I'm talking about the Jeep. After my last trip to Uwharrie National Forest with SORA I decided that something had to be done about the extremely rough / stiff ride that my 99? Jeep TJ had. After consulting with Joe over at Darlington Offroad and the guys with SORA, I decided that the poor ride quality was from an incorrect lift being installed on the Jeep.

The kit that was installed on the Jeep before I bought it seems to have been a very entry level lift, not having upper control arms for front or rear, and only new control arms for the front. When I purchased it, of course I didn?t know that much about Jeeps and the stuff that goes on them, so I just saw a lifted Jeep and thought it was good to go.

This was a completely wrong belief though.

After doing a great deal of research on all the lift kits out there, I settled on the Rough Country 4? X-Series Suspension Lift. This kit comes complete with:

Front and rear coil springs, front and rear upper and lower adjustable control arms, transfer case drop kit, front and rear track bar drop brackets, sway bar quick disconnects, power steering pitman arm, and 4 Heckethorn Nitro 9000 series shocks.?

There are a few key things about this lift kit that made me decide to purchase it. First, it is the only kit at this price that comes with all 8 control arms, plus the fact that they are all adjustable. The next key point is that it comes with shocks, unlike most other kits that require you to purchase them seperate. The only complaint I have heard about the shocks is that their first generation allowed the tires to ?pick?. I took this to mean that during sharp turns, the inside tire would pick up off the road. Of course, I don't use my Jeep as a daily street racecar, so I didn't consider this an issue. Plus, the shocks have been revised since those comments were made about the shocks.

Of course people are going to say that I get what I pay for. Since this kit is cheaper than others on the market, they assume that it will break easier. My personal belief is the same, however, I do believe that companies can bring a competitive product to market for a lower price than their competitors, they just better be able to back their product up. Since I don?t drive the Jeep every day, and usually only once or twice a month, I will not be testing the product as a daily driver, but I do use the Jeep on the trail, and I like to test the toys I have bought, so we will just have to wait to see if Rough Country's lift can meet the challenge.

I also purchased a Mile Marker SE9500 winch. Since this will be my first winch I compared straight numbers and prices. I was unable to really find any reviews/comparisons of different brands of winches.

I called up Robin at Rocky Mountain Suspension and ordered both the winch and lift kit. After looked around the internet, Customer service and pricing were factors in my purchase, but also the fact that they are located in the same small city that I work in. I would recommend a website update for them. Check out osCommerce for a free ecommerce solution.

Next, I knew I would need at least a winch plate, if not a new bumper. This might possibly be the hardest decision I have made in a hard time. I was seriously considering LoD bumpers because I have repeatedly used Eddie?s web site to help me get through other Jeep projects. I decided not to order from them for a couple reasons. The first reason was because of the wait time for their bumpers. The web site says to give them 5 to 6 weeks lead time for orders, but people posting on the forums say it is usually longer. Tying up $1700 dollars for 2 months is not exactly something I like. Also, a company that doesn?t list a phone number on their site obviously doesn?t want to talk to you. Of course I did a Whois check on www.domaintools.com and got their number, but if they don't want to talk to me, then I really don't need to order from them. The last reason I decided not to go with them is because they don?t list a warranty anywhere on their site.

I was searching on ebay.com for 'TJ Bumpers' when I came across a killer rear bumper/tire carrier by a company called Koz Offroad. I took a look at their website and was instantly set on buying one of their bumpers as long as I didn?t find any complaints about them online. I set to searching for more information for them on google.com. I actually couldn?t find any information about them. After digging long and hard, I finally found only one comment by Chele. She starts by saying she "Got this great new bumper with swing out tire carrier?? Then she says ?I DO NOT recommend doing business with them. For several reasons: a) They said they had it in stock yet it took over a month to get it mailed off b) As many times as I e-mailed them or called them, they only called me back once and that was the day before they mailed it off."

I decided that I would give them a call and test out Chele's complaint. I left a message on their machine at around 1pm on Tuesday. Wednesday I got a call back at about 2pm. They had the rear bumpers in stock and only one front bumper in stock. Both of them shipped would have been around $1700. Since I was unsure about committing to a front and a rear bumper, I ordered the only front bumper they had in stock. It was the fully loaded model with lights and winch plate.

I would note here that unlike LoD, Koz Offroad had their phone number in plain sight on their website and their warranty, "You bend it, break it we replace it." Of course there is no way to determine if they will stand behind this, or if they will even be in business tomorrow, but I decided that it was worth that chance.

A write up will follow once I get the goods.

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