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Flipping rear springs for more wheelbase

BennettXJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Raleigh, NC
Ok, so ive searched and found some info, but some people swear this wont work, and some say its a simple deal. Im puttin in a FF60 and am gonna run 37s when all said and done. ive trimmed the front of my rear fenders all i can, but have a ton of chopping room in the rear. I have a bastard pack of RE leaves, at about 6.5" more or less, as well as a 1.5 shackle. when i flip this, i can expect about 3" of added wheelbase, right? this is where the info gets foggy...
how much does an arched spring effect the WB change?
how much will it fawk with the pinion angle (not a big deal, since ill be setting up the perches, but still...)
how will the shackle effect the leaves, performance wise and ride height wise?

with 8+ inches of lift, do i still need to rework the gas tank? can i get by without major mods, or do i need to MOVE it? can i just bumpstop the fawk out of it so i CANT hit it? btw, i was planning on a shock hoop anyway...

anything else im forgetting?
thanks

-Bennett
 
PM pair8hd. He is currently working on his XJ and has flipped the springs and relocated the tank. I beleive it gave about 5.5" length to the wheelbase.
 
The Zuk guys do it all the time. my thought is:

ITs not as cheapas it would appear, ya gotta remember to avoid spring wrap youre gonna have to build or buy an antiwrap bar also

It would be a whole lot easier to build a custom set of springs buiilt with the pin 1"or 1 1/2" father back. a local guy here will do it for under 250.00
 
some guys on PBB said that 1/2ton chevy springs will give me about 2-2.5" of wheelbase as well as a cheap lift...anyone used this method?

xjnation - how much to ship those springs cross-country? haha
 
You could do a 63inch chevy and that will give you a few inches of wheelbase and good flex. Or whatever springs you want and just relocate the spring hanger on the "frame rail" so its further back, this will give you wheelbase and a shackel angle that is actually usable (compaired to the shitty angle most xjs have).
-cal
 
Another thought is to just drill new holes through the leafs further back. The bushing sizes are way different on each end, not sure what effect that will have though, if any.
 
63" chevys, out of a burban i assume? how badly does the extra FOOT of leaf mess with the pinion angle and mount location? i assume since xj leaves are approx 52" (right) that this means the centerpin would be 5.5" back? i wasnt needing quite that much room, but maybe im not measuring it properly.
anybody seen these http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog/Zero Rates.htm ?
I was thinking about moving the mounting hole back and down on the 'frame', but i decided against it just for the sake of this being my DD and didnt want to have it out of commission for too long. that would allow me a flatter leaf pack though....hmmm
-Bennett
 
BennettXJ said:
how badly does the extra FOOT of leaf mess with the pinion angle?
you said that you were going to re-do perches anyway, so i dont see this being a problem, but im a web-wheeler...
 
XJ_ranger said:
you said that you were going to re-do perches anyway, so i dont see this being a problem, but im a web-wheeler...
yeah, its not an issue now, but if i ever decide to swap springs again or something, itll be a problem LATER. im just concerned from all the different opinions im getting, i dont wanna be stuck with some random perch angle that ill have to redo later if i can help it...good point tho
 
ok that makes more sense. i think its time to buy annother vehicle to ahve as a DD and ust this one as trail rig... extending the wheelbase seems like a big weekend to have it running and road worthy by monday morning in time for work

buy a real 4x4 -Subaru Forster (sarcasim)
 
I think a cherokee spring is 52 inches eye to eye (measured in a straight line) so if you have a lift spring they are usually pretty arched, so the actual spring is longer. As where a 63inch chevy is almost flat ( thats what gives you really good flex) so the eye to eye measurement is closer to the actual spring length measurement, so I don't know if your measurements are really relivant, ya know what I mean? like I have a pair of 8inch alcan springs that had a huge arch to them, then I took 2 leafs out of the pack and now they are pretty flat and the eye to eye measurement is way different. Its hard to say what to do because I don't know if you are willing to fab stuff up. Like mine has a fabed up shackle hanger that I made further back and its under the "frame rail" so it gave me more lift that way. Its kind of trial and error, mine gave me some wheelbase by flattining out but it took a few trys to get the shackle angle right...hope that helps
-cal
 
Eagle gave me these specs, I have since confirmed them against my own stock packs. Mine were the same:
Eye-to-eye = 49-1/2"
Front (eye to pin) = 23-1/4"
Rear (eye to pin) = 29"
Arch (eye centerline to top of leaf at pin) = 6"

 
I dont mind fabbing stuff up, i was just trying to avoid it if possible...this whole ordeal started out as what i thought might be a 1hr project (max) of just flipping the springs...so if possible, i dont wanna mess with making new hangers and/or eye mounts. i dont mind making the packs and all the trial and error stuff, but i was hoping to get out of this one with a minimal amount of metalwork, just some trimming.
so the 52" chevys will give me about 1.5" more wheelbase over the stock leaf pack dimensions (which is about what i have now, just with different arch). the flatter 63s just seem like theyre gonna give me more issues than theyll solve, as ill need to arch them some with some AALs, which im sure will make for a poor ride to say the least.
so does a bastardized 52" chevy pack sound like a good idea to you guys (for a cheap/easy/fast way to get ~2" of WB)? Ill just stack a few extra leaves in there to get the height i want, hopefully without destroying the ride, and thatll also get me a better shackle angle...
ok well does that sound like a plan?
-Bennett
 
Why dont you just drill another hole in your spring perch and U bolt plate an inch or so further forward? That will move the axle back that much when you place the centre pin in the new hole. It is a very old trick that has been done for 20-30 years here that I know of personally but would go back further than that I'm sure.
 
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