clamping and securing the crossmember to the rails. Having them welded on first leaves the cross member with only those 6 (+1 skid bolt) bolts holding it (and the brackets become pretty much useless since they are not threaded).

I'm no expert on the forces being applied to the xmember and I could be wrong.

OrangeXJ

03-18-2011, 03:57 AM

I think it will be stronger this way. Instead of 4 bolts holding the side brackets on welded should be stronger.

OrangeXJ

03-18-2011, 03:59 AM

I see. I always thought the side brackets were crucial in clamping and securing the crossmember to the rails. Having them welded on first leaves the cross member with only those 6 (+1 skid bolt) bolts holding it (and the brackets become pretty much useless since they are not threaded).

I'm no expert on the forces being applied to the xmember and I could be wrong.

The shop that's doing the install builds custom crawlers It was there idea to do it this way and I trust there judgment.

muddeprived

03-18-2011, 04:03 AM

I think it will be stronger this way. Instead of 4 bolts holding the side brackets on welded should be stronger.

I think you missed my point. Welding it is stronger than using bolts, yeah, but welding the side brackets on first makes them pretty much useless. They aren't doing anything being welded onto the rails. If they were threaded for the bolts then yeah that would do some good. So basically you are welding the side brackets on the rails and then installing the xmember below them with the 6 bolts. The side brackets are now doing nothing but being sandwiched between the rail and crossmember. The way I see it, those side brackets get put on after the crossmember to spread out the load of the bolts and clamp down the xmember to the frame rail.

This is how the instructions stated to install it:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e73/muddeprived/cherokee/THE%20LAST%20ONE/install/DSCF6816.jpg

Again I could be wrong....but that's how my drunk brain sees it right now. :rotfl2:

muddeprived

03-18-2011, 04:06 AM

The shop that's doing the install builds custom crawlers It was there idea to do it this way and I trust there judgment.

Oh that's nice. Wish I had taken mine to a shop and saved my butt two days worth of labor. Man I was dead after I was done. Started at around 2pm and worked on it all night in a cold garage in the middle winter until 8 am the following morning and then continued the next evening for another 6 hours. :thumbdown:

OrangeXJ

03-18-2011, 04:11 AM

I see your point but I thing it will be OK.

muddeprived

03-18-2011, 04:15 AM

I see your point but I thing it will be OK.

Yeah it probably will be.

OrangeXJ

03-18-2011, 04:15 AM

Oh that's nice. Wish I had taken mine to a shop and saved my butt two days worth of labor. Man I was dead after I was done. Started at around 2pm and worked on it all night in a cold garage in the middle winter until 8 am the following morning and then continued the next evening for another 6 hours. :thumbdown:

Yea they are not a simple bolt on. The instructions say 8-9 hours no way

OrangeXJ

03-18-2011, 04:20 AM

Yeah it probably will be.

The more I think about it you are right. I think now I'm going to do it like the instructions

muddeprived

03-19-2011, 02:21 AM

The more I think about it you are right. I think now I'm going to do it like the instructions

It's not too late is it? They didn't weld em on yet? Better to bolt it all up and then weld the side brackets to the crossmember so it's one piece instead of three. It would increase strength and make it a little bit easier removing and re-installing the xmember.

OrangeXJ

03-19-2011, 04:11 AM

We welded the brackets on then did a little modifing I'll post pics later today. The way we did it makes it stronger on the frame rails and easy to take off.

OrangeXJ

03-19-2011, 12:03 PM

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m470/GregKnowles/100_02711.jpg

Well here it is the RC long arm conversion. More pics to come

OrangeXJ

03-19-2011, 12:15 PM

Muddeprived and I have been talking about this bracket. What we ended up doing was welding the bracket to the rail then made a bracket to bolt to the rail and the cross member eliminating the need to drill to large holes through the rail and possibly weaking it. The guy that did the install has drilled holes through the rail on other installs and later on seen cracks around the holes.
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m470/GregKnowles/Picture071-1.jpg
So with what we did was get the best of both worlds.

OrangeXJ

03-19-2011, 12:18 PM

Muddeprived and I have been talking about this bracket. What we ended up doing was welding the bracket to the rail then made a bracket to bolt to the rail and the cross member eliminating the need to drill to large holes through the rail and possibly weaking it. The guy that did the install has drilled holes through the rail on other installs and later on seen cracks around the holes.
So with what we did was get the best of both worlds.
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m470/GregKnowles/Picture071-1.jpg

OrangeXJ

03-19-2011, 12:22 PM

Now the new BFG KM/2's
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m470/GregKnowles/Picture074.jpg
the new BFG MT KM/2's MT's

muddeprived

03-19-2011, 05:19 PM

Ahh I see what you did. that's alot better than the normal setup. They threaded the side brackets so you could just bolt it on without any nuts right?

I noticed they used the factory bolts to bolt the arms to the crossmember. Were those big enough? I thought RC supplied bigger bolts for that but I can't remember. I know for sure I didn't have to use the stock bolts there.

Lookin good man!

OrangeXJ

03-19-2011, 06:15 PM

Yea every thing is threaded no nuts should be reaty strong

BrianXJ

03-19-2011, 07:55 PM

we need flex shots lol

modestmar00xj

03-19-2011, 11:26 PM

im sold!

XJ4IV

03-20-2011, 01:34 AM

well thats a sturdy birdie... I like the skid... do they sell that sucker alone?
With my cross member from Ironman it is a 3 piece design to hwere the center piece is bolted to the case and there are two side pieces that get bolted AND welded to the frame but no drilling required... I think, I cant remember... wait I recall drilling two holes but for what? damn now I gotta go check mine!
Anyhow 2 days for a long arm install is right on track! mine took that long as well