Frankenlift vs Rockfather II

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Fri Aug 18, 2006 7:16 pm

Rock Krawler? Rock Krawler? Oh my blood is..........

Hahaha!!! Just kidding.

Don't hold your breath and do cross your fingers and maybe when you get back the SuperLift will be out. If you hold your breath, can I have your KJ?

BJ'naKJ · **Posted:** Fri Aug 18, 2006 10:15 pm

OK, some real time evaluation on Rocky Road customer service.
I ordered the Rockfather II for my '06 CRD on Wed. 8/16, late afternoon.
I called about 24 hours later, Thur. 8/17 to inquire on possible shipping dates. The person I spoke with, after some checking, said that the OME struts were back-ordered and that it would be about two weeks before the kit shipped.
I got to work this morning, Fri. 8/18 and had an e-mail from Rocky Road with an UPS tracking code that the order had indeed shipped. It has a delivery date of Tues. 8/22.
I will update with actual receipt or not.

EOD-KJ · **Posted:** Sat Aug 19, 2006 3:38 am

BJ'naKJ wrote:

OK, some real time evaluation on Rocky Road customer service.
I ordered the Rockfather II for my '06 CRD on Wed. 8/16, late afternoon.
I called about 24 hours later, Thur. 8/17 to inquire on possible shipping dates. The person I spoke with, after some checking, said that the OME struts were back-ordered and that it would be about two weeks before the kit shipped.
I got to work this morning, Fri. 8/18 and had an e-mail from Rocky Road with an UPS tracking code that the order had indeed shipped. It has a delivery date of Tues. 8/22.
I will update with actual receipt or not.

some more input on the customer service...since the 15th me and glenn have been talking over emails, he replies quickly and is very helpful about helping me out
....

so that . plus their ebay feedback, and others views, show me NO REASON not to trsut them, they seem solid and very friendly....they just dont have a lot of recognition here because they dont advertise or self-promote like others here (not that is BAD they do)

and because of the RRO OTT mishap...but oh well

that wont sway my decision

sqliberty · **Joined:** Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:08 pm **Posts:** 207

I have the Rockfather II kit with the HD springs on my 02. I like it, it rides great. The only issue I had was having to wait for my lift about 2 weeks because the rear Doetch Tech shocks were back ordered, Which in the end came off anyway as they we terrible shocks, they didn't fit right and rode awful. I replaced them with the Ranchos from All J's and all is well.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Sat Aug 19, 2006 6:40 pm

sqliberty wrote:

I have the Rockfather II kit with the HD springs on my 02. I like it, it rides great. The only issue I had was having to wait for my lift about 2 weeks because the rear Doetch Tech shocks were back ordered, Which in the end came off anyway as they we terrible shocks, they didn't fit right and rode awful. I replaced them with the Ranchos from All J's and all is well.

Are those Doetch Tech shocks the standard shocks for the lift? If so, then the Rockfather II is no longer an original Rockfather II lift kit. Bad kit components make it a bad kit. You had to pay extra to replace the crappy shocks so that means a lot more money spent for it than expected.

Someone else might like the Doetch so no extra moeny spent and the kit is okay.

All comes down to the individual's taste.

AZScout · **Posted:** Sat Aug 19, 2006 6:55 pm

To answer the question above, I have the Rancho struts as they didn't have the OME at that time. From what i understand there are about 14 different springs that Jeep uses depending on the build, and this is for the gasser. I hope someone comes up with springs for a CRD lift in the near future. word was that OME was going to make one about 8 mo. ago but I have heard nothing since.

jpzkj · **Posted:** Sat Aug 19, 2006 7:31 pm

EOD-KJ wrote:

BJ'naKJ wrote:

.they just dont have a lot of recognition here because they dont advertise or self-promote like others here (not that is BAD they do)

and because of the RRO OTT mishap...but oh well

that wont sway my decision

All J's doesn't "self promote" They do adverstise and donate some very cool stuff to our events (Moab in particular). Their loyal customers support them becuase they've supported the LOST community since the beginning with some of the most durable and capable products available to us.

You might not have been around here when there was alot of problems w/Rocky Roads service. Granted it was a while ago but thats the kind of thing that sticks with people. If their service has gotten better..great, thats good for our community as a whole. Good luck with your Lift.

alljeep · **Posted:** Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:17 am

AZScout wrote:

I just wanted to put my .02 cents in... I was the first one with a Frankenlift on a CRD.

A month before Moab I went to AllJ's and with the help of AllJ, Clint and Nolan we put a Powertrax locker, Boulderbars, Prototype AllJ skid for the CRD, and Frankenlift on my CRD. Near closing time, I took it for a test drive and found the front end making noise with too much side to side play and bouncing up and down when hitting a bump. I came back and told AllJ's and after a slight pause (it was around 7:00PM) they graciously pulled all of their tools back out and we redid the lift. Same result. Long story short, at 9:00PM, we found that the spring rate on the HD OME was not quite strong enough for the CRD's extra weight, which I hear is 300 pounds heavier than the gas. I dont know if that is true or not but while at Moab, Clint redid the lift for me to the Daystar. The drive to Moab incidentally was very nerve-racking as the CRD was handling like a pogo stick and taking corners was a white knuckle experience as I would get extreme sway. After the Daystar, everything was much better. This is my 3rd Liberty and both have had the Daystar. I've wheeled in Moab with a Liberty since 2001 and was one of first three (Me, Deserthorizons, and Alex) when we had to go with a JU group. I know nothing about the CRD Frankenlift that they have now but if my Daystar needs an upgrade this is what I m getting. Their customer service is unmatched and their products go through extreme testing before it is put out on the market. If all the lifts are equal in the end, I would go with a KJ supporter.

Just my .02 cents

Hope this helps.

Dave
_________________
2005 Black CRD Sport
2.5" Daystar lift
All J BoulderBars
All J Superskid
Kilby Gas Skid
Yukon Rear Axles
265/75 16 TrXus M/T's
Aero Turbine 2525

BJ'naKJ wrote:

OK, some real time evaluation on Rocky Road customer service.
I ordered the Rockfather II for my '06 CRD on Wed. 8/16, late afternoon.
I called about 24 hours later, Thur. 8/17 to inquire on possible shipping dates. The person I spoke with, after some checking, said that the OME struts were back-ordered and that it would be about two weeks before the kit shipped.
I got to work this morning, Fri. 8/18 and had an e-mail from Rocky Road with an UPS tracking code that the order had indeed shipped. It has a delivery date of Tues. 8/22.
I will update with actual receipt or not.

Well, let us know how things go. What I've learned from this thread is that the Rockfather II is using the same OME HD Springs that were tried in the CRD and ended up being too bouncy (i.e. - the springs for the export 2.5L CRD) and that they have not made new springs yet for the 2.8L CRD. Soooooooooo, let us know how it goes and proceed with care when you go test driving.....

Good info in here. It was nice to hear from the actual person that had the HD OME springs test fitted on the 2.8L CRD and hear why they did not work for them. I'm going to print this out and stick it in my Jeep file for reference.

BJ'naKJ · **Posted:** Tue Aug 22, 2006 9:34 am

alljeep wrote:

Well, let us know how things go.

I will. It's supposed to be delivered today and I hope to get it installed this weekend.

I am cautiously optimistic on how the springs will hold up. Glenn with Rocky Road, who seems completely honest to me, has assured me that many successful lifts have been achieved using this setup on the CRD.

I still would like to know what strut setup was used on that original allJ CRD lift.

EOD-KJ · **Posted:** Tue Aug 22, 2006 4:13 pm

well my rockfather II is on order now, aftermarket bumper HD setup for my ARB bull bar that is on the way too

man...3 more months, cant wait

AZScout · **Posted:** Tue Aug 22, 2006 5:53 pm

"I still would like to know what strut setup was used on that original allJ CRD lift."

Rancho's... see three posts above yours. I might be going for the OME struts now that I may have some extra weight in the front

In the end, I hope it works for you and they have a great product. Maybe there was a change in the spring rate and it was not advertised. Maybe something in the lift itself makes it ok. In the end, we want all KJ'ers to be happy and all shops building things for KJ's to be successful because we win in the long run. I for one would like a coil lift up front instead of pucks, and if someone figured out how to do it successfully, I'm in. As it is, I'm still waiting for that day...

BJ'naKJ · **Posted:** Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:12 am

AZScout wrote:

Rancho's... see three posts above yours. I might be going for the OME struts now that I may have some extra weight in the front.

I wonder if the Ranchos were at least part of the problem. For the kit to not work at all right out of the box, it doesn't seem to me and my limited knowledge, that the springs were too weak and failing.
I've been in cars that exhibited the bouncing and swaying in the front with springs that were known to be too stiff and overpowered the rest of the suspension.
I've heard that there are examples of installations where the OME springs started to sag shortly after install. That is what I'm mostly concerned with.

hurleyskis · **Posted:** Tue Sep 05, 2006 1:35 pm

Just looking for an update.......

EOD-KJ · **Posted:** Tue Sep 05, 2006 2:10 pm

well mine took 4 days to get the parts in and 4 days to get to hawaii

im stil in iraq and my friend received them for me, so i dont know anything about it yet

will report back in december

AZScout · **Posted:** Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:47 pm

Ok...Keep safe.

BJ'naKJ · **Posted:** Tue Sep 05, 2006 4:42 pm

I received everything except the OME struts about a week after I ordered the kit.
I went ahead and installed the rear suspension which went fairly well. The springs are easy to get off, but I did have to temporarily remove the mounting point for the brake line on the drivers side of the chasis. After I was done I remounted it and I don't think it will be a problem. I know allJ sells a new bracket for the line and to eliminate any possible problems it probably would be a good idea to use it.
I received the rest of the parts last week and went back to work installing the front this past weekend. Everything went easier than I anticipated.
With the Rockfather you have to disassemble the strut/coil with a press, and then mount the new spring and strut using the stock spring pads and strut top plate.
I had a shop do the press work and observed an interesting thing with the springs. When compressed, the first new spring stayed nice and straight. However the second spring kept contorting from side to side when compressed making it difficult to get the strut mounted. We eventually got it done but I wonder how consistent the spring rates/integrity are between the two new springs.
Everthing went back together without a hitch until I broke the bolt holding the swaybar to the lower a-arm with too much torque.
Now that it's back together it's sitting right at 3" higher than before. I've ordered some 245/75 MT/Rs that I'll take to get mounted this weekend and have an alignment done.
Then the real test begins to see how the front setup holds up over time...

kolesy · **Posted:** Tue Sep 05, 2006 5:26 pm

BJ'naKJ wrote:

I received everything except the OME struts about a week after I ordered the kit.
I went ahead and installed the rear suspension which went fairly well. The springs are easy to get off, but I did have to temporarily remove the mounting point for the brake line on the drivers side of the chasis. After I was done I remounted it and I don't think it will be a problem. I know allJ sells a new bracket for the line and to eliminate any possible problems it probably would be a good idea to use it.
I received the rest of the parts last week and went back to work installing the front this past weekend. Everything went easier than I anticipated.
With the Rockfather you have to disassemble the strut/coil with a press, and then mount the new spring and strut using the stock spring pads and strut top plate.
I had a shop do the press work and observed an interesting thing with the springs. When compressed, the first new spring stayed nice and straight. However the second spring kept contorting from side to side when compressed making it difficult to get the strut mounted. We eventually got it done but I wonder how consistent the spring rates/integrity are between the two new springs.
Everthing went back together without a hitch until I broke the bolt holding the swaybar to the lower a-arm with too much torque.
Now that it's back together it's sitting right at 3" higher than before. I've ordered some 245/75 MT/Rs that I'll take to get mounted this weekend and have an alignment done.
Then the real test begins to see how the front setup holds up over time...

Good stuff man! I think the issue with the springs was just a tech having some problems. If you don't have the compressor setup just right the spring will kind of contort like that. I had that problem with the crappy compressor i was using and had to actually take them somewhere to get them reassembled.

Frankenlift vs Rockfather II

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