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Bastard Pack with Stock Springs.

98XJSport

98XJSport

Destiny is the rising sun
Location
Western Maine
Long story short, I have a broken main leaf on one of my 4.5" AAL packs. So, I have 2 stock packs lined up. I plan on using the 2 main leafs from the stock pack to make sure my lifted packs are even.

Now if these main leafs are slightly more sagged then what I have now, I assume I will lose some lift. Can I use the other leafs from the stock XJ pack to add lift? Everything I find searching is for S10 packs, etc.
 
I wouldnt see why not....you could end up with something looking like a deaver pack - lots of "thin" leafs - might turn out pretty cool.

When I took my stock leaf packs off, I gave them to a buddy of mine - he was gonna combine different leafs from 3 different stock packs. I think he ended up with about 4.5" total lift.
 
My pack has 2 xj mains and 2 xj second leaves followed by the balance of a stock pack. I have an excellent ride and 2.5" of lift. Great plan if you don't want to go too tall. BTW I run 265/75/15's on stock wheels with no issues.
 
98XJSport said:
Long story short, I have a broken main leaf on one of my 4.5" AAL packs. So, I have 2 stock packs lined up. I plan on using the 2 main leafs from the stock pack to make sure my lifted packs are even.

Now if these main leafs are slightly more sagged then what I have now, I assume I will lose some lift. Can I use the other leafs from the stock XJ pack to add lift? Everything I find searching is for S10 packs, etc.
Click to expand...
sure. bastard packing doesn't just come from s10 springs. it just means putting more leafs into an existing pack.

deaver packs have very thin leafs, and about 10 of them, depending on the application.... he's just gonna have a few rather thick leafs. the best leaf pack has each leaf doing a little bit of the work, so the fact that you broke a main leaf in a pack with a 4.5 AAL doesn't surprise me, especially if the stock ones were saggy at all
 
I didnt mean exactly like a deaver pack - i mean instead of having super thick leafs from an AAL, he may end up with 7, 8, 9 leafs that are all the same width/thickness/arch and might actually compliment each other better.
 
ah. well put, in that case.
 
Is there a general rule as to which springs to use? Double up the second and 3rd leafs maybe?
 
98XJSport said:
Is there a general rule as to which springs to use? Double up the second and 3rd leafs maybe?
Click to expand...

It's all trial and error, you may have to pull them apart once or twice to get exactly what you want. Search again, there is a TON of info out there that has nothing to do with S10 leaves. Problem is in searching there are so many threads with spring information. There are really no rules about what you can or can't do, but it's not hard if you're willing to do a little work.
 
Trial and error it is, Ill post back with results if this works.
 
i plan on doing this to mine soon, and i've done quite a bit of leaf spring research. the general consensus is longer is softer, and for wheeling (most of the time) we want soft suspension, so try to use the longer ones where possible. but at the same time a good leaf pack's springs work together and not one or two leafs doing all the work. i plan on using my old u bolts to test the height of everything when it's on the ground. u-bolts are stretch bolts and therefore are a 1-time usage type of thing, so to check the height it will be fine to just to tighten it in place and set it down to guess and check.

fwiw, i will be bastard packing a 3" rusty's pack with HD leafs to hopefully achieve 4-4.5". the rusty's pack is soft and the HD leafs are not soft, so in order to keep them working together i'm going to use 2 that are different lengths and try to keep it even. i'm going to use the 2nd leaf and then the middle length one... i think. we'll see how much that gets me.
 
I have 2 Full XJ packs put together. With a 1.5 shackle and DC shackle relocaters. Ive very happy with the set up. I had 5.5 RE before and like this setup alot. Here are some pics.

RTIramp013.jpg

100_0191.jpg
 
Skwerly said:
Cool lookin' setup bro! :)
Click to expand...

agreed. did it net about 6" ish? or did it net "who gives a crap it's tall enough?"
 
Thanks. Im trying to get my paypal working right so i can go RED and post it in the pic section.
 
asp387 said:
agreed. did it net about 6" ish? or did it net "who gives a crap it's tall enough?"
Click to expand...

Its about 5.5 to 6. not sure. I should of measured before and after I went from RE to this.
 
Lifts can be misleading, too. I put a 4.5 inch on mine and saw TEN actual inches in the back, and seven in front! Probaby due to sagging stock springs and whatnot, but at any rate, it was NOT a 4.5 inch lift LOL!
 
Well I got a chance to mess around with this a bit between rain storms.

Stock pack compared to the one I just made.
P1020192.jpg



Before with 3" AAL and 1.75" Lift Shackle:
P1020142.jpg


After with no AAL. I added all the stock leafs except for the 2nd main leaf.
P1020193.jpg


Might have lifted it slightly, this was before I drove it around the block. To compare to the other side:
P1020194.jpg


So doubling the packs gives you a rough 3" lift. Personally I didn't like how it felt, no bumpstops yet and I could get the rear tire to rub on a sharp turn, couldn't do that before. Very soft, probably great for wheeling or with stiffer shocks. So I plan on throwing the AAL back in and taking out most of the stock springs.

To those that have done this kind of stuff before, would you use the AAL with the longer stock shocks also, or ditch the longer and keep the shorter leafs? I want to stiffen it up a bit from where it was and wouldn't mind adding 1/2"-1" while Im at it.
 
Last edited:
When I built mine, I took a grinder to them, painted them with glossy enable, and used double leaf liners between each leaf. I really need to bumpstop.

2.JPG
 
I made mine with 2 stock packs. 2nd main left as long as possible for full support of original main. The other leaves were trimmed about 3" on each end so they dropped in-between the lengths of the original leaves. I ended up with a 7 leaf pack, about 3" of lift and a slightly firmer, but not at all harsh ride in back
 
Well I had a little time to play around some more today.

Remember before:
P1020142.jpg


With a combined full 2 stock packs, no AAL:
P1020193.jpg


After:
P1020196.jpg


I made a pack with the 2 stock smallest leafs, the 3" AAL, and 2 of the longest non-main leafs. Looks to have boosted me ~ 3/4" and stiffened it back up a bit. I think Ill like it, just got to get some more u-bolts to do the other side now.

Note the back sits lower than it looks, after I drove it around the block and reparked it looked lower. Maybe the uneven ground :dunno:
 
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