Rear Spring Questions??

I go dirt biking a lot ( about 2-3times a week) and i often need to drive an hour o r more to get to riding areas. here is the deal.. i have a tralier hitch mount motorcylce carrier, but when its on with the bike, it sags pretty good, more than i would like, the tongue weight is about 380 with bike so its heavy but ok.

my question what is out there for the rear to help stop this sag? money is tight ( poor college student) so i have thought about some dakota leaf's to maybe fix this problem. i don't really mind a bit of a lift in the rear because i often have a lot of gear and trailers on the back. what if anything would you guys recommend? i know of course the stock springs, but i would like a bit more strength than stock springs. what is out there?? what are my options do you guys think?? if i go to dakota leaf's how many can i use without making a huge lift? ( i have searched dont worry)

Rear Spring Questions

There must me a ton of "poor college students" who own xj's out there. In my mind, the word poor does not include tuition, books, motorcycles and having the time and money to ride three times a week. But when mentioning your xj, its poor time. Doesn't your xj deserve better from you?
Seriously though, when I carry extra weight in my pick up, I increase the air pressure in my air shocks to compensate for that weight and keep things level without going that drastic step of beefing the rear suspension. This is only a short term fix for isolated cases when I need the boost and would be a cheap fix for under a $100.
Otherwise, if you do a lift that allows you to handle the weight you mention, you are talking HD leaf springs which will inherently raise your xj and open a can of worms like driveshaft vibration, shock extenders (or new shocks}, new attaching hardware, possibly shims, maybe a new and longer brake line extender, maybe new and longer e-brake lines, a spacer for the front coils, and possibly a TC case drop....are any of these items listed in your college budget? It could cost you a great deal, or maybe a moderate deal depending upon where you get parts and what really happens as a result of lifting your rear suspension. This is the truth here, for I am presently in the process of ironing out these issues after installing an s10 leaf pack to my original main leaf to do the exact thing you are asking about.
From one ex poor college student to a current one, look into the air shocks as a possibility. BUT if you do the lift, expect the unexpected and you won't be as surprised when your budget lift turns into more like a major remodel. Good luck.

That sounds like a lot of tongue weight, especially when considering the lever arm effect. Fixing the problem with springs alone would raise the rear when unloaded. Have you looked at airbags?

http://www.airliftcompany.com/

air bags are what you need. you can do it cheap where you dont have a compressor. they are pretty easy to setup.

yeah i really dont want to do a lift, i want to keep my jeep stock, it wheels pretty good ( at least good enough for my wheeling ability) gets better MPG because i drive a high amount of miles often.
im not cheaping out on my jeep, i have a 1986 motorcycle, and am just now started to work for the summer, and have a decent amount of money to spend.

I was going to buy an f-150, but i really could not bear to sell my jeep. id rather have my jeep

i have looked into air bags. where can i find some for the Cherokee, i have looked at Firestone, and even airlift company and still no dice. they have some for the ZJ but that is about it. anyone out there with a product that works on here??

Airlift made them for the XJ. They've redesigned their site and catalog. I can't find it now. Give them a call they still might have some on the shelf.

edit: Summit racing has them: http://store.summitracing.com/partd...t=AIR-59507&N=700+4294908279+115&autoview=sku

edit, again: airlift still has the XJ in the application guide: http://www.airliftcompany.com/pdf/appguide.pdf

This isn't hard, just increase the spring rate of your springs so they can handle the extra weight. Any 2.5" wide leaf spring will work, but if they have more arch they'll lift the Jeep more. Personally, I would buy another set of stock XJ springs ($40 more or less), buy a 4.5" angle grinder if you don't have one ($15 @ Harbor Freight, $30 @ Wal-Mart), and use a cutoff wheel to cut the eyes off the main leafs, then add those new cut leaves as the second leaf in your current pack. Put new spring clamps on ($5-$10) and bolt it back up. It'll lift it about an inch or so, which isn't hardly noticeable, won't require longer brake lines, u-bolts, shocks, nor SYE, etc. The increased spring rate in the rear won't be as comfortable with the stock shocks as it used to be, stiffer shocks would feel better to control the rebound, but you can live with the stock ones.

Ya I kinda thought the same thing, poor college student but goes riding 2-3 times a week??? Anywho your tounge weight is 230?? Make the weight less by moving the axle on your trailer. One bike at 230 tounge weight seems kinda high to me.

no it is not a trailer, it carries the bike behind the jeep without touching the ground. i am going to get some airbags, and do much like what gojeep did. i am going to buy a trailer soon anyway because its summer and i am working again. the only reason i am able to ride that much for so cheaply is because, i a got the bike for free, b my friend pays for all the gas, and c i work alot during the summer and live cheap during the school year so i dont halfta work.