palehorse

If you have a 2011- 13 JK, the Crown brake lines RK is sending out are actually the wrong ones!! This is potentially a very serious problem.

I have a 2013 JKUR with the RK 2.5" Max Travel kit. I had some installation issues with the front brake lines RK included, so I contacted Crown directly and they sent out a totally different set. The problem, according to the Crown technician, is that RK is sending out front brake lines that are meant for 2007-2010 JKs. Crown has a different set that is meant for 11-13 JKs. However, RK doesn't specify model year when they bulk order from Crown, so all of the lines RK receives are those meant for the older JKs!

The RK version (or "older" version) of the hose mount has a 15 degree offset that angles the valve and line toward the center of your Jeep. I don't know how everyone else chose to mount them to the caliper, but if you install them in the same direction as your stock ones, then guess what: Your break line is now your steering stop!!! That's right, you read that correctly. The offset angle on the valve makes it so that, when you turn the wheels, your braided brake line will now make contact with the Inner C on the axle BEFORE you reach the proper steer stop! That's a problem... a BIG problem.

If you try to avoid that and reverse the mount on the caliper, then your lines end up floating out in space ready to catch the first branch that comes along, and the line is no longer long enough to run behind the shock mount... DOH!

If anyone else has this same issue, please call RK and describe it to them (their engineer kinda blew me off when I talked to him and passed on what Crown told me). As I said, I'm currently communicating with both companies trying to help them get this sorted out for all future customers. It's not a good situation for anyone considering the safety implications.

Strangely, based on my discussions with Crown, RK themselves didn't discover or know about this issue. The guys at Crown had no idea that RK is still sending the older lines for use in newer JKs. RK also had a series of brake line failures over the summer that RK claimed was a bad batch. Well, as it turns out, we may have discovered the real culprit (still waiting for more testing at Crown to confirm)...

The newer lines Crown sent me to replace the others don't have the 15 degree offset and work perfectly when run along the same path as the stock lines. The bend in the mount/valve now resembles the stock 2013 bend -- it's just a straight 90 degree vertical bend -- so that makes sense.

As far as I'm concerned, RK needs to issue a front brake line recall for any of their kits using the older lines on 2011-2013 JKs... but we'll have to wait and see... stay tuned.

FlameRedJK

I've been using the brake lines RK sent me on my 2012 without issue for almost the past year.
Personally, I would have talked to RK, and confirmed this with them before making the "OMG EVERYONE PANIC!!" Post, but that's just me.

Ten2ndNova

I've had mine on my 12 for a year now. No problems.

palehorse

I've talked to RK twice AND confirmed the issue with Crown. As I said in the post above, RK's engineer essentially blew me off when I told him that Crown confirmed that I had been sent the wrong lines for a 2011-2013 JK. The Crown technician also confirmed that RK only orders the older lines and that RK has never requested the newer lines. He was actually very surprised more people weren't having issues.

The fact that others have been running the older lines for a while without issues MAY indicate that the inference problem caused by the offset only arises in 2013 models, specially -- as I also said above, I'm waiting on the results of more testing by Crown. Please also note that RK's "bad batch problem" started this past August, and the failures were occurring at the exact same place the older lines make contact with the Inner C's. Maybe that's when people started installing the kits on new 2013s? (You'll notice I included the word "possible" in the thread title)

I waited two weeks to make this post after talking to both companies on more than one occasion.

If you're running their lines on a newer JK, go out and test your wheels at full turn. Tell me what you see... If the lines aren't making contact, then please say so. If they are, then I suggest you replace them with the proper lines before something DOES happen.

The fact remains that RK is currently sending out the wrong lines for newer JK's, period. (Confirmed by Crown).

The replacements that Crown sent me directly -- the newer lines that don't have an offset -- work perfectly.

lulu2533

It seems like you are having a few problems with RK lift. This lift was on my list with two others but I think I might steer clear of it now. Good luck.

mpkelley20

Every lift has problems. Every mod we do has problems. If you install a mod without having to make some form of other modification to get it to fit, you clearly installed it wrong. Lol!!

But this issue does seem real especially if crown is saying so. The folks at RK are usually awesome at helping so hopefully they will chime in soon.

For the record, I had zero issues with my RK lift on my 2010 and zero issues since install. It's clearly installed wrong.

palehorse

Don't do that! I still love this kit! It's extremely robust and capable. And, other than this brake line issue, RK has always been awesome about handling my questions and concerns.

The brakeline issue is easily resolved by ensuring you get the correct brake lines, and the rear coils issue I'm having is due to my use of longer shocks that were NOT recommended by RK themselves (I selected the longer Fox shocks after they were suggested by several other vendors and forum members).

That said, if you have a newer JK, I would definitely suggest that you insist upon the newer brake lines from Crown. Maybe you can help me convince RK that they need to change the way they order the lines from Crown. (As a result, vendors would also need to change the way the RK kits are ordered everywhere so that buyers can specify model year).

This thread is meant to draw attention to this problem so that RK can respond and/or take action. My phone calls didn't seem to work, so posting this here was the second option...

palehorse

Clearly!

palehorse

Hoping to see a response here from RK this week...

palehorse

Wednesday bump... still no response from RK; and, as far as I can tell, they're still not sending out the model year-specific Crown lines with their kits.

If anyone knows their management, please direct them to me (or Crown) if they have any questions about the newer lines...