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Need leaf pack advise before I do something stupid. ..

whitneyj

whitneyj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Mayville, WI
I'm about to begin phase II of my build, which entails the rear half of the vehicle. Long story short, I'm looking to either cut off and build a new front spring hanger and move it farther back (right before the "frame" bends upward) to kick the axle back about 5", and correct the shackle angle (which I'll also cut off and rebuilt with something a little thicker). OR I picked up a set of 63" Chevy leaf packs that I had planned on swapping in to do the same. Right now I've got 2 full XJ leaf packs for about 5" of lift. That doesn't stuff really well, but better than I had thought. With moving the stock length springs, I'd incorporate enough lift to remove 2 springs which will balance the rear suspension out with the front more. (the front is really soft) Or I would swap in the 63" Chevy's and remove the overload. I like the idea of the much longer leaves, and that there's only 3 of them, but I don't like where that's putting the rear shackle. I'd have to cut the rear bumper off after the rail and plate from the rail to the rear bumper to build a shackle mount that wouldn't extend downward something crazy. I know it's a Sat. night, and there's a great fight on tonight, but there's got to be someone out there to convince me to go either way before tomorrow :)
 
someone help me. . . I need to order more 3x3x3/16th for the back half of my Jeep before I cut everything off. So we've got a little bit to learn me up some:gee:
 
If you move the rear axle back 5" you will be out of the wheel well.

If all you want to do is correct the rear hanger angle, someone here sells a rear hanger relocation kit which moves the rear hanger forward 2-4 " or so. Seems simpler than remaing a suspension that may, or may not work right when you're done
 
Just making sure you realize your talking about, moving the gas tank or getting a fuel cell, chopping the back half of the xj up and fabbing new wheel wells, and moving the filler house.
Your shackles will have to hang from the rear bumper, so no matter what youll have to get under your xj with a measuring tape and figure out what you can get away with.
 
if you look on my build thread ( http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=976383 ) i moved the rear axle about 4 - 5 inches back. no one seems to like the idea of having the rear of the leafs mounted to the bumper, but i really dont care, and i believe it will hold up. i had to inboard the springs so that i didnt have to relocate the fuel tank. with the axle being that far back i will have to figure out something for the filler neck though, i might make a new fuel door higher up.
 
You can flip the XJ springs around and gain about 5" in wheelbase IIRC. Youll want to run a traction bar though. 63" chevy leaves are really long, especially compared to XJ leaves..you could probably look into 52" chevy leaves or something similar.
 
Did you reinforce the point where your bumper mounts to the body? If you beefed that up you should be fine, but I doubt the stock mount points were designed for that kind of constant upward pressure. I'd guess before too long you'll see cracking at the body. Maybe if you fabbed something that incorporated the stock mount points and then back into the tunnel where the nut plates for the hitch are. Maybe tap the metal going back and run some bolts up into it. It's an interesting build to be sure. Have you measured the flex against stock?
 
whitneyj said:
I'm about to begin phase II of my build, which entails the rear half of the vehicle. Long story short, I'm looking to either cut off and build a new front spring hanger and move it farther back (right before the "frame" bends upward) to kick the axle back about 5", and correct the shackle angle (which I'll also cut off and rebuilt with something a little thicker). OR I picked up a set of 63" Chevy leaf packs that I had planned on swapping in to do the same. Right now I've got 2 full XJ leaf packs for about 5" of lift. That doesn't stuff really well, but better than I had thought. With moving the stock length springs, I'd incorporate enough lift to remove 2 springs which will balance the rear suspension out with the front more. (the front is really soft) Or I would swap in the 63" Chevy's and remove the overload. I like the idea of the much longer leaves, and that there's only 3 of them, but I don't like where that's putting the rear shackle. I'd have to cut the rear bumper off after the rail and plate from the rail to the rear bumper to build a shackle mount that wouldn't extend downward something crazy. I know it's a Sat. night, and there's a great fight on tonight, but there's got to be someone out there to convince me to go either way before tomorrow :)
Click to expand...


When are you doing the build? Id love to come return the favor! Plus steal ur jack stands so i can fix my castor before my pinion seal explodes :)
 
Awesome, thanks for all the responses.
First off, I posted this thread to get some advise for my current build thread: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=969675

I plan on relocating the gas tank upward so I can run 3/16 plate from rail to rail. So that's taken care of.
Next, I don't want to just relocate the rear shackle, I'm looking for about a 107" wheelbase, I already pushed the front forward, so now it's the back end I'm working on. I'm not worried about the wheel well, I've got plenty of sheet metal at my disposal if need be. I had thought about looking for some 52" Chevy leaves, but at that point I'd rather just use the bastard pack I've got now. So really, I'm just looking for someone to either convince me to use the Chevy leaves, or I'm sticking with relocation the mounts for the bastard pack. . .
 
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