The front leaf spring thread. who's doing it now? what have you learned?

[BrettM]

wait, now that the page refreshed I can see the second 2, but not the first.... stupid world wide web


edit: do you have a link to any of your build pictures? and any plans for the rear suspension? it's beging for a 4 link

 

[HTeK]

Great thread brett -

I am planning on doing this as soon as I get my 44's built. What have I learned? Well, not a WHOLE lot yet, after tons of searching here and pirate, I really think its gonna be a "figure out the details on the fly" sorta deal.

But a couple peices of information that I have picked up and found useful to my project:
1) If one trusted the stock LCA mounts enough, the bolt holes are drilled at an angle from each other. This would make the distance of the the front spring eyes greater than the distance of the rear spring eyes. Another good reason NOT to use the stock LCA mounts. I will be plating (3/16's) and re-drilling on the stock lca mounts. With this, i will be plating the uni-rails and tying all together.
2) 44044's are too tall. Stock waggy's are too short. 11" and 6" are the numbers I have heard. I want ~7". I will try the RE 2.5" springs.
3) Shackle reversal appears to be too much work to justify any benefits.
4) 4x4 angle seems to be the front xmember of choice. Any reason to run 1/4" instead of 3/16's"?

-jm

 

[BrettM]

Great thread brett -

I am planning on doing this as soon as I get my 44's built. What have I learned? Well, not a WHOLE lot yet, after tons of searching here and pirate, I really think its gonna be a "figure out the details on the fly" sorta deal.

But a couple peices of information that I have picked up and found useful to my project:
1) If one trusted the stock LCA mounts enough, the bolt holes are drilled at an angle from each other. This would make the distance of the the front spring eyes greater than the distance of the rear spring eyes. Another good reason NOT to use the stock LCA mounts. I will be plating (3/16's) and re-drilling on the stock lca mounts. With this, i will be plating the uni-rails and tying all together.
2) 44044's are too tall. Stock waggy's are too short. 11" and 6" are the numbers I have heard. I want ~7". I will try the RE 2.5" springs.
3) Shackle reversal appears to be too much work to justify any benefits.
4) 4x4 angle seems to be the front xmember of choice. Any reason to run 1/4" instead of 3/16's"?

-jm

1) don't run your springs at an angle, if you're going to use the LCA mount, it needs to be modified to let the bolt be straight. seems to me like it'd be easier to just chop it off and build a new hangar
2) brand new (JC Whitney replacements) 7 leaf Waggys run about 6 inches, and 44044s are 2.5" lift springs, so I would guess 44044s come in at about 9 inches. 3.5" YJ springs give 7-7.5 inches. Take a serious look at BDS springs, they are cheaper than RE, better warranty than anyone, and full military wrap on both ends.
3) agreed
4) why not 1/4"? weight and price are within just a few percent of each other, I would rather have the comfort of 1/4"

 

[HTeK]

1) don't run your springs at an angle, if you're going to use the LCA mount, it needs to be modified to let the bolt be straight. seems to me like it'd be easier to just chop it off and build a new hangar
2) brand new (JC Whitney replacements) 7 leaf Waggys run about 6 inches, and 44044s are 2.5" lift springs, so I would guess 44044s come in at about 9 inches. 3.5" YJ springs give 7-7.5 inches. Take a serious look at BDS springs, they are cheaper than RE, better warranty than anyone, and full military wrap on both ends.
3) agreed
4) why not 1/4"? weight and price are within just a few percent of each other, I would rather have the comfort of 1/4"

1) Yup, spring at an angle would be generally a bad idea. Right now, im just gonna plate the LCA mount and drill new holes where appropriate.
2) I can get RE leafs for the same cost as BDS. BUT... I wanna know RE's warranty - if they have one. Right now, just about the only thing i know for sure is that im gonna run YJ 2.5" leaf springs.
4) Why not 1/4"?? Dunno... just a topic for discussion I guess.

Im gonna have to checkout your MJ before I start on mine. When are you going back to school? My conversion wont be happening till this winter, so id better take a peek while your still in town.

 

[BrettM]

I leave mid-august, but I'm leaving the truck here for next school year. You busy tomorrow? I'm thinking about going up to Greenhorn to mess around

 

[Capt. Nemo]

started on the front crossmember last night. i am using 4x4x1/4 angle that will be tied to c-rok plate on one side and matching plate on the other side, all welded together and bolted to the "frame" and what's left of the stock front crossmember. will post pics once it's on the jeep.

Let's see those welds, rookie... :laugh3: Hope they don't look like this!

 

[xj_punk]

wait, now that the page refreshed I can see the second 2, but not the first.... stupid world wide web


edit: do you have a link to any of your build pictures? and any plans for the rear suspension? it's beging for a 4 link

now do you see it? yeah it is way begging for a 4link and i wanted to build one when i was building the jeep but i didn't have time before ejs so i just threw the leafs under there. but i did inboard them, which improved flex A TON!!! there are some pics of my chop on xjdb but they are kind of in random order.
when i build a 4 link it will be on a oneseater buggy in the future. actually i might build a two seater with the seats inline front to back.
i am thinking about taking the drivetrain out of my jeep actually and building a full tube chassis that will be narrow! but that will be a winter project

 

[yellowxj]

If I had to do it over again and I had the money I'd have used 3/4 or 1 ton axles, for width and steering help, but then I'd have to fix the brake system to work with those...

if you're going to use the LCA mount, it needs to be modified to let the bolt be straight. seems to me like it'd be easier to just chop it off and build a new hangar

easy enough to drill a straight hole...just do it a bit to the rear of the stock lca holes where the mount is double thick on each side...mines been good there for almost 2 years now. Love the M.O.R.E. 3 position leaf spring mounts that let me get the axle close to centered in the wheel well.
I just got done trying 2.5"yj 's on the front, (after it fell over I thought it could be a hair lower) and it wasent enough for the 36's...they rubbed inside the fender...just put back on the 4" yj...might put some shorter front shackles on...its 40.5" to the bottom of the front side marker light lense....so how much lift is that? Gotta be around 8-10".

I'd like to get a stronger front axle so I can try to bull my way up some obstacles when finesse gets boring...still wont RTI over 800 but I dont drive on trails made of ramps and its still the daily ride to work...so eh??? I've got to cut the front shackle mounts off and move them to the rear a hair so let me get the max flex...

 

[dennisuello]

 

[Capt. Nemo]

Very nice, Denis. Welds look, well, professional. What are you going to do with the front bumper???

 

[yellowxj]

nice...are those spring shackle mounts built or bought?

 

[BrettM]

those front shackles look a little longer than neccesary, mine are 4" center to center, what are those? what springs are you going to run(did you already say?)?

 

[yellowxj]

4" yj and I ordered shackles with no lift and got those instead...go figure...still looking for shorter shackles...but I was using stock yj shackles before and they were twisting all over...I need to move my shackle mounts back a little...

 

[BrettM]

oh, okay, but I was actually asking those questions to dennisuello, but I guess i should have made that clear

 

[dennisuello]

those are 5" shackles (.5" lift YJ shackles). i also have 4" shackles, i might try those. as far as the springs go, I'm not sure yet. i need springs that are ~50" long (between eyes, under weight of the jeep)

Eric, i bought those spring hangers. my welds will not looks as pretty (but they will hold)

 

[dennisuello]

What are you going to do with the front bumper???

i am not happy with the approach angle of my current bumper. i will have something custom fabricated, that will mount the winch up higher.

 

[hpi_jeep]

i just did a front leaf swap, you can find pics if you search under my user name.

 

[Kittrell]

i just did a front leaf swap, you can find pics if you search under my user name.

I was Just gonna mention that you were in the process of one, hows it all coming together?????

 

[dennisuello]

what springs are you running in the front?

 

[jeepxjga]

well i went and found a couple decent flex shots of my front end. the front does all the flexing, the rear is pretty stiff and kind of limited due to my springs that im' running. anyway, flexes pretty good, the springs are real soft so i could use some sort of traction bar or stiffer springs, but it works for now....