need some leafpack install help

so ive removed and installed a rear leafpack before, but this one is giving me problems. i also searched and googled fyi

specs: RE 3.5" SuperFlex onto a 98 xj with the 8.25

ive got everything done except get both leafs attached to the shackle. the front bushing is bolted in and the shackles are still in place. its as if the leafpack is too "short." ive tried every which way to get it to reach..

-different heights of the jeep itself and the axle
-tried putting the tires on and let the jeep down to get the leaf to compress/lengthen
-tried putting the bottlejack between the leaf and body to press it down
-tried just "beasting" it (pulling the leafpack down/back while someone else pushed the shackle forward)

what am i doing wrong. should i try bolting the pack to the shackle first and pull it forward? or try pulling the axle back more?

feel free to flame away:flame:

The pack sounds like it's waaaaaaay arched (new packs?). Try doing it in reverse: attach the shackle and then it'll be easier to use the jeep weight and a pry bar to walk the front of the leaf into the pocket.

have you tried jacking the axle up right underneath the ubolts, as if you were flexing? I seem to remember having similar issues, albeit to a lesser extent.

kidarkitect said:

have you tried jacking the axle up right underneath the ubolts, as if you were flexing? I seem to remember having similar issues, albeit to a lesser extent.

Click to expand...

x2 jacking it up flattens the pack out!

yep had the same problem with my leafs. I had to put a bottle jack between the body and the top of the leaf as far back as possible and jack the axle up at the ubolts to get it to flatten out enough to go in. I just jacked the bottle jack a little and then the axle a little until it all lined up.
good luck!

thanks for the replies guys! i didnt think to try and jack it up from under the ubolts. that with the bottlejack again should do the trick

hold on a second.... it sounds like you have the leafs bolted to the axle already? that should be the last thing you do. its alot easier to move the springs around without all that extra weight.

if this is the case, take the ubolts back off, and get the springs all mounted up to the vehicle first.

One thing that you might try is to get a new long center pin

then you can separate your leafs and put just the main leaf in ... Then you are working and flexing a single leaf and not the entire pack.

Once both ends of the main leaf are in place... then you can build the entire pack with the new center pin.

Yea.. it will be a lot of work but still might be easier than wrestling the entire pack.

just got it all done. ended up jacking up the axle under the ubolts as suggested, used the bottle jack on the top of the pack, and loosening up the shackle so it could swing more (didnt do this before because since im leaving the stock shackle for now, i didnt want to risk breaking that interior nut). yes i had the ubolts in place but not torqued down at all.

thanks again