JK-Jeremy

I got this kit with the 9000XL shocks and I love them. My issue is with the rear lift components or lack there of. It comes with 2" lift springs and a .75" spring spacer block for the front. For the rear it comes with a .75" spring spacer for the factory coil, that is it. I was completely aware that I was only getting front lift springs and 4 poly spacers, I was not informed that the rear spacers are only .75" tall. I assumed that I'd get a 2" coil spring spacer for the rear. I had even spoken with Rancho on the phone before I bought this kit, and I was told that this kit was exactly what I was looking for. While installing it, it just didn't add up, but I figured that maybe I'm not thinking about it right or "i'm missing something." I went ahead and followed their directions and as soon as the tires hit the garage floor, it was obvious something was wrong. It looked like I had 3 full grown adults sitting in my back seat and a boat hooked up to my hitch at the same time.

So, I'll stop here and I'll post the email (word for word) that I sent to Rancho. It will explain the rest of my shitty day and save me from having to type it all out again....

I purchased the 2" sport lift from you guys and installed it yesterday (9-27-2012). I had an issue regarding a large height difference between the front and the rear of my Jeep. The Front was over 2" higher (Center of wheel to the bottom of the fender). I spoke to the technical support help line and they could not offer any help other than they would pass on my problem to a "fitment engineer". A few hours later I received a call back from the technical support center with their suggestion. I was told that on the 2 door models of my jeep, that the .75 spacer was not required with the front replacement coils. I was told to remove that .75 spacer and then the jeep would sit level.

The vehicle looked ridiculous the way it was sitting. So at this point, I have the .75" poly spacers installed in the front and rear, the Rancho 2" front springs along with my 9000 series shocks all the way around (as directed by the instructions that accompanied your kit, with no mention of the 2 door models not needing the poly spacer). Here is my big question. This is a 2" lift kit and that is what I paid for. How am I supposed to install a .75" spacer on top of my rear coils and have that magically turn into 2 inches of lift?

I called my local Rancho Dealer (Endangered Species Jeep, Holyoke, MA) after my call to your tech support line. I explained to them the same as I described above. I inquired if they had a 2" poly spacer set for the rear of my Jeep. He did have them in stock and told me to come down so he could look at my Jeep.

The two of us looking at my Jeep in the parking lot could put our heads together and come up with a reason why there are .75" spacers in the rear and how that is supposed to lift the rear 2.” He sold me the 2" poly spacers that he had in stock for $74.38 and told me to swap out the rear spacers with the 2" ones. I went home and did just that. It sat a little better, but was still about 1" higher in the front. So I removed the .75" spacers from the two front coils and now stance is acceptable.

I had to tear into both the front and the rear of my Jeep TWO times yesterday. I had to drive approximately 70 miles round trip to my local Rancho Dealer, Spent $74.38 of my own money and spent a total of around 10 hours to install your 2" lift kit. This to me is poor engineering and strictly bad business, which are both unacceptable. I researched my options and shopped all of your competitors before I made my decision to go with your kit. After all of the time, effort, and money I’ve expended, I am not looking to return the product. I will not take my jeep apart ONE more time just to remove and replace all of the components with my stock ones, wasting more of what little free time that I have. I think that at the very least, your 2" sport lift is has been falsely marketed to your consumers. (2" of lift from a .75" poly spacer does not = 2"). Before I continue to make upgrades to my vehicle, I will be thinking twice before I spend my money on your products. I understand that you do make some great products, but I just don't need to be wasting my money and time on mislead claims and poor engineering. I will not be recommending this kit to my fellow community members on JK-Forum.com

I sent this on 9/28/2012 and still have not heard one word from them. Not even a quick reply back telling me "haha you are screwed, have a nice day" or anything. So, after putting the 2" spacer in the rear and removing the .75" spacer from the front, my ride is finally level.

I like the way it looks but made the mistake of seeing the front with the spacer installed. In my mind I now know what it will look like with that extra .75 inches of lift and now I want that back. My problem is that the rear will still be too low to match it. The whole reason why I didn't want to replace the rear coil springs is that I have a pair of "Air Lift" air bags inside them and I love them. If I put a pair of lift springs back there, the bags will be useless as they are sized specifically to fit the factory shaped set that I have now. If I replace the rears, I'd have to buy replacement bags and waste another $80, plus the price of the rear springs. Not to mention that I wouldn't have a matched set of coils all the way around (I don't think Rancho sells a 2" coil lift spring).

So, do I put a 1.25" Rough Country body lift on it? Do I buy a pair of 2" lift coils and new airbags for the rear? I have 33X12.5's on there now and I love them. I don't need the room to fit larger tires under there right now, I just would like it a little higher. I'll be installing some new parts this week I got from Rough Country: front control arm drop brackets, front and rear track bar relocation brackets. I am hoping that this will help with the ride quality as it is flighty on the highway due to my lack of caster. The trackbar brackets I wanted so that my swaybar end links are not sitting at an angle trying to connect to the now off centered axle. I know that i need to upgrade my end links all the way around as the swaybars are not parallel with the ground, but one thing at a time.

So rather than spending the money and just buying a real/complete lift kit, I tried to save some money only to find out what most guys find out after doing what I did. I should have just spent the money and did it right the first time and be done with it! Sometimes being cheep doesn't pay off!

jmpjk

Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

Tom009

Rancho is garbage. The steel they use is crap too. The only trendy thing is red parts. Big whip

Kojack

You should try teraflex. Great products, great prices.

gunbo75

X2 on teraflex. You can add to there lift kits.

bad1chad

I was torn between this kit and the teraflex. Thanks for the heads up. Hopefully Rancho helps you out somehow.

JK-Jeremy

Thanks for the kind words and the advice. Good luck bad1chad with your new lift!

Kojack

Just a note, rancho has a csr here, I have asked them a few questions with very quick responses...maybe you can contact them here....the jk-forum reps are very very good to their customers..

JK-Jeremy

I have been in contact with Matt our Rancho Rep here on the board. He was kind enough to put me in contact with a gentleman named Chris Gauss from Rancho and the two of them have been really going out of their way to make this situation right. It was explained to me that this kit was designed around the 4-Door model and for 2-Door models prior to 2010. He said that Jeep eliminated the rake in the 2-Doors in 2010 and that is why the kit came out the way that it did. He was so caught off guard by the situation, that he had one of the engineers install the same kit on a 2-Door 2010 after I raised this issue and theirs came out exactly like mind did. He said that they are going to stop shipping that kit until they have a solution to this problem so that no one else has to go through this. He was intent on making this right no matter what, so here is what has been done so far.

He is working with the engineers and the supplier of their coil springs to figure out what the best solution for the rear will be. In the mean time, he sent me some parts to help improve my ride quality. The lift that I got out of the front coil springs that came with the original kit was 3"+ so that changed some things.

So, here is what he sent me:

-An adjustable front track bar
-A rear track bar relocation bracket (that mounts to the original axle bracket, but also anchors itself to the axle tube for added strength)
-Rear sway bar blocks to lower the whole sway bar assembly away from the frame so it sits more parallel to the ground now.
-Longer front sway bar end links
-Longer front brake lines
-Control arm drop/relocation brackets to correct the caster of the axle (Rancho's brackets are one solid welded piece, not two plates that you assemble with crush sleeves in-between them. Much better design than AEV and Rough Country's designs)
-Rear bump-stop riser blocks that mount to the axle to reduce the distance my bump-stop has to travel before it contacts the axle.

Spent the day yesterday installing the new components and I can't even begin to describe how much different it drives and handles now. The flighty-ness in the steering wheel is gone, the bumps are not so jittery and now the steering wheel likes to center itself, especially after I turn a corner. I can take it on the highway now and not feel so stressed trying to keep in from wandering and tracking when my 12.5's catch a seam in the pavement, or when I go over an expansion joint.

The next step is to raise the rear to match the front as it is still about 1.5"-1.75 inches lower (Measured center of the wheel to the bottom of the fender.) I'm still waiting on a solution to this and will keep those that are interested up to speed on the progress.

I am glad that I had a chance to experience the difference that these parts made to the original lift. I now have first hand experience with how much track-bar angles and caster can impact the drive-ability of my Jeep. The difference is NIGHT and DAY!!!

I wanted to share this with the community as a testament of how willing Rancho has been to make this right.

Thanks Matt and Chris very much!

Kojack

Great service!

I am planning on going to a full blown 2.5" teraflex kit. hopfully next year I can pull it off!