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Too much lift

C

crazyoffroader

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Seattle, WA
I have an '85 2dr pioneer that I have been building up for a while, but I just ran into a problem.

I had a set of springs that I picked up from a buddy because mine were sagging(with 1in blocks it was at stock height) and because they were free.

I installed the springs last night and found out that rather than gain the 4" I was hoping for, I gained 8-10"(!) so only the brake lines fit, not the e-brake cables or the shocks.

The springs are SuperLift (Part# 01-445).

I know I can get Wrangler e-brake cables, but what can I do about the shocks?

Anyone have ideas for making the springs sag or have 4" rear springs they dont need?

Pics will be fourthcoming.
 
I'm far from an expert, but what you might try doing is taking the leaf spring pack apart and deleting a leaf, maybe two. If you leave it at its present height it seems to me that you're going to run into some serious problems with the front end...i.e. long arm, custom stuff.

You might also contact Goatman. He seems to know more about leaf springs than I'll learn in my lifetime.

I know that probably doesn't help much, but I hope that it helps a little,
Robert
 
I haven't touched the front end yet, so it currently sits with 3" in the front and around 10" in the rear, so no long arms need yet.

The main trouble with these springs is that the main pack has 3 springs with 1 overload spring, and all are BEEFY!

Should get a pic this evening.
 
you could try taking the blocks off, or like the other guy said take the leaf that's under the main leaf( the one with eyes) that may help a bit.
 
I REALLY REALLY doubt that you got 8 to 10 inches. superlift doesnt make springs that big. As far as I know.

Any Xj you lift up around 4+ your ebrake cables wont or will barely fit.

I think you need to just relax a little. And look at the situation.

Can you get us pictures of the pack? How many leafs are in it? Do any look like adda leaves? whats the front spacing on them? Really random? or does the spacing look progressive?

Its going to look VERY odd with the front not lifted and the back lifted. Its very decieving.
 
Scrappy said:
I REALLY REALLY doubt that you got 8 to 10 inches. superlift doesnt make springs that big. As far as I know.

Any Xj you lift up around 4+ your ebrake cables wont or will barely fit.

I think you need to just relax a little. And look at the situation.

Can you get us pictures of the pack? How many leafs are in it? Do any look like adda leaves? whats the front spacing on them? Really random? or does the spacing look progressive?

Its going to look VERY odd with the front not lifted and the back lifted. Its very decieving.
Click to expand...

Before the lift, I had 3" of clearance between the tire and the flare, now I have 11" with everything else the same.

764841_6_full.jpg

The pic was taken with a whole bunch of stuff in the back and the left side tire off.

The spring pack has 4 (3/8") leaves in the main pack and 1 (1/2") overload spring. These springs are not exactly flexy.

764841_5_full.jpg


All 4 leafs are the same type, and all are perfectly spaced, steping in about 4-5" per spring. no add-a-leaf's

The front sits at 8" tire to flare.
There's no motor or tranny in the truck, so will that squash just the front when I install them, or will it squash both front and rear?

I'm not looking foreward to sitting at +8" in rear and +3" in front.(no cash for longarms)

Any ideas?
 
you could give those to me and ill give you my 4 inch lift pack that i made from s10/dakota leafs. they ride soft and flex a gang and collect dust in my garage. id imagine they must ride pretty stiff with leaves that thick.
 
With 3/8" leaves, that thing is going to ride terribly no matter how you swing it. I have to agree with tetsulo, try reinstalling your original leaf pack and adding just one leaf from this new pack. Assuming that your original pack is a 3" lift pack, it will hopefully add no more than another couple of inches to it. If its a stock pack, it may add as much as 5 or so inches to it. Trial and error is the only way to go here. Definitely don't even consider running it the way it is. You will need many other mods to accommodate that and prevent damage to your rig...
 
I would say definetly take out the overload spring and possibly one full leaf. The springs arent going to sag any if your friend already had them installed in his rig.
 
I am assuming he is using the stock shackle? It could be all the way forward or pinned up against the back not allowing the leaf to settle. A longer shackle will allow it to settle BUT it might give it more height. (I am dealing with a similar dilema right now)
 
Beej said:
With 3/8" leaves, that thing is going to ride terribly no matter how you swing it. I have to agree with tetsulo, try reinstalling your original leaf pack and adding just one leaf from this new pack. Assuming that your original pack is a 3" lift pack, it will hopefully add no more than another couple of inches to it. If its a stock pack, it may add as much as 5 or so inches to it. Trial and error is the only way to go here. Definitely don't even consider running it the way it is. You will need many other mods to accommodate that and prevent damage to your rig...
Click to expand...

Not the greatest idea mixing 3/8 leaves with worn out stock ones. The stock ones will fail fairly quickly. I've seen it before even with 'add-a-leafs'.
 
"imediate and Catastrophic u-joint failure" is brought to mind with no SYE and ~10" lift...

and you are measuring your lift wrong... measure from the bottom of the flare to hub center...
my rear end looks exactly the same and i only have 6" of lift...
 
cracker said:
I am assuming he is using the stock shackle? It could be all the way forward or pinned up against the back not allowing the leaf to settle. A longer shackle will allow it to settle BUT it might give it more height. (I am dealing with a similar dilema right now)
Click to expand...

The springs have 10k on them, so they are where they are.

The rear shackle is stock, but it is in the middle where it should be, not pinned against either the front or back.

I plan to at least remove the overload springs, and one of the main leafs, or do a hybrid as mentioned before.

Flare to center of the rear hub on my stock '88 is: 17.5"
Flare to center of the rear hub on this '85 is: 26"
That is quite a difference in height.

I know how to(and have enough $ to) to a cheap SYE.
I have a friend at a driveline shop :) .
I can get longer brake lines and E-brake lines, but I still have my shock mounting problem.
 
I have wrangler sized shocks on my lift,and zj shocks.But I can't remember which is on the front,and which is on my rear.... :gag:

Watch it jeonly.. :repair:
 
You should be able to use the stock ebrake cables if you just relocate the bracket farther towards the rear. I am running 7.5" and still use the stock cables with the bracket relocated and have plenty of slack. also check ou gojeep webpage you can make some shock extensions as a temp fix until you get new ones.
 
i've seen a simple extension that can be made using a threaded extension with a rigged bracket mounted further back on the undercarraige. It is pretty simple to make, unfortunately, I do not have the link right now, but I will try to find it for you. This would fix your e-brake issues.


just thought i'd give you a heads-up.
 
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