I'm not a super mechanic or a super rock crawler dude...just a hunting and messin' around in the outback kind of guy and my 4" procomp lift has worked flawlessly for about 3 years.

Yea Anything that says Pro Comp or Smittybilt is usually crap. Though I will probably buy the mesh top by Smittybilt.

Things I regret
Smittybilt hood lock (broke on me and they never line up properly), Proximity Alarm, Stereo System, Old KC 130w Daylighters (let off yellow light), possibly my rear huge Tuffy Drawer (it requires me to undo parts of my soft top to open the drawer, and its freaking loud in the back),

I buy quality now, I used to be the cheapest guy buying all the Chinese stuff, but now im more about quality. Even bought myself some Shun knives = )

All about comparable. I wore cheap shoes long ago. I now buy a higher quality and more expensive shoe and it makes a HUGE difference in comfort. Had i not have found a super sale on them I may have never tried it. Now i can never go back cause I know now what i would be missing. My advice to you then would be to be happy with what you got now cause later if you get a better lift you will truly kick yourself, but you will be wiser for it.....

Regarding Pro-Comp and Smittybilt - would you guys put Rugged Ridge in that same category?

agreed, love that you compared "cheap" shoes to a pro comp lift

I guess the analogy fits..............

3" Body Lift. I didnt put it on, it was on the Jeep when I bought it but I hate it. Its coming off and suspension lift going on!!

If the shoe fits.....buhdump pshhhh.

don't remember name but was a guy in idaho.be very careful on ebay lots of crap.

couldnt tell ya, ive never bought Rugged Ridge

Yeah pretty much!

That's been my experience w/ them.

did you get the RC?

You know there are some items that just aren't really important or are kinda hard to screw up where I'd feel comfortable buying something from them and the others. Like a steering box skid . . . pretty hard to screw something like that up, but anything that I need quality, durability, or attention to detail, I'll avoid those companies. For example, I noticed how Smitty brought out a bunch of new things like tube fenders and what not . . . in the pics in the catalog, they look pretty much like the more expensive companies, but then you see them in person up close and although the overall design might be fine as it was probably just reverse manufactured from someone else's design anyway, the quality of the welds, powdercoat, etc was pathetic.

Yup, Smittybilt makes cool looking shit. But the quality isnt up to par, kinda like those plastic chinese guns I used to get as a kid, looked great but broke within a day.

Smittybilt makes all their products in China now. They took a good company with good products and turned themselves into a distributor for Chinese junk that was reverse engineered from quality American products... leaving the quality and engineering out. In strictly my personal opinion of course.

I had one of their 1st American bumpers. bought way back in 90. It was a great piece, never had a issue. If every company started to have every thing made in china how can we afford to buy the junk when we dont have a job......
They took our Job.....
They took our Job.....

Now......

I would have bought a new drive shaft for the rear, instead of cutting down an XJ shaft. It was a gamble, and I knew it. My gamble lost me money. The pin that goes into the centering ball was worn on my junkyard shaft, but you can't tell that when you buy it. After a year and a half, it was completely worn out. The cost to repair it was just as much as a new TW drive shaft. I should have just bought the TW shaft to begin with.

this thread has a lot of potential to save people some time and $, keep them coming

So bumpity bump

Not yet, been trying to get everything lined up before I order. Gonna do the 2.5" lift with the 1.25" body lift, gonna swap over to black DC-1's, also trying to figure out which fender flares to order.

Thanks, I actually lost that bid. Now I am buying both front and back bumpers custom built by a guy in Corona, Ca. with a squeeze of lime

I actually hear the SB XRC-8 winch is pretty nice and reliable, and its only $299

I hate to say it, cause RR makes some attractive gear (at least on paper), but I have not had too much luck with them so far. I bought the tube bumper from them and it bent after I had a small fender bender with a van, which ended up with only a small dent in its rear hatch.
I also bought seat covers from them and they look good except that the seams started to rip withen a fews days of instillation.
I guess you could say that RR is nice for cheap, good looks, but will never hold up in the end

You know, now that I think about, I saw a purple Jeep Wrangler TJ one time with neon yellow painted fender flares, brush guard and rims. Fugly. Yeah, I'd say that was one owners big ass mistake right there. I wonder where he moved to..

Said already, multiple times, but I'll add to it. Airaid filter. Should have stayed stock.

try the Pre-filter they sell for airaid it has made a HUGE difference for me. If I happen to get it wet water beads right up on the cover and doesn't go through to the filter. I also cake it in mud from time to time, I just pull it off rinse it and it's good as new, and the filter stays perfectly clean as well. It's not water proof but so far it's pretty damn water resistant.

I haven't put enough into my Wrangler to regret it yet, but I'll talk about what I feel the previous owner should have regretted.

this

this



this



this



and this

Locking gas cap from Jeep...

Ok, I actually inherited the locking gas cap... but it is a piece of junk. I am going to the dealer to get a plain-ole regular gas cap. I can not get the stupid cap off... actually worried that I will have to pay the dealership to get the thing off.

LOL, I don't know that I'd try drilling that lock out.

my SHITTYBUILT flares! total junk i open the box look at the flimsy flares and sent them back i have xenon flares now sosososoosso much better!