Bigoffroad leafs?

I know some of you on here have experience with these. How do they perform? I am curious if the double eye loop is good, if hte criss-cross leafs make for good flex or springs that dont last long. I drive my truck daily, so they need to last, but I want them to flex well. ANyone have experince with these? Give me some reports!
Heres a pic so you know what I am talkin about.

Thanks!

I made a mistake going to BO 8" springs.

JohnJohn, the owner of BO is a dude, and he tried to talk some sense into me. How bout it? he actually tried to talk me out of buying his springs. The 8's are for guys with a ton of weight, and they must be broken in well before you will get any performance out of them. They were a horrible match for my chopped rig, but I didn't listen, and ended up learning from my mistake.

JJ's 6" pack would have been a better option, I don't know how much lift you are looking for, but consider these first. I don't have any forst hand experience with that pack, but I had a good experience with BOR, and I've wheeled with the owner, and he is straight up.

he won't do you wrong.

where were you in october john john?

all the waitresses were asking about you!

I am not going after the 8" springs at all. I am running about 7.5" of lift right now total and he says that his springs are running a bit high without a ton of weight. I have some in the back, but not 350 lbs.! So, I am planning on getting the 6" version and putting in the stock shackle at first. If they dont work, then I can put in the lift shackel I have.
So, do they flex? Are they good for getting rid of axle wrap like tehy advertise? Will they last? I am assuming that others of you have run these? Whas up?

what did johnjohn say about running the stock shackle?

he may advise against it.

you don't want your rear end to be stiff.

when it comes to flex, balance is key.

you do not want your rear suspension dictating the attitude of your vehilce.

when the rear does this, I call it the "stiff cricket manuever" actually, hagen called it this first.

I hope you get some more first hand responces, like I said, I don;t know about the 6", but I can tell you that johnjohn will shoot you straight for any querstion you have.

I'm running a set of the "4's" that really yield about 6". I love them. I run a stroker and I pretzeled a set of Rusty's on my first trail run with the stroker. Beat the hell out of the BigOffroad's and no problems. I've been told that they are Alcan's that are manufactured to his specs. They are on my DD/trail rig.

Oh, by the way. If you want to use these springs, you should really get a set of boomerang shackles, otherwise your old shackles will limit your articulation and can actually damage your springs.

Tom Houston

Which boomerang shackles would you recommend? And why is it that a boomerang will help me? The stock shackle is sorta boomerang shaped....

JKS boomerangs on my BO 4" set.

Tom is right on the money with the shackle. These spring sets are a bit long eye-to-eye, and the stock shackle will smack the back of the pocket with just a little flex. It was amazing how much better the on-road ride alone was with the dogleg shackles installed.

If your stock shackles are boomeranged, well.........they were originally straight.

BTW, I'm at almost exactly 6" of lift in the back with the 4" leaf pack, and the JKS (okay, we KNOW who builds them) shackles.

Do those boomerang shackles net any lift? I dont really want any....if hte springs really do net 7.5" of lift.

I don't run them, but I've wheeled with plenty who do, and I've talked to JohnJohn about them. Like has been said, they will net more than their advertised lift. They are also longer, so you do need a boomerang shackle. They are very good quality springs and should last a long time. Leaf spring technology is very straight forward, so the performance characteristics are easy to determine. The springs are strong and have a decent amount of arch, and they come with the single half leaf on the front of the spring on top of the main leaf. This means that they are very good at handling spring wrap, are stable and durable, but flex will be limited to some degree. With the anti-wrap leaf and relatively high arch, they droop much better than they compress. You can get them without the anti-wrap leaf if you want, if you'll run a traction bar and want a little more flex, especially compression.

So, from how I've seen them perform. High quality and long lasting, stable, excellent resisting spring wrap. Good, but not the flexiest spring out there.

what are the better spring for flex (but don't wear out quickly)?

awr, I have the RE springs and htey flex like mad, but thats part of the problem. I have a ton of spring wrap now that they are VERY broken in aftre many trips wheeling and driving daily. They are starting to die. So, I do not mind having a bit of a stiff spring if they will help resist spring wrap. I have tried to figure out an anti wrap bar but dont have the fab skills or tools to do so. SO, I am willing to deal with a less flexy spring to deal with that. I am locked front and rear, and am also running a fair amount of weight now that I think about it with a thick bumper, tire carrier, full size 35" spare, tools etc...... (However I dont want to end up being the stiff cricket) So, thanks for your input fellas. I am gonna go with teh 6" version.

awr94903 said:

what are the better spring for flex (but don't wear out quickly)?

Click to expand...

Nationals...from ORGS.

How are the nationals for longevity and anti-wrap? Are they a better all around spring? I heard they didnt offer the 6" pack any more. Is that true?

I called Alcan Spring and ordered a set like John Johns
but with less weight rating.
You will definetly need the bomerang shakles
because the springs are longer than most.

Very stiff at first, but haul it to Moab and back
from North Carolina and they loosen up nicely.


I'm very happy so far with springs.
Just my $.02.

I thought I read it here from Mark H. himself that he no longer has his great springs, that National highjacked the design back from him. Maybe it was on JU or MJR forum, but someone asked for the part number from him to order the ORGS spec springs from National and they wanted lke twice what ORGS sold them for, claiming they were special order. What the heck's this wolrd coming to? Someone please explain to me agian, why we are in this handbasket, and WHERE are we going?

RobertF said:

What the heck's this wolrd coming to? Someone please explain to me agian, why we are in this handbasket, and WHERE are we going?

Click to expand...

You're assuming somebody knows.

Im in the same boat, im looking for about 8.5-9.5" of lift without using blocks. running an 1.5" shackle is not a problem but im having trouble finding a good leaf pack for my set up. Im going to have a steel rear bumper and a 38" spare+high lift and spares. With a D60 rear and the 38s im not worried about not having enough droop with the BOR leafs.

What would you more experience in big lift XJs recommend. I drive my XJ everyday and want a leaf that can soak up the bumps better than my old set-up (stiff as all hell)

Fryphax said:

Im in the same boat, im looking for about 8.5-9.5" of lift without using blocks. running an 1.5" shackle is not a problem but im having trouble finding a good leaf pack for my set up. Im going to have a steel rear bumper and a 38" spare+high lift and spares. With a D60 rear and the 38s im not worried about not having enough droop with the BOR leafs.

What would you more experience in big lift XJs recommend. I drive my XJ everyday and want a leaf that can soak up the bumps better than my old set-up (stiff as all hell)

Click to expand...

Why don't you want to use blocks? Blocks are exactly what you need to get what you want. There's no way you can have a 9" lift spring that is going to give you a good ride. To have enough arch for that amount of lift, and to be strong enough to handle that weight, it's going to be stiff.

The advantage of using a block is that the spring can be flatter, so you have better flex and a better ride. There is nothing inherently bad about lift blocks, many trucks come from the factory with even tall blocks. The issue is how they are used, and that they will increase spring wrap. You don't want to stack two large blocks, but stacking smaller blocks to fine tune a lift is no problem. I use two solid 3/4" blocks (Tomken) that are pinned all the way through, and I used to use three. You need to keep your u-bolts tight, but that's something that everyone should be checking regularly anyway. The other issue with blocks is increased spring wrap, but that's going to be an issue you'll have to deal with anyway with 38's and 9" of lift. If the BOR springs aren't enough on their own, you'll need to use a traction bar, and whether you have blocks or not is insignificant with a traction bar.

If a BOR spring gives you 7-8" of lift, and you get 1/2-3/4" from the shackle, I wouldn't hesitate to use a block to fine tune the height to what you want. Or, use a 6" spring to get a better ride, and then a block and traction bar........which is what I'd do.

Im trying to avoid a traction bar, but only due to my lack of fabbing ability. If I have to, I can make it. Hopefully I can get my MIG setup by the time im ready to start welding on my axles. I Have a set of 2" blocks, but I don't know about their quality (Rough Country)

I had already thought about the 6" leafs with a ~1.5" shackle, that would net me 9" unloaded which would be perfect, Im not sure how much gear im going to end up running. I need to wheel my rig with the new axles before I will know what I need to get for spares and what-not. I do know im going to have a 38x14.50 Swamper for a spare+general trail gear.

Does anyone have experience with the BOR 6" leafs as far as compression goes? Im going to be cutting my fenders another 1-2" and bobbing my rear fenders.

Another question I have is, if I were to reverse the springs how much farther back will my axle sit?

Someone asked who's boomerang shackles I run. The answer is that I fab'd my own from 1/4" cold roll. It was a lot of hassle for the cost savings. I just had some time on my hands and wanted to do it.

Tom Houston