Frankenlift vs Rusty's

callaway · **Posted:** Wed Feb 07, 2007 2:03 pm

What are the differences between these 2? They look to be about the same but the frankenlift is a few hundred more. Is this due to quality or is the frankenlift a better lift overall?

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Wed Feb 07, 2007 2:42 pm

The franken lift uses different front springs along with a different upper spring plate, and a daystar(I believe) spacer below the spring. The Franken lift is a higher lift than the rustys. :wink:

The franken lift comes with the rear Rancho shocks which are better than the rustys rear shocks. You can get the rustys lift without the rear shocks, and buy the ranchos. I believe that the rustys lift uses OME front shocks also.. You can get either OME or Ranchos front shocks with the franken lift.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Wed Feb 07, 2007 3:38 pm

The Frankie front struts/springs already come shipped put together. You don't have to deal with the extra work of compressing. Just remove the old ones and toss in the new ones.

lilmatty · **Posted:** Wed Feb 07, 2007 7:03 pm

The Frankenlift has been VERY trail tested on some VERY serious trails. It's also offered by AllJ, a VERY VERY great sponsor of LOST.

Most I know that have gone from any other lift to the Frankenlift know how much better their rig wheels after.

Mango~Ridge · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:05 am

Quote:

You can get either OME or Ranchos front shocks with the franken lift.

What is the differance between the two? Since the backs are Rancho, wouldn't it be a good thing to match the front? What did others get as their choice of front shocks with the Franken lift?

lilmatty · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:25 am

I only had Ranchos as my choice and I'll swear by them all the way.

Science_Guy · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 9:27 am

lilmatty wrote:

The Frankenlift has been VERY trail tested on some VERY serious trails. It's also offered by AllJ, a VERY VERY great sponsor of L.O.S.T..

I would also say that the Rustys has been VERY trail tested on some VERY serious trails. Rusty's does not sponcer LOST though so I will give you that one. Either lift is a quality buy. If you are looking to get the most lift, wheel enough to break it in right, and can afford the cost, go with the Frankenlift ($750). If you are looking for the most lift on a budget, go with the Rustys ($465). For myself, it came down to the fact that I did not want to spend a few hundred $ on the .3 inch or so I would get out of the Franklift vs the Rustys. I also did not want to worry about ball joint contact which which some have experienced with a Frankenlift until it settles. The custom control arms ($375) from JeepinAl prevents this but again, I was on a budget.

Understand that this is one of the things that if a very personal choice. Only you know how you will use your rig. Sit down and evaluate your budget and how you want to allocate those costs. For me, the $285 I saved on my Rusty lift is going toward more mods like a locker.

Eddo · **Joined:** Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 1214

Mango~Ridge wrote:

Quote:

You can get either OME or Ranchos front shocks with the franken lift.

What is the differance between the two? Since the backs are Rancho, wouldn't it be a good thing to match the front? What did others get as their choice of front shocks with the Franken lift?

The OME shocks and struts are better. The Rancho's are not bad, but the front end bounces around alot more than with the Rancho. Plus the Rancho's in the rear are not speced for the KJ so they don't ride as well in the rear as the new OME long travel shocks.

I believe the frankenlift use to come with Rancho struts standard and an upgrade to OME struts. They don't do that anymore though. Not sure why. Maybe a supply issue. However the CRD frankenlifts still come with OME struts.

elephantrider · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 10:46 am

ill agree with science guy.

my rustys lift has been tested on some VERY TOUGH trail runs and it holds up just as well as the franky.

it really just comes donw to how much money you want to spend.

moose · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 10:55 am

jasonk wrote:

ill agree with science guy.

my rustys lift has been tested on some VERY TOUGH trail runs and it holds up just as well as the franky.

it really just comes donw to how much money you want to spend.

I think the components are slightly higher quality in the Frankenlift though.... But I agree that they are both good lifts.

mb818 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 11:56 am

Quote:

I think the components are slightly higher quality in the Frankenlift though.... But I agree that they are both good lifts.

what components? rusty's comes with OME front struts and Rusty's own custom springs... granted the rear shocks leave a lot to be desired, but that horse has been beat to death already... other than that, what do you get that's better? the franky comes with some daystar hardware, but all that gets you is more front end lift (bad for CV's) and more front end droop (bad for upper ball joints)... and the springs on the franky are OME which are shorter that rusty's anyway, hence the need for the front spacer pucks and some people even need to lift the rear more so their KJ doesn't look like a trophy truck all jacked up in the front.

Mark

moose · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:30 pm

mb818 wrote:

Quote:

I think the components are slightly higher quality in the Frankenlift though.... But I agree that they are both good lifts.

what components? rusty's comes with OME front struts and Rusty's own custom springs... granted the rear shocks leave a lot to be desired, but that horse has been beat to death already... other than that, what do you get that's better? the franky comes with some daystar hardware, but all that gets you is more front end lift (bad for CV's) and more front end droop (bad for upper ball joints)... and the springs on the franky are OME which are shorter that rusty's anyway, hence the need for the front spacer pucks and some people even need to lift the rear more so their KJ doesn't look like a trophy truck all jacked up in the front.

Mark

Just thought I read about the Rusty's sagging after a while....

Gringo Loco · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:36 pm

Here's a link of some people trying to get a group buy going with Rusty's. If you are really thinking of going with that kit, it might be worth looking into.

Jeephead1977 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:44 pm

LOL tell me people aren't passionate about their lift kits I never seen so many people get so fired up about describing hardware options. You would think this was a political or religious discussion but I suppose to a lot of people this stuff is religion. Maybe we should just have a sticky with testimonials and opinions on the different lift kits get a parts breakdown for each one and let the people speak. I have seen this debate come up a bunch of times in the couple months I have been a member. I think it would be nice to just have a reference for everyone to look at just an idea

moose · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:55 pm

Jeephead1977 wrote:

LOL tell me people aren't passionate about their lift kits I never seen so many people get so fired up about describing hardware options. You would think this was a political or religious discussion but I suppose to a lot of people this stuff is religion. Maybe we should just have a sticky with testimonials and opinions on the different lift kits get a parts breakdown for each one and let the people speak. I have seen this debate come up a bunch of times in the couple months I have been a member. I think it would be nice to just have a reference for everyone to look at just an idea

unixxx has a wikipedia for the KJ, I'd bet it has what your asking for.

let the infidels speak along with the true believers? :wink:

sorry, i guess i've seen one too many shows on radical islam (ok, it was the south park with muhammad)

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 4:06 pm

moose wrote:

Just thought I read about the Rusty's sagging after a while....

Ive read the same thing.. Wonder if these people have any kind of extra hardware on the front that adds more weight?

cowdogg · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 4:43 pm

Jeepjeepster wrote:

moose wrote:

Just thought I read about the Rusty's sagging after a while....

Ive read the same thing.. Wonder if these people have any kind of extra hardware on the front that adds more weight?

It could have been anti- Rusty's propaganda you were reading? Rusty took the time to research and develop an excellent lift with springs manufactured specifically for the kit and a lot of people don't like that. :wink:

RespectMyLibertay · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 5:04 pm

Science_Guy wrote:

For myself, it came down to the fact that I did not want to spend a few hundred $ on the .3 inch or so I would get out of the Franklift vs the Rustys. I also did not want to worry about ball joint contact which which some have experienced with a Frankenlift until it settles. The custom control arms ($375) from JeepinAl prevents this but again, I was on a budget.

I'm not sure how many people have had problems with their UBJs after installing a Frankenlift. I mean, there was that one really PO'ed dude that was just bashing the heck out of All-J...but I don't think anyone knows what happened there. There have been different versions of the Frankenlift. I got the first version (Rancho springs and struts, OME front springs, Skyjacker rear springs, Daystar hardware). I think NO ONE has had problems with that version. It was when they started offering the HD spring up front that people had problems with settling and getting UBJ contact because of the taller-than-normal strut assembly. Now those springs are standard :?:

... All-J has told people many times that they need to be broken in, and I think most people underestimate that. Yeh, that might stink, but I think they did it to get a better ride with less sag over time, especially if you have an aftermarket front bumper.

If I were you, Callaway, I'd get Al's a-arms no matter what lift I got. The stock upper a-arms and their ball joints, along with the lower ball joints, are piss-poor design. Al's arms fix your alignment and put less stress on the new ball joint. Either way, anything with a grease-zerk is 100x better than something without one. If you get a tear in one of your UBJs, this could happen:

I tore the upper ball joint boots myself when installing the lift. I was 17 at that time; I'm 18 now, and much smarter :lol:

. It had nothing to do with my Frankenlift. I knew about the tears, and was planning on getting Al's arms any day when that happened. As a result, my Jeep was on stands for 2 weeks. But, thankfully, nothing else was damaged (thank god I was going 5 MPH on dirt) and all I had to do was replace the arms and everything was back to normal. Oh yeh, my tire got a few cuts, but after 7,000 of driving the scrapes have disappeared. I consider myself INCREDIBLY lucky.

moose · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 6:02 pm

cowdogg wrote:

Jeepjeepster wrote:

moose wrote:

Just thought I read about the Rusty's sagging after a while....

Ive read the same thing.. Wonder if these people have any kind of extra hardware on the front that adds more weight?

It could have been anti- Rusty's propaganda you were reading? Rusty took the time to research and develop an excellent lift with springs manufactured specifically for the kit and a lot of people don't like that. :wink:

Hey, I was days away from a Rusty's lift when Miah posted a 6 week used Frankenlift for what Rusty's & shipping would cost. I had decided that Rusty's was the best bang for the buck. But, when an almost new Frankie popped up for the same price...

callaway · **Posted:** Thu Feb 08, 2007 9:27 pm

i found a used frankenlift that was installed for about a month for a little bit more than a new Rusty's so i think i'm gonna go with that.

should upgrading the arms be done with a franken then?

Frankenlift vs Rusty's

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