flienlow

Perhaps it's just me, but lift kits seem.....well, pretty darn expensive for what you get. You get 4 springs and a couple of doo dads and its now close to a grand. Add anything that has "ARM" in the title and it becomes a kings ransom for some additional tubing, and brackets. Not only that, but shopping for a lift is harder than Chinese Calculus too. This kit comes with this but none of those, and the other comes something else, but not everything you need.
Lately I am finding a particular Gray Colored kit (manufacturers name withheld) that "seems" to be quite a bit less expensive than other "well known" kits. Now, I am not trying to knock anyone that is trying to make a buck, and hell, I should design and build one myself if I think it's that cheap easy to do right? But my point is all kits are made relatively the same, and out of the same materials. So should the expectation be that they all will be perform (in general terms) about the same? -AM I ALL F'd up here?

Krawlersaur

I just made a thread on a 4" 'grey' kit that has almost everything you would need. So far my 2.5" 'grey' lift has been fantastic. And there have been a few chimes on my thread that the 4" 'grey' lift is just as good. Plus the 'grey' people have excellent customer service.

Atch

I believe they are not all the same. I spent more on my kit than others in my club and they complain about how rough it rides on road or off. Whereas my kit rides great both on and offroad. Yeah some kits through in a bunch of stuff they claim you need but it's not always the case, you just need to do your research. Perhaps you can find other jk owners with kits you're looking at to ride with to see if its worth purchasing.

Patman

Like most things in life, you get what you pay for...

That said, a lot of the price is what is included and what's not. What you need in a lift based on what kind of driving you plan on doing (street vs trail, etc)

And, to some extent, you're paying for a name.

Smashboogie 4x4

It really depends on the wheeling you do. Rock Krawler for instance uses 2" solid steel alloy arms and backs the product with a life time abuse proof warranty. Does the "grey" kit offer that?

How robust are the arms? Is the arm something that will bend or even break? If you are just riding on the street then you will be fine with hollow arms, but once you go to the trails you need something stout.

You definitely get what you pay for.

Jk_Dean

Ok This makes me laugh. Is that grey kit rough country. I have one loved the price and it does what I need. Just saying.

Freewill

I totally think you get what you pay for. In general, a lift kit with 4 springs and 4 shocks will cost less than one with some brackets, bump stops, sway bar links and other parts. Premium kits with track bars, controls arms, discos, and premium shocks will cost the most.

But there are quality differences too. For example:

• Springs from brand 'A' might have a reputation for sag, while springs from brand 'B' don't.
• Shocks in one kit might be generic with a brand name stuck on, while another kit might use Bilteins or Fox.
• Not all track bars or control arms are built to the same standards.

Mostly when kit 'A' is supposed to be overpriced compared to kit 'B', things equal out a lot when you add the parts or brand names to kit 'B' to make it equal to kit 'A'.

There's no point in buying a kit with stuff you don't think you need. But if you want or need the stuff, it will cost some bucks.

EzK

Attention to detail = price hike.

It may not improve performance in all cases but it feels good when the welds on your parts look more like art than a jumbled mess.

dognights

Im confused by the Original post really. If you dont want to spend money on a lift then just dont. To complain about what someone charges to develop, mass produce, test, warranty, and ship you everything you need to lift your jeep up in a few hours is just nonsense. If you dont want to pay for all of that work then make your own. You are dealing with relatively small production specialized parts that are meant to get pounded on by rocks under the worst conditions, and still get you home safely. Next time you complain about the price of a quality product ask yourself what not standing on the side of the road after something breaks is worth to you. After you do all of that ask yourself, if you did all of the work to build something like that, then the time to build a product that you are going to warranty for life in some cases, that you have to build, coat, ship. What would you charge for the product? When you start selling lift kits for $150 bucks you let me know ok.

TheTerminator

I think it would be easier to answer your question if you listed a few lifts you are considering. That way people could comment on them, based on their experiences and observations. Lifts in the thousands of dollars always have more components in them, and sometimes fancy shocks. You can't really compare that to an entry level lift kit from Rough Country or Teraflex. On the same level though, I've never seen one lift manufacturer explain why their lift costs 2x more than another, of the same kind.