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Where can I find the poop on Dakota Leaves?

whitfimb

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Central Va
I just bought a $600 XJ last week and want to go up 5" and am looking at rear spring pack options. Mine are toast ~.
Front I'm looking at Rusty's 4.5" with the fixins.

1. Any Neg besides slightly stiffer ride and little less flex.

2. Any Pre 96 Dakota model I should be looking at in
particularly. Is one better than the other.

3. Any one ever try Tacoma springs, I have a set of free ones
from the factory recall campaign. Think they'd be Ok for a
trail XJ. :) Free is good.... :D
 
Try the Tacoma leaves. If they don't work, you can always look for Dakota leaves then.

However, it sounds like you already know that 5" is too much to aim for using an AAL approach. Yeah, yeah, I know ... you're replacing all but the main leaf. Doesn't matter, it's just a more elaborate AAL as long as the OEM main leaf stays in there. What you're doing is introducing a whole lot more arch into the stock main leaf. What's that going to do?

It's going to pull the front and rear eyes closer together, is what it's going to do. You can visualize it with a piece of copy paper. Flat it's 11 inches long. Bend it into a 'U' and measure between the two ends. This means your shackle will be pointing way forward. You won't get any droop, because there won't be anywhere for the shackle to go. If the shackle is pointed forward enough, it may bind up instead of swing back under compression, with the result being a very choppy ride.

If you have the free Tacoma leaves, give it a try. All you're risking is your time, and maybe the cost of a pair of center pins. However, I'll go on record as predicting that you won't be happy with the result, with either Tacoma or Dakota leaves. I think about 3" is the practical limit for doing an AAL lift.
 
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