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Rear tires offset after lift

T

TurtleBoyPW5

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Marquette, MI
I had a Iron Rock Offroad 5.5" long arm life installed on my 00xj and have a question. (I have put about 1500 miles on it so far and the rear is a ford 8.8)

Here is the question, why would one rear tire be farther perfectly centered in the wheel well yet on the other side the tire is about 2" farther back? The guy at the shop thinks perhaps the leaf springs are different tensions. The shackle when installed hit the exhaust on the passenger side, thinking that was what was keeping the shackle from positioning correctly the exhaust was cut out of the way. This however did not fix the problem of that tire being farther back.

Any ideas?
 
i would try swapping the leafs to the opposite sides and see what happens. if that doesnt fix it, its not the leafs.
 
Can you take a picture of both sides?
Is it possible that the center pin sheared off and the springs are not centered because of it?
 
Do you have a locker or a spool? I have a spool in my 9in and when I turn into a parking spot it ends up off center due to wheel drag
 
Pics would help for sure, but I have seen where people have done there lifts and they tighten there leaf spring and shackles in the air with all the weight off the vehicle and set it on the ground and it does not let the suspension settle correctly and bind up. Maybe this is causing the tire to not sit right.

This does not happen often but it does happen, and the correct way to tighten everything up is on the ground with weight on the suspension. Just a thought...
 
X2 on what JRW said, plus, did you make sure you put the leafs in the right way around on each side? The large bushing should be forward on both, I've seen people put one with the shackle end forward by accident before. Easy mistake to make. Why'd you put 1500 miles on it that way though? :scared:
 
kastein said:
X2 on what JRW said, plus, did you make sure you put the leafs in the right way around on each side? The large bushing should be forward on both, I've seen people put one with the shackle end forward by accident before. Easy mistake to make. Why'd you put 1500 miles on it that way though? :scared:
Click to expand...

I want to see you try,the front eye is wider and wont fit in the shackle!
 
:dunno: I didn't do it, but I helped someone on here who did. Just sayin' ;)

I don't recall if they were using aftermarket shackles or not, nor if they had actually finished bolting it together or just looked at it right before putting the U-bolts on and went "oh no something is really wrong here"
 
2" further back seems to be more then just having the springs not the same tension or binding because the shackle bolts were not torqued proporly. to make a 2" difference, then the spring would nearly be flat.

i would check that the centering pin didnt shear off and the axle wasnt shifted back.

if the pin didnt shear, then measure the distance from the front leaf spring bushing to the centering pin.
 
Driver side
IMG_0624.jpg

Passenger side
IMG_0625.jpg

Driver side
IMG_0626.jpg

Passenger side
IMG_0627.jpg
 
It looks to me like you got the wrong spring or your center pin is broken. I second switching your leaves from one side to the other and see if the problem follows. I'll bet as soon as you pull them out it will be obvious.
 
jeeperjohn said:
Must be one spring is the wrong one.
Click to expand...


I agree, it honestly looks like you have two different leaf springs, my friend. You can also see a clear difference in height.

If one spring simply had a different tension spec, one side would just be lower than the other. It would not push the wheel back like that.
 
Both springs are labeled with the same white sprayed on numbers on the top, so unless they were labeled wrong they are the same. Forgive my ignorance where is the center pin and how do I tell if it is broken. Had the lift installed by a local shop cause I do not have the know how or the facilities (college apartment).
 
It's the bolt that goes through the leaf packs right where they connect to the axle. Should be poking out through a hole in the middle of the spring/u-bolt plate.
 
I can see it on both sides underneath and feel it on the top of both. Seems intact, passenger side one is maybe a 1/16th of an inch longer on top than the other side if that makes a difference.

Looks like I got mismatched leafs?
 
TurtleBoyPW5 said:
I can see it on both sides underneath and feel it on the top of both. Seems intact, passenger side one is maybe a 1/16th of an inch longer on top than the other side if that makes a difference.

Looks like I got mismatched leafs?
Click to expand...

now measure the distance between the front eye bushing bolt and the centering pin on each of the springs. one of the centering pin holes could have been drilled in the wrong place(not by the installer, but from the factory. RE springs had this problem awhile ago).
 
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