Spring Recommendations

Recommend me a spring setup around the 4.5" height. Ideally I'd like to run a 4.5" coil, and a 3.5" pack with 1" shackle.

I ran RE's all around on the last rig, but their pricing seems rather cheap nowadays. Anyone heard how the quality is after Rubicon Express sold out? I really don't want saggy leafs and bowed coils after a year. I'd like something that can take the abuse of running trails at a moderate pace, and survive daily driving duties.

Spring rates, do you prefer stiff or soft? I'm looking at going BDS on coils, since they have a high spring rate (~240 lbs/in). Will I regret this? I'm thinking they should do well with a set of 255/75 shocks. The front end always seemed soft with my old RE springs.

Leaf springs, what are you running and how are they holding up? My RE's acquired the typical passenger side lean after a year, but I liked the spring rate. They seemed to flex great, and didn't sag with all the junk I carried. Who's making good leaf packs these days?

What's the NWC's .02 on this? I know some of you are up on this stuff.

Do the relocation brackets! GREATLY improve the ride. I'm running RE's in the rear, when did they sell out?

I have BDS 4.5 fronts with 255/70 Bilsteins and love the ride. you may think that the 240lb spring wouldn't flex but they flex very well. I've had them 2 years and the coils stand straight. In fact I don't think they have settled in and I beat the hell out of them in the dunes. I still have yet to bump stop my junk and have coil bound them so many times it crazy.

Dave

nightfoam said:

Do the relocation brackets! GREATLY improve the ride. I'm running RE's in the rear, when did they sell out?

Click to expand...

I'm not sold on the relocation brackets. I had custom brackets on the old rig, and I was always dragging them on rocks, or landing on them when dropping off ledges. They kill your departure angle in my opinion.

RE sold out early this year to Trans American Auto Parts, basically the same company that owns 4-Wheel Parts.

OK. Mine are older than that then. I have the HD brackets, granted I don't "wheel" as much as you do but I've never hit them on anything

I ordered the rc 4.5 xflex. Mines full leafs tho. I ordered cause their parts have done nothing but get better and better over time and after a change in management a few years back. And their service has had nothing but rave reviews from everyone I know who runs their stuff.

I have rustys 808 and 300 coils on my zj.
The 808s are pretty stiff. My front end is much stiffer then the rear I prefer it that way!

I'm not a fan of drop brackets. Hate mine.

Leaf springs, spend the money on a good brand. I hear the bds packs are rebadged deavers(?). Or something like that (?)

Have you thought about just getting a full on BDS kit? Gresham off road specializes in BDS

dick.breakey said:

I ordered the rc 4.5 xflex.

Click to expand...

Whoa, getting a little tall there buddy. What happened to LCOG?

RC seems to work for a lot of people. They've really stepped up their XJ line in the past few years. Can't beat the price too, but I still feel there are better options out there though.

NW-ZJ-SCOTT said:

Have you thought about just getting a full on BDS kit? Gresham off road specializes in BDS

Click to expand...

I kept my old RE uppers, lowers, and track bar setup. All I really need for the lift is new springs, and the miscellaneous small parts. Just need to figure out a good spring combo to go with.

Yeah after the trip to tahuya I wanted something a little more comfortable. It performed really well, but the ride was too bumpy always hitting the bump stops. I was gonna only get the 3" lift, but for the money I figured might as well do the 4.5 and get the extras. 4.5 and 35s will be a nice setup I think.

There's a company that can make leafs specific to your ride and I forget who they are but I heard about them on . Nothing but great things about them too. I'll search tomorrow and see what I find

Oh and my discos are probably gonna be for sale. I don't think I'm gonna put the swaybar back on the jeep.

I remember how bummed I was when RE went down 'indefinitely', especially considering I had just replaced damn near every suspension component with their aftermarket goodies... lol. I'm hoping that the cheaper prices are due to being owned by a substantially larger company, and thus they can afford to let their stuff go a little discounted.

Ultimately I'd recommend getting in touch with Alcan and talking to Charles (last name Charter, Carter, something like that). I had a set on my last XJ a good six years ago (went into minitrucks, then regained my sanity and returned) and they were a phenomenal spring. If you call their service line they're grill you pretty good about what you intend to subject your rig to, and the spring you get in return is pretty much sent-from-heaven perfect. I did not treat that poor vehicle with any semblance of kindness, and the springs were in tip-top shape at the end when I might just have accidentally rolled it multiple times down the side of a freeway embankment.

I'd suggest Deaver as well, but they're really meant more for the fast-paced stuff. I know you mentioned running trails at a moderate pace, but I pretty sure their optimal performance speed is well above what you'd like to attempt. I want to say I read something on here a few months ago during my own research on this topic about a bump at 5-10mph feels like a mountain, but at 50 feels like a pebble. IIRC several people achieved great trail-speed performance using some boomerang shackles and a little customization of the packs, but I'm not hugely crazy about dumping over $700 on a product just to turn around and change it immediately. Could be great for commuting on shitty pavement though

That's about all I've got, and if any of that was effed grammatically or otherwise I apologize. Wife stole the damn sheets and I can't sleep, and I totally mind-XXXXed how to work her newfangled coffee maker.

im going to play with some stock leaf setups. i have my eye out for a 1/2, or 3/4 ton dodge/ford van with the hd brackets you can play with the center location of the axle, aswell as main leaf length.

i have not seen many leafs preform the way i want mine to. well see what hapens.

Bronze.

I have had good luck with RE 3.5" rear leafs & front coils, BUT the rear bushings crapped out in less than a year & had to be replaced with these from Stengel brothers.

RB-71 RB-71
$6.59 x 2

RB-121 RB-121
$8.27 x 2

It's been a year (11K miles) & I see no wear on the new bushings.

OME 3.5"

http://www.jeepinoutfitters.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=1185

with relocation bracket.

OME packs use stock bushings so you can get them easily

I started with the Rusty's 4.5" front coils and a custom set of rear springs I made with a short aal, long aal, and stock pack.

It was a great lift, worked well, flexed well for a stock XJ (light weight). And although lots of people claim issues with Rusty's, I never had any issues and the front coils lasted many years on my eventually VERY heavy XJ.

about a year or so before I sold my Jeep I went with the BDS 4" (I don't believe they make a 4.5" ?) because of the higher spring rate and the weight on the front of my Jeep. Coupled with the bilsteins I had it was AWSOME performance, exactly what I wanted.

When I did the research on these coils (and consiered their rear spring packs) I wanted the higher spring rate. The only company I could find with a high spring rate was Deaver.

Here is what I would consider:

1. Deaver (cost is significant, high spring rate, nothing but quality)
2. BDS (good cost, high spring rate, I was very happy with performance)
3. OME (great quality, lower spring rate, excellent for a lighter DD/Trail rig)


Good luck with your research, I can't believe how many of the lift manufacturers when asked about spring rate have not only NO idea what theirs are, but didn't even know what it was or how to calculate it, linear or not, etc!!

Michael
Michael

Hellcreek FTW.

TORX said:

I'm not sold on the relocation brackets. I had custom brackets on the old rig, and I was always dragging them on rocks, or landing on them when dropping off ledges. They kill your departure angle in my opinion.

Click to expand...

I totally agree.

For leafs, I would run a Big Offroad pack. They are Alcan springs but sell for cheaper through Big Offroad. I know Alex runs a set and really likes them. I have also heard great things about them everywhere else when I researched leafs extensively a while back. They are also quite a bit cheaper then Deaver. I currently run the 3.5" OME and have another leaf added to them. They are nice springs but IMO are honestly too soft. I ran them at first with about 4" of up-travel before they hit bumps and they bent really fast (S-bend) and started to sag really bad. I replaced them and extended my bumps and they've been pretty good but I just can't run much up-travel. They seem to simply be too flat in shape.

For coils, I've heard pretty good things about the BDS ones. I guess it all depends on your likings but I don't think you will regret the stiffer spring rate. I run a pretty soft spring now (a little under 200) with Bilstein 255/70 shocks and it is not stiff enough. I have new Bilstein 7100's on the way with 278/75 valving so I'm going to try that, but I might end up switching out the coils for something stiffer...

garr said:

I have had good luck with RE 3.5" rear leafs & front coils, BUT the rear bushings crapped out in less than a year & had to be replaced with these from Stengel brothers.

Click to expand...

RE's bushing quality definitely needs some work. My leaf packs seemed to hold up okay, but I replaced all other bushings sometimes twice a year (LCA hourglass bushings ).

northwestxj said:

For leafs, I would run a Big Offroad pack. They are Alcan springs but sell for cheaper through Big Offroad. I know Alex runs a set and really likes them. I have also heard great things about them everywhere else when I researched leafs extensively a while back. They are also quite a bit cheaper then Deaver. I currently run the 3.5" OME and have another leaf added to them. They are nice springs but IMO are honestly too soft. I ran them at first with about 4" of up-travel before they hit bumps and they bent really fast (S-bend) and started to sag really bad. I replaced them and extended my bumps and they've been pretty good but I just can't run much up-travel. They seem to simply be too flat in shape.

For coils, I've heard pretty good things about the BDS ones. I guess it all depends on your likings but I don't think you will regret the stiffer spring rate. I run a pretty soft spring now (a little under 200) with Bilstein 255/70 shocks and it is not stiff enough. I have new Bilstein 7100's on the way with 278/75 valving so I'm going to try that, but I might end up switching out the coils for something stiffer...

Click to expand...

Good stuff. We're definitely on the same track. For leaf springs, Bigoffroad and BDS are at the top of my list. Just trying to justify the cost. I would hope this is one area where, "you get what you pay for" comes into play.

I'll be curious how you like the new shocks. Are you going with 71's just in the front or all the way around? What size did you go with in the front?

TORX said:

Good stuff. We're definitely on the same track. For leaf springs, Bigoffroad and BDS are at the top of my list. Just trying to justify the cost. I would hope this is one area where, "you get what you pay for" comes into play.

I'll be curious how you like the new shocks. Are you going with 71's just in the front or all the way around? What size did you go with in the front?

Click to expand...

I hear ya, they are expensive but I definitely think it is one of those where you get what you pay for. $450 isn't too bad for the Big Offroad (Alcan) springs though. Ya it is more, but I think it will be worth it in the long run.

I'm just doing the 71's in the front. The front is what needs to be stiffer and I can't justify the cost for all 4 at this time. Right now I have 5125's in the front with the 255/70 valving that I am going to move to the rear. That valving should be perfect for the rear. They are 11" travel so I'm going to have to run them through the floor. I'm going to do them a little different then you usually see though and keep them in their same mounting locations. One, because I don't want them to stick up really high over the floor and take up space etc. and two, because I want to keep them as one on each side of the axle as it currently is to help a little bit with axle wrap. I have a little bit of axle wrap as it is so don't want to make it worse by running both shocks vertically on top of my leaf springs and I don't want to run an axle wrap bar.

I have skyjacker 6in coils in the front and can say they are not the least bit too stiff and they are supposed to be 240lb spring rate. I can use all of them up no problem. I will be buying deaver coils for the front very soon, they are progressive with tight wraps up top for a soft zone but have the lower end of the coils set up for absorbing big impacts. I have seen the difference these coils make first hand and it is noticeable. The reason for the upgrade is my skyjacker coils feel like they are no longer stiff but are still stiffer than rubicon express or rustys coils.

I have talked to deaver and big off road on the phone about leaf springs. Both springs are a huge improvement over anything you can get from the big name lift company's by far. Can you imagine actually buying springs with the correct spring rate for a XJ that position the shackle in the right location! What a thought.

The big offload leafs will fit your needs perfectly, deavers will be overkill for what you intend to do but are amazing! I will be getting big off road leafs in a week and can be your test dummy.