Rock Krawler 3.5 X Factor Mid Arm Pro Lift - Opinions?

For comparison sake, you could always swing by Off Road Evolution in Fullerton and ask them to give you a ride in one of their rigs. They do this all the time and it'll at least give you a point of reference.
 
I had the Rock krawler 2.5" flex kit which is the stock mod with extended brake lines and lower front arms. The kit was very stout when i first got it. after having it ont he rig tfor about a year the coatins started wearing off. I called rock krawler and tehy said this was a known problem but not to worry about it. The ride was very stiff compared to stock, but also i had no droop or settling at all. I would go with rock krawler parts again if i had to but im heading towards metalcloak for the new build. Just my two cents not worried about looking like a guy who threw money away on a lift they will praise hahahahaha.
 
I've had the RK 3.5" X factor kit on my JKU for about a year, I have ridden and driven in many setups.

My thoughts...

I love my RK setup. The quality of parts is great and seem to be very well built. The 3.5" nets about 3.75-4". If you purchase a new kit (not used or purchased in the last 7 months) you will receive the triple rate coil springs which helps with ride quality. The jeep flexes pretty well and feels very stable through things. I, however, do not attribute this to only RK since I believe my shocks/tire combo provides the ride I was looking for more than the RK kit itself.

I believe that you can piece meal or buy a kit for cheaper that will provide you the same benefits as the x factor kit. My experience has shown me that its a full package deal. One big thing, if DD'ing, that will change your ride is the shocks. I paired mine up with Rancho 9000's. Also, wheel/tire combo will have a drastic affect on street-ability--I went with the duratracs and a buddy has Toyo MTs...his does better in mud but mine is better on the road. Another thing to get is the adjustable control arms. The buddy, previously mentioned, has a Rough Country 4" lift and I think could benefit heavily from adjustable control arms and different shocks. His ride would probably be the same with control arms and shock change.

You can get the same ride quality and performance by going with pretty much any kit, ensuring to get adjustable control arms, and the correct shocks for your need. I've had numerous people mention that RK's stuff is supposed to be stiff and not good for DD'ing. This might have been true with the old coils that RK put in their kits (no longer) and depends on their shock choice.


I set mine up with DDing in mind first. I'm running RK 3.5" X Factor, Rancho Shocks, 325/65 Duratracs and the thing is smooth as glass and flexes really well on the weekends. You can obtain this ride without spending as much though. I'm happy with what I have because I got a killer deal on the x factor kit ($1250) but would have looked at other kits harder if I was spending the 1800-2000 MSRP.
 
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mastrcruse said:
I've had the RK 3.5" X factor kit on my JKU for about a year, I have ridden and driven in many setups.

My thoughts...

I love my RK setup. The quality of parts is great and seem to be very well built. The 3.5" nets about 3.75-4". If you purchase a new kit (not used or purchased in the last 7 months) you will receive the triple rate coil springs which helps with ride quality. The jeep flexes pretty well and feels very stable through things. I, however, do not attribute this to only RK since I believe my shocks/tire combo provides the ride I was looking for more than the RK kit itself.

I believe that you can piece meal or buy a kit for cheaper that will provide you the same benefits as the x factor kit. My experience has shown me that its a full package deal. One big thing, if DD'ing, that will change your ride is the shocks. I paired mine up with Rancho 9000's. Also, wheel/tire combo will have a drastic affect on street-ability--I went with the duratracs and a buddy has Toyo MTs...his does better in mud but mine is better on the road. Another thing to get is the adjustable control arms. The buddy, previously mentioned, has a Rough Country 4" lift and I think could benefit heavily from adjustable control arms and different shocks. His ride would probably be the same with control arms and shock change.

You can get the same ride quality and performance by going with pretty much any kit, ensuring to get adjustable control arms, and the correct shocks for your need. I've had numerous people mention that RK's stuff is supposed to be stiff and not good for DD'ing. This might have been true with the old coils that RK put in their kits (no longer) and depends on their shock choice.


I set mine up with DDing in mind first. I'm running RK 3.5" X Factor, Rancho Shocks, 325/65 Duratracs and the thing is smooth as glass and flexes really well on the weekends. You can obtain this ride without spending as much though. I'm happy with what I have because I got a killer deal on the x factor kit ($1250) but would have looked at other kits harder if I was spending the 1800-2000 MSRP.
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I run the rk 3.5 mid arm x factor as well and I've had it on my jeep for 11 months now and I love it, beefy control arms and track bars, I run mine with bilstein 5100s and I paid 1700 for it through 4ws.com and I would recommend the lift
 
+1 on the RK 3.5" X factor kit (installed Feb 2013) on JKU Rubi. After 2 years I'm satisfied with the investment but NOT overly impressed.

The components are solid and well built but I have not been trilled with the ride. Although acceptable for a DD, it's pretty stiff. My main gripe is/has been the rear control arms and the extended length. I have the lowers cranked to their shortest and the upper rear trackbar bracket just barely clears the right rear bump stop. It took me a week of bottoming out on the highway to finally figure out where the problem was. As WOL stated the design pushes the rear axle back 1". I DON'T like the way the rear springs sit since the upper and lower spring seats no longer line up.

I netted about 4" of lift and with a full compliment of aftermarket bumpers, winch and tire carrier. With 35's and trimmed fenders the wheel well gap was noticeable, it's much better now with 37s. The customer service has been outstanding when I had questions about the install.

As others have said, see if you can try before you invest.
 
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Tanner505 said:
I run the rk 3.5 mid arm x factor as well and I've had it on my jeep for 11 months now and I love it, beefy control arms and track bars, I run mine with bilstein 5100s and I paid 1700 for it through 4ws.com and I would recommend the lift
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Definitely a quality kit. I've ridden and heard the the 5100's are somewhat stiff. Your thoughts?
 
RK makes decent lifts, on par with Synergy, far better than the cheap brands (Pro Comp, BDS, Zone, and the like). Better than the mid-range brands like Metalcloak and Teraflex as well in my opinion (though I do like the Metalcloak springs, but that's about it). The RK Krawler Joint (think that's what they are calling it these days) is a huge and I mean huge improvement over their older joints but not quite Johnny Joint good. The triple rate springs are a massive improvement over their older springs but are still more sports car to EVO Plushride Cadillac. My springs were purchase 8 months or so ago so I got one of their early triple rate coils, I've heard they've continued to tweak spring rates but have no independent confirmation of this, given this, I'd take any comment from someone owning a lift more than 6 months old with a grain of salt as a new lift could potentially ride meaningfully different (my comments included). Customer service is nearly on par with EVO which is best in class in my book.

Ran their 2.5 kit for a while on my 2009 before selling it and going a different direction. Went with EVO and a few others on my current build. Wasn't dissatisfied with RK, but I feel there are better options out there, especially when talking coilovers (reserving judgement on the RK coilovers as they supposedly changed their mounts since the last time I saw a kit which, again supposedly, fixed the sky high ride height problem).
 
I have a RK Pro kit very happy with my combination, with Synergy coils, better than the new RK's but that's a personal preference.
 
I have the RK 3.5" X-factor with the drag link flip kit. I agree with the previous comments. I bought it in April 2014 right as they were shifting solely to the triple rates. They're a bit stiff but there is no sag. Loading up the Jeep is not an issue in regards to decreasing clearance (as it was with their old linear rear springs). I'm also running the RRD 2.0 remote resi-shocks which are awesome. It's a good kit, I detailed a few issues I had in my build thread (rear track bar rubbing on passenger side coil spring and their rear track bar relocation bracket on the axle rubbing the drivers side shock).

I have no experience with their coil over kits.

-Matt
 
JokerJKU said:
RK makes decent lifts, on par with Synergy, far better than the cheap brands (Pro Comp, BDS, Zone, and the like). Better than the mid-range brands like Metalcloak and Teraflex as well in my opinion (though I do like the Metalcloak springs, but that's about it). The RK Krawler Joint (think that's what they are calling it these days) is a huge and I mean huge improvement over their older joints but not quite Johnny Joint good. The triple rate springs are a massive improvement over their older springs but are still more sports car to EVO Plushride Cadillac. My springs were purchase 8 months or so ago so I got one of their early triple rate coils, I've heard they've continued to tweak spring rates but have no independent confirmation of this, given this, I'd take any comment from someone owning a lift more than 6 months old with a grain of salt as a new lift could potentially ride meaningfully different (my comments included). Customer service is nearly on par with EVO which is best in class in my book.

Ran their 2.5 kit for a while on my 2009 before selling it and going a different direction. Went with EVO and a few others on my current build. Wasn't dissatisfied with RK, but I feel there are better options out there, especially when talking coilovers (reserving judgement on the RK coilovers as they supposedly changed their mounts since the last time I saw a kit which, again supposedly, fixed the sky high ride height problem).
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I feel like I've seen you and your bullshit in the past. What was your previous username?
 
Does the max travel have shorter rear control arms I think I read that somewhere before? I have the max travel kit and it's ok I wish I didn't get the 5100's with it but ordered new shocks today.

I have a question who makes good control arms that would be better than RK? I have not been impressed with their control arms and if and when I change out the uppers wonder if there is a better option for short arms than RK?
 
I have the RK 3.5" Max travel kit. I was told by the sales Rep that it is the 3.5" X-factor and also includes the drag link flip kit. I don't normally call it that because a lot of vendors don't offer the Max travel kit.

The Max Flex kit has some different component.
 
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