TC
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Rusting away in Ohio
"Cheap and easy" is great when it comes to women, not lift blocks. TC
-
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rear leaf springs
- Thread starter jimmy forbes
- Start date
Bones
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Mid Missouri
jimmy forbes said:
JF,
If you are going to run blocks, do it as safe as possible.
Go steel blocks that are drilled and bolted to the packs. Don't rely on the centering pin head to hold them in as it would hold the axle spring pad in place. Have the blocks built out of solid steel if you can. The best way is to have the shim angle cut into the block as well.
Good luck and start saving the pennies for a new set of springs or an anti-wrap bar, you'll need one or the other.
Bones :skull1:
- Location
- Bakersfield, CA
Blocks, blocks, blocks.........I like blocks, and have always run them. 
Eagle, you don't have enough lift to use them, so you're talking from theory and not from experience......don't be so anal about it. In some situations, blocks are the perfect solution. It's like anything else, there is always a trade off and the characteristics need to be understood. Saying in a sweeping statement that "blocks are bad, it's indisputable" is bad information....just not true. For those of you who jumped on the bandwagon and made dramatic statements like "blocks are not a real lift, that is redneck crap", what do you say to the new truck manufacturers, like Ford, Chevy and Dodge, who use blocks on nearly all of their heavy duty trucks? You guys need to get better informed.
There are two negatives to blocks, keeping them secure and an increased potential for spring wrap. Both of those issues can be properly addressed, or why would manufacuturers still use them in this sue happy society. Large blocks should not be stacked, that can be a bad idea. Aluminum blocks should never be used, they can break and crumble. U-bolts should be checked regularly and kept tight, but that should be done with lift springs anyway. Small blocks to fine tune lift height are insignificant, and should be pinned through. I currently use two 3/4" solid steel Tomken blocks per side, and I used to use three, and they are pinned through.
Since a block will increase the leverage on the spring, an increased tendancy to wrap will need to be addressed. BigOffroad springs are the best springs out there to combat spring wrap with their anti-wrap spring, which is a half spring on top of the main leaf on the front half of the pack. With an inch or two of block, that might be sufficient. Spring wrap is an issue many times anyway, since we tend to use flexy springs and big tires. Plus, an XJ is already spring over with relatively flat springs, which increases the tendancy towards spring wrap even without blocks. Because of this, many of us use traction bars, and with a traction bar to control spring wrap, it means nothing to use lift blocks.
Personally, I prefer a small block to allow a flatter spring, rather than a stiffer spring with more arch and no block. I also run a traction bar and tighten my u-bolts regularly. Blocks are blocks, and there is nothing inherently good or bad about them, it just depends on how you use them. If you have two inch blocks on most 3"-4.5" lift springs, and no traction bar, you WILL wear out the springs faster.
Get the facts....make a good decision.
Eagle, you don't have enough lift to use them, so you're talking from theory and not from experience......don't be so anal about it. In some situations, blocks are the perfect solution. It's like anything else, there is always a trade off and the characteristics need to be understood. Saying in a sweeping statement that "blocks are bad, it's indisputable" is bad information....just not true. For those of you who jumped on the bandwagon and made dramatic statements like "blocks are not a real lift, that is redneck crap", what do you say to the new truck manufacturers, like Ford, Chevy and Dodge, who use blocks on nearly all of their heavy duty trucks? You guys need to get better informed.
There are two negatives to blocks, keeping them secure and an increased potential for spring wrap. Both of those issues can be properly addressed, or why would manufacuturers still use them in this sue happy society. Large blocks should not be stacked, that can be a bad idea. Aluminum blocks should never be used, they can break and crumble. U-bolts should be checked regularly and kept tight, but that should be done with lift springs anyway. Small blocks to fine tune lift height are insignificant, and should be pinned through. I currently use two 3/4" solid steel Tomken blocks per side, and I used to use three, and they are pinned through.
Since a block will increase the leverage on the spring, an increased tendancy to wrap will need to be addressed. BigOffroad springs are the best springs out there to combat spring wrap with their anti-wrap spring, which is a half spring on top of the main leaf on the front half of the pack. With an inch or two of block, that might be sufficient. Spring wrap is an issue many times anyway, since we tend to use flexy springs and big tires. Plus, an XJ is already spring over with relatively flat springs, which increases the tendancy towards spring wrap even without blocks. Because of this, many of us use traction bars, and with a traction bar to control spring wrap, it means nothing to use lift blocks.
Personally, I prefer a small block to allow a flatter spring, rather than a stiffer spring with more arch and no block. I also run a traction bar and tighten my u-bolts regularly. Blocks are blocks, and there is nothing inherently good or bad about them, it just depends on how you use them. If you have two inch blocks on most 3"-4.5" lift springs, and no traction bar, you WILL wear out the springs faster.
Get the facts....make a good decision.