Rock Krawler Let Me Down Hard!

[TJRON]

I'm angry and need to vent.
I felt my Rock Krawler springs I put on a little over a year ago were fatiguing as the Jeep seemed to dip more when making right hand turns. My shocks and all front end components are in top shape.
The springs are soft and only cost $75 a pair so I felt this was to be expected.
When I called I specifically asked if the present springs were the same as the ones I had bought. The guy told me they were made by a different manufacture but they were to the exact same specs. They are also $100 a pair now. I ordered them.
They are not the same. They have three less coils! They now tell me a spring is a spring and they will perform the same. Of course I argued but the guy was adamant that specs are specs and these springs are manufactured to the original specs and will actually perform better than the old ones due to less sag.
I've read many post of Rock Krawler springs being junk and bowing since I bought mine. I'm not happy. They said they will refund my money when they get them but not my return shipping.
Has any one ran these springs? I'm thinking I should just send them back. Being lied to really ticks me off.
Any comments?

[Dome]

I don't know about the springs Ron but when some one lies to me about there product, it spells the end of my relationship with there company. I'd send them back.
Hows the hand healing? Hope to see you guys next year at Moab. Maybe we can even do a trail together.

Steve

[underDAWG]

I vote for return the springs. It is the principle that matters. The worst part is he tried treat you like a fool

[TJRON]

The hand is doing excellent! I've been working very hard at rehabilitating it and I think it's going to be as close to 100% as possible. I use it now and it's getting strong. The surgeon that reconstructed it did a fine job! I'm very lucky.

Yes, we will definitely do a trail together!

[Joe Dillard]

Sounds as if you spoke to some "salesman" who works for them, not a knowledgeable tech type. Seems you were another victim of sloppy customer assistance.

How about if you try this: Ship them back 1 of each coil (1 old one & 1 new one), then ask them if they are built " to the exact same specs?"

Convert to leafs Ron....you know you want to.

[jeepik]

Originally posted by Joe Dillard
Convert to leafs Ron....you know you want to.

amen.

[Paradiddle]

Originally posted by Joe Dillard
Convert to leafs Ron....you know you want to.

Ron - I can get you a straw hat and a horse to go with those leaf springs when you do the conversion. That and a nice black suit and you'll be plain.



Jeff

[Joe Dillard]

Jeff, don't forget the wooden fuses. lol

[TJRON]

Screw 'em. I put my old RE 4 1/2" springs in that I got back from my son. They're giving me an inch more lift than the sagging RKs. IMO Rock Krawler sucks, like everyone on JU says.
Or, as us old farts are likely to do, I should have ordered a few sets if I liked 'em so much. Nobody continues to make stuff the same for any length of time any more. I buy shoes and things like that by the half dozen if I like 'em.

[ChrisK]

Originally posted by Joe Dillard
Sounds as if you spoke to some "salesman" who works for them, not a knowledgeable tech type. Seems you were another victim of sloppy customer assistance.

How about if you try this: Ship them back 1 of each coil (1 old one & 1 new one), then ask them if they are built " to the exact same specs?"

Come on, haven't you guys read the JU threads. Rockkrawler seems to tell people what they want to hear and then just ships whatever they want to.
As far as sending the springs back, they;ll tell you their "engineers" say they are the same spec.

[TJRON]

Originally posted by ChrisK

As far as sending the springs back, they;ll tell you their "engineers" say they are the same spec.

They already did that but I wouldn't buy it. The discussion got a little heated.

[Stu Olson]

Ron,

How much sag did your RK springs obtain and how long did you have them in? (just the rears?)

I ask because I found the RK springs to be rather "different" between front and rear, at least mine are. I have the next taller spring size in the rear (compared to the front) and I still sit a little tail low.

[ChrisK]

My theory is that what RK has done to get a lot of flex is use a spring that is too soft for our application. The downfall of this is springs that sag sooner than other manufactures. They are fine at first but since they are not rated for what they are supporting, they fatigue sooner than they should.
Sure, My RE springs have sagged a little, but they are several years old and were under Joe West's Jeep before mine and thats one heavy Jeep he has.

Chris

[TJRON]

Stu,
When new, the original RK springs made the Jeep sit level and it never did with the RE springs. They all sagged about an inch in a little over a year. That didn't bother me except the front right one seemed to fade in a right turn on windy roads so I thought it was time to replace them.
These new springs are three coils shorter on the front and one coil shorter on the rear than the older model. I don't know how they sit in the Jeep as I don't intend to install them.

Chris,
Yes, the old style spring probably was weak and definitely soft. The softness with the anti-rock didn't bother me at all. they also had a lot of "reach". The 5 1/2" spring gave me about the same amount of lift as the 4 1/2" RE springs with a little extra up front to level things out but they wouldn't drop out of the perch at full droop like the REs do. I didn't worry about them sagging prematurely as they only cost $75 a pair. I liked them. Actually I liked the RE springs but when Blaine posted these RK springs I figured they were worth a try. Obviously I liked them enough to buy another set in just over a year. Too bad for me.

[mrblaine]

If the RK old style springs are sagging, it's the fault of the spring maker and not the design. Sub par materials and or heat treatment or what ever, but not the design.

A soft design will actually have a tendency to sag less over time than a stiff one will.

The coils are closer to each other and move less per coil that the further apart stiff coil does.

The spring wire has a fatigue life over a given number of cycles and will start to sag as that number of cycles is approached or the design parameters of the spring are exceeded.

Pro-Comp front springs rarely if ever sag and are indentical in design to the old RK springs.

[TJRON]

Blaine, it seems my springs were doing fine until I heavily overloaded them on my trip to the Rubicon. I brought my brother, camping gear for two, a chain saw and as much junk as I could cram in a Jeep with two gear racks. It felt like a tank. This wasn't the first time I overloaded them. I'm thinking this kind of load may be exceptable for a stiffer spring but maybe not for soft ones? I dunno.

[Paradiddle]

Ron - you might want to give a look at the new Currie progressive rear springs - they are designed for heavy loads in a TJ.

Jeff

[TJRON]

Thanks Jeff. I'm putting my old RE springs in to see how they do. If they don't work out I'll definitely give Currie a try.

[Daless2]

Originally posted by TJRON

Or, as us old farts are likely to do, I should have ordered a few sets if I liked 'em so much. Nobody continues to make stuff the same for any length of time any more. I buy shoes and things like that by the half dozen if I like 'em.

Good Morning Ron,

I thought I was the only one left who did this!

Try Dexter Casuals.

They fit like "sneakers" (Another old fart term), can be re-soled, and the tops are actually made of real "Pig Skin". I can get 5 plus years out of them, and have more then a few pairs in reserve.

At my age I figure casual shoe shopping is a done deal for the rest of my life!

Ron, have you ever considered using those Airlift Coil Spring "Air Bag" inserts in your rear springs for those times you are going out over weight? I may be mistaken but I believe ChrisK has them installed on his Jeep. I installed a set in a friends Jeep a while back just for this purpose.

You can bring them down to a very low air pressure when you don't want to air assist, yet for loads they should do support the vehicle. (Also make the suspension very hard. I am not sure you would want to wheel with them when fully aired up, but to get you to and from a trail site while heavily loaded they do work nicely.

Frank

PS: Glade to hear your thumb is healling up for you.

[TJRON]

Thanks Frank. If I could still get the old style cheap RK springs I would look into that. I have my 4 1/2" RE springs in now and I think I'm going to be happy with them. It appears I've only lost about 3/4" of lift which I don't need anyhow. The cool thing about the RK springs (front) was they "stretched" out farther with full droop and didn't leave the spring hangers like these RE do. That also is really no big deal as it seems I'm doing less and less hard core trails these days.
I'm really surprized how nice these RE springs ride. It seems once the "soft" part of the RK springs lost their strength they became very harsh riding.