anthrax323
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- San Antonio, TX
I've had my RE 3.5" packs for a month or so now, and am not too thrilled... They sit far higher than advertised and are stiff as hell. Once they sag or break, I'll be going a different route.
As it is, I have decided on the Claytons. My reasons? Just looking at the opinions here, the price, FREE SHIPPING! and proximity to me. I waited a little bit too long to purchase & I was pressed for time. Thanks to everyone who tried to help out with my decision.
Thanks, I took the 4.5" leafs. I'm aprehensive about the decision and almost went with BOR 4". Since I already have shackle relocation brackets & lift shackles, I'm worried that the XJ might be too tall. I'm hoping that the weight of the heep & my junk will level it out. I really don't want to be at 6". My shocks will be worthless & the XJ might have a rake. Brake lines might be too short ... O-boy ...
So what's the best (most accurate) way to measure lift height when you no longer have stock flares?
Well, I'm quoting myself here to say that my prediction came true & the XJ is indeed way too tall. I'm not happy. Based on the measurements using the link above (thanks MT Mike), I'm at 7". Of course the XJ is unloaded, but I can't see the springs settling much with the load I carry. I can't do much about it before the trip, but when I return this will have to be addressed. My next thread will be "how-do-I-lower-my-lift".Thanks, I took the 4.5" leafs. I'm aprehensive about the decision and almost went with BOR 4". Since I already have shackle relocation brackets & lift shackles, I'm worried that the XJ might be too tall. I'm hoping that the weight of the heep & my junk will level it out. I really don't want to be at 6". My shocks will be worthless & the XJ might have a rake. Brake lines might be too short ... O-boy ...
So what's the best (most accurate) way to measure lift height when you no longer have stock flares?
Hopefully with my experience, I can give some helpful input. I have ran both BOR leaf springs and Clayton 6.5" springs. I bought the BOR springs brand spankin' new and ran them for about 3 years. They are way taller than advertised, which required me to put coil spacers in the front to level the Jeep out. BOR states that they recommend running their leaf springs with a longer shackle, which probably contributed a little to the uneven stance, but it was WAY taller in the rear until the 2" coil spacers. I hoped they would settle, but after 3 years, they were just as tall as the day I bought them. Not to mention stiff as hell. The only way I could stand using them was by removing the bottom two leafs so that the ride was softened up a bit, which worked fine for the time I had them on. The BOR leafs that I bought were the FlexE leaf packs, and not the Heavy Duty too. I can't imagine how rough the ride must be on the HD packs.
I bought a used set of 6.5" Clayton leafs that had been used for about two years from someone that rolled their Jeep and was parting it out. Not only did the height match up so I could remove the coil spacers in front, but they also have rubber bushings, which I love. BOR offers rubber bushings too, but I didn't want to fork over the extra cash back then to get them and just dealt with the poly bushings. After 3 years, the poly bushings looked as new as the day I put them on after I removed the BOR springs from my XJ. To this day I don't know why my BOR leafs were so dang stiff because on many threads you can read about people raving about their flex, ride, and performance. I honestly don't think you could go wrong with either one, but I know for a fact that I now have a love for Clayton and their springs are top notch. Let me know if you have any questions about either packs that I have.
Ever figure out why the springs were so stiff??
Obviously an old thread but I wanted to contribute to this thread as I feel my experience is still relevant. I have the 8" FlexE packs running spring under with a 1.5" lift shackle (for about 4-5" of lift total: 8" + 1.5" = 9.5" - 5" or so for the spring under). Mind you, this is on a 2wd XJ with a spooled full floating 9". Up front I have 8" Skyjacker coils cut down to about 4.5" of lift for increased spring rate. Main use for the jeep is heavy dune use and high speed desert.
The leafs did not compress at all with the weight of the jeep on them. It drove scary going down the road. I too had to remove the bottom two leafs for the pack to compress and become manageable. With a full size spare, full cage, aluminum race jack, tools, and fluids, the jeep compresses the pack (minus 2 leafs) about 2.5-3". Its still a relatively light jeep but without the load in the back the springs are still too stiff. I'm going to relocate the battery to the rear to see if that helps. I don't know why they are so stiff but it seems I am not alone. Perhaps Alcan sent the HD ones instead? I don't know how to tell.
Right now they only have 4K miles on them but have been HARD miles. I have RE drop brackets up front with fox shocks. In the rear I have 2.5" King Race shocks mounted to the cage which were valved for lighter OME springs. With the softer OME's this jeep would float over whoops and ride very nice. Unfortunately they didn't do much for axle wrap and I trashed them. The Big leafs under the axle are great for axle wrap. No wheel hop at all.