A bit overdue but nonetheless the start of a few series that we will have going for blog posts. This first series is Common Misconceptions, things people things that are commonly misunderstood. I will try to keep posting weekly, but don't hold me to it because like a Delorean, I will be unreliable and underperform. Speaking of underperforming, I am not a writer, I am going to do my best with these but don't be surprised when I don't end up writing like Road and Track or Sean Holman and Co. at Four Wheeler Magazine(You're welcome for that shoutout Sean, only 95 more to go until we are even). Just want to make some informative posts with a dash of my personality and twist sprinkled in.
Anyways, getting into the meat of the topic, people thinking that they don't need any quality lift kit or suspension components because they are "only driving it on the street" and "never taking it offroad". There are many reasons why we like and do not like some suspension companies, which I will likely get into detail in a later post, but in short, quality of materials and poor engineering are the two biggest reasons. Someone coming in asking us if we will install a company that we deemed to be of low quality we WILL refuse. Not because we don't like you, want to make you feel bad about a purchase, or anything that you may think when you first hear the words "we will not install that due to the quality of the components", we simply want to let you know that we do not find it to be an appropriate kit to be installed on a vehicle. We will have plenty to recommend as alternatives, from something higher end to something still in the budget but significantly higher quality than some other budget brands.
What many people don't realize is that if your vehicle is primarily on road, you WANT the nicer lift kits, when you have you, your friends, and your family in the vehicle going 80 mph on the highway you want something that is comfortable and reliable. If you are offroading, reliability is obviously a good thing to have, but if you break something at 5 mph it will be much less scary and dangerous than breaking something at highway speeds. Hell, we have a Suburban that we use for an off road rig with 4 wheel steering on 40s, I have personally been a passenger driving that truck minimally on roads when we went to Drummond Island, it is a nerve wracking experience, but it was not designed for high speeds nor does it need to be. Do you get some offroad benefits with going with some components? Absolutely! For example in a Jeep TJ, anything with a 4 inch lift or bigger we recommend going with a long arm kit, sure there are some inherently better off road characteristics with long arms, but the main reason we suggest it is to get the control arms flatter, and with longer range of motion means everything moves smoother on the street.
To sum up my word vomit, the fact of wanting a lower quality suspension because you only take it to work is bass ackwards because there is much, MUCH more at stake driving at high speeds with other road goers and potential passengers than driving at low speeds through a trail. Also, don't think I am saying buy the bad kit for your offroad rig either. Get that GenRight Elite suspension for your JK and have us install it, you deserve it. While you're at it, throw an LS in there too.
- Jake Dinelli