• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

question on Bastard pack?

J

jumpnjeep

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Hi-Desert
Hey everyone. I'm getting ready to assemble my bastard pack and was wondering how I should go about it. I have 2 stock packs and want to know what is the best configuration as far as which springs to double up on and which to leave out. Also does anyone know roughly how much height is going to be gained by doubling up the leafs?

Any opinions or advice are welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks,
 
There was a write up in the mod section that showed how to do the S-10/XJ bastard pack. Not sure how similar that is to the XJ/XJ bastard pack. I will see if I can find it. I used it when I helped another member put one together.
 
XJ packs are pretty flat. I don't know how it will work. You may end up with a very stiff pack with not too much lift.
 
Well I'm am not too concerned as far as lift goes. I have an AAL in right now and I sit about 3.5 or just under in the rear. I am mainly looking for a bit more strength in the rear. If I load the back up with tools or heavy stuff, or when I put a trailer on it sags down and almost goes to a frowny face spring! So more I'm looking for the stiffening and let the AAL maintane the lift.

Thanks for the info guys and I will check for that other thread in the mods section.
 
Found the thread we used. But for some reason the pics are no longer visible. The original poster is probably long gone since it was written six years ago, but there is still good info in there.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=50083&highlight=bastard+pack

I also remember looking at the XJ/XJ bastard pack and I think you only net 1.5-2" of lift. The S-10 pack is more like 4.5".
 
With a single extra XJ main (with eyes cut of course) typically nets 1.5-2" So if you double up all I would estimate about 4" or so. AN MJ shackle will net you some lift as well.
 
Johnnie Walker said:
With a single extra XJ main (with eyes cut of course) typically nets 1.5-2" So if you double up all I would estimate about 4" or so. AN MJ shackle will net you some lift as well.
Click to expand...

Ok well if I double the pack and end up with about 4" that would be fine. And I'm guessing that a fully doubled pack will have a much better weight handling ability, which is why I want to do this in the first place.

Well I think I will try it out with the full double pack and see what happens, worst case I have to take it apart a couple extra times to fine tune the ride quality/height.

Thanks for all the advice guys.
 
When I considered adding more leafs to my existing pack, ( I decided ultimately to just add the long leaf), from another Cherokee pack, I asked a guy at the local spring shop about going about it. He said to make sure that none of the leaves are the same length, and to always go longer to shorter, top to bottom.
I think adding all of them to one pack would be a very stiff ride. Start with the two longest and go from there IMO.
 
420BlackXJ said:
When I considered adding more leafs to my existing pack, ( I decided ultimately to just add the long leaf), from another Cherokee pack, I asked a guy at the local spring shop about going about it. He said to make sure that none of the leaves are the same length, and to always go longer to shorter, top to bottom.
I think adding all of them to one pack would be a very stiff ride. Start with the two longest and go from there IMO.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good plan, I will start with just the top 2 leafs and work my way up from there. Thanks again for the advice.
Also what did you end up doing on yours? Which leafs did you add and how much lift did you end up with?
 
I used a cut down XJ main and a cut down XJ secondary and configured the leafs in this order
1. Stock XJ main
2. Cut down XJ main
3. Stock Secondary
4. Cut Down XJ secondary
5. stock third leaf
6. stock 4th leaf.

I netted 2.5 inches, more towing capacity, and it rode GREAT. absolutely the best riding setup i have felt in a cherokee... MUCH better than my rigs.. LOL
 
brianglawson said:
I used a cut down XJ main and a cut down XJ secondary and configured the leafs in this order
1. Stock XJ main
2. Cut down XJ main
3. Stock Secondary
4. Cut Down XJ secondary
5. stock third leaf
6. stock 4th leaf.

I netted 2.5 inches, more towing capacity, and it rode GREAT. absolutely the best riding setup i have felt in a cherokee... MUCH better than my rigs.. LOL
Click to expand...

^ is exactly what I was going to suggest.
(Even tho I only added the trimmed XJ main leaf to mine.)
I got a solid inch out of just the extra main leaf. I also have a 1.5 inch shackle, but with a stock shackle, you will get more lift than I did. Probably 1.5 inches from just the main leaf.
 
Last edited:
it was a really great setup... i ran that with Orvis ZJ V8 coils and 3/4 spacers for a good 2.5" lift... i used yj monroe sensatracs for the front and Mj monore sensatracs for the rear with BPE's on front and rear
 
Wow tons of great info. Thanks everyone, I think my staring point will be something along the lines of
Stock xj main
Cut down xj main
AAL for lift
Stock xj 2nd
Maybe cut down xj 2nd (I still want to beef up for weight carrying)
Stock xj 3rd and 4th

I need it to end up somewhere around ~3.5". So again thanks for all the great advice, and I will put some pics up of the before and after if there is a noticable difference.
 
with a a cut main, cut secondary, AND an AAL, im betting you will net more than 3.5", and id imagine it would ride stiffer.. AAL are notorious for being stiff as hell, and prematurely wearing out your other springs due to mix matched rates... stick with the
stock main
cut main
stock 2nd
cut 2nd
third
fourth

AND then if you need more height after the 2.5" add
shackles 1.5"
U bolt Emliminators .5" - 2" or 3"
Adjustable Shackle Brackets 1.5"

you can easily gain tons of height with the above methods, all without ill effets, except maybe the super tall U bolt eliminators.... but if you went with 1.5" shackles and 1.5" shackle brackets, you would be sitting a a solid 5.5" on the bastard pack and assorted brackets...
 
To build a bastard pack for weight not height you need different leafs. Stock XJ leafs are to lowly rated. My bastard pack was built from heavy 3/4 ton leafs. Only netted 3" of lift but with 1200+ lbs of weight in the Jeep it only lost 1/2 of lift. That was a load of 5 people and luggage. That pack consisted of 5 leafs, the stock XJ upper and the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th from the heavy 3/4 ton. It road like a dump truck. I rebuilt that pack to be XJ upper, XJ 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th from the heavy. It road way better and gained 1.5" also flexed a good bit better. However weight handling wasn't what it used to be. Dropped to about 3" of lift with the same load.
 
brianglawson said:
with a a cut main, cut secondary, AND an AAL, im betting you will net more than 3.5", and id imagine it would ride stiffer.. AAL are notorious for being stiff as hell, and prematurely wearing out your other springs due to mix matched rates... stick with the
stock main
cut main
stock 2nd
cut 2nd
third
fourth

AND then if you need more height after the 2.5" add
shackles 1.5"
U bolt Emliminators .5" - 2" or 3"
Adjustable Shackle Brackets 1.5"

you can easily gain tons of height with the above methods, all without ill effets, except maybe the super tall U bolt eliminators.... but if you went with 1.5" shackles and 1.5" shackle brackets, you would be sitting a a solid 5.5" on the bastard pack and assorted brackets...
Click to expand...

cdawall said:
To build a bastard pack for weight not height you need different leafs. Stock XJ leafs are to lowly rated. My bastard pack was built from heavy 3/4 ton leafs. Only netted 3" of lift but with 1200+ lbs of weight in the Jeep it only lost 1/2 of lift. That was a load of 5 people and luggage. That pack consisted of 5 leafs, the stock XJ upper and the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th from the heavy 3/4 ton. It road like a dump truck. I rebuilt that pack to be XJ upper, XJ 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th from the heavy. It road way better and gained 1.5" also flexed a good bit better. However weight handling wasn't what it used to be. Dropped to about 3" of lift with the same load.
Click to expand...

Ok sounds good. Then I think for now I will just go with the:
Stock upper
Cut upper
Stock 2nd
Cut 2nd
And stock 3rd and 4th
And then I will add a shackle to even up with the front.

Then I will start looking around for a heavier pack that I can use to make a different pack later. We still DD so I have to keep some ride quality in mind or my wife will kick my ass! Lol

As always thanks for all the advice. NAXJA comes thru again!
 
I would try more than anything to keep part of the main leaf eyes, like the bottom 45-90 degrees of it. XJ main leafs are great at bending with extra leafs added, this will give them the support they need.
 
ditto, cut the eyelets off of the second xj main up into the curve of the eyelet just a bit, so it wraps around the bottom of the curve on your main leaf... ill try to post some pictures in the next few days of what i'm talking about
 
I netted 4.5" using this setup:

Stock main
Slightly cut main (it is full length with the eyes just barely cutoff. It partially wraps up at each end by about 1/2")
Stock 2nd
Cut 2nd (exactly halfway between 2 and 3 stock lengths)
Stock 3rd
Cut 3rd (exactly halfway between 3 and 4 stock lengths)
Stock 4th

Also, a 1.25" shackle, HD shackle relocation brackets (???"), 1/2" lift u-bolt eliminator kit. Also running full length Teflon double lipped leaf liners between all leaves.

I haven't added a cut 4th in yet but I might to help I increase the load capacity a bit when I'm towing a trailer.

I will not run any other leaf pack again other the this setup. It is nice and flat so you get a lot of droop (as opposed to the limited droop you get on a very arched/stiff pack). My load capacity is a lot better then the soft stock setup and with the liners, it is not squeaky and it flexes very smoothly through the whole range of the leaf. hands down way better for an all around daily driver/expedition/camping rig then any aftermarket pack. Maybe if you are pre-running or hardcore rock crawling you'd want something different.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
First Posting And Sagging Leaf Spring Question
Replies
4
Views
3K
XJ_ranger
XJ_ranger
M
Oil pressure question
2
Replies
26
Views
3K
Money_Pit_Incoming
M
M
A few comments on RC 4.5" long arm setup
Replies
2
Views
3K
maxbraketorque
M
M
Test fitting RC 4.5" long arm on 2000 XJ
Replies
10
Views
4K
RCP Phx
R
U
Bastard pack question
Replies
5
Views
1K
Unclewolverine
U
Back
Top