Rubicon Express Leafs??????????????

I purchased a pair of 5.5" RE leafs in August and have had nothing but problems since they were installed. The lower leafs fan out from the pack no matter how tight my u bolts are. I havent even had a chance to fully flex them yet. I have been in contact with RE and they have told me they cant do anything for me. They said its gonna happen yet I have never had this problem with any other leaf. Anyone else having this problem???????

what you mean fanout didn't they come with leaf spring clamps?

If they didnt come with the spring clamps get some there cheap, also check the center pin make sure its tight it may help. I have installed a lot of RE leaf packs and have not seen them fan out before.

derrickdrew17 said:

what you mean fanout didn't they come with leaf spring clamps?

Click to expand...

the bottom 2 leafs dont reach the clamps and twist out away from the pack

JRW7072009 said:

If they didnt come with the spring clamps get some there cheap, also check the center pin make sure its tight it may help. I have installed a lot of RE leaf packs and have not seen them fan out before.

Click to expand...

]


everything is tight. center pins, replaced the u bolts 2 times. RE told its gonna happen. hes the crappy excus ethey gave me.

" The difference in our product versus other manufacturers may be because our leaf springs have a tall retainer clip on them allowing the maximum amount of flex. Due to this amount of flex the leaf springs may not always come back to center. "

Did you drill the hole in the spring perch to allow for the larger center pins, if not, they may not be clamping down to the spring perch enough to prevent that from happening

Did you check to make sure the center pins are not bottoming out.

RoyalXJ said:

I purchased a pair of 5.5" RE leafs in August and have had nothing but problems since they were installed. The lower leafs fan out from the pack no matter how tight my u bolts are. I havent even had a chance to fully flex them yet. I have been in contact with RE and they have told me they cant do anything for me. They said its gonna happen yet I have never had this problem with any other leaf. Anyone else having this problem???????

Click to expand...

What problem?

RoyalXJ said:

I purchased a pair of 5.5" RE leafs in August and have had nothing but problems since they were installed. The lower leafs fan out from the pack no matter how tight my u bolts are. I havent even had a chance to fully flex them yet. I have been in contact with RE and they have told me they cant do anything for me. They said its gonna happen yet I have never had this problem with any other leaf. Anyone else having this problem???????

Click to expand...

i got a set of 3.5" RE springs that did the same thing. they were straight from the factory when they fanned out. i now have a set of 4.5s that do the same thing. but that could be because of my centering pins that i have changed out three times

Often times RE includes a center pin on the leaf pack that has a spacer which causes the center pin to hit the axle tube before it clamps down the leaf pack adequately. Make sure the spacer is not on the center pin and the pin is not hitting the axle tube. If you remove the leaf pack and there is shiny metal under where the pin was then it's hitting the axle. Some people have had to grind down the pin to prevent this. The tip of the centering pin should not be sticking out more than 1/4" or so from the bottom leaf.

Also are you running any shims,if so what type?What U-bolts are you running?

I picked up a pair of RE 5.5 springs13 months ago. I’m not happy with them, with in 500 miles the two lower leaves fanned. At 6 months the bushings wore out (all of them).
I have added a stiffener to the 3/8th U-bolt plate and torque the u-bolt disassembled, cleaned, installed new center bolts and u-bolts. The last time I did this the leaves fanned with in 100 miles. My next move is to go to 9/16th u-bolts.
When I replaced the bushings one slipped in and the other I had to grind a bevel on the bushing to get it started. I measured the bushing bores and found a 0.057 difference between the two (that almost 1/16 of an inch) RE says no warranty.
The spring are marked “Made in India” and have two different P.O. numbers which tells me they were made in two different production runs, could be two different manufactures.
The spring do not sit the same from one side to the other, there is a bend in the main leaf front and rear where the short leafs ends.
This is the third set of RE spring I have bought, after this set I will no longer buy or recommend RE springs. This issue is not an install issue it is a manufacture issue that RE has chosen not to address.
I must say the flex very well. Next time I will go with Deavers!
Any one want to buy my springs?

my 3.5" springs do the same thing. the are fanned enough to rub the spring clamps causing some nice clicking and creaking noises. ive tried loosening the u-bolts, realigning them with a hammer and tightening them back down but the leafs just fan back out. they also dont sit level side to side like others have said. im thinking i will take the leafs completely apart and swap every other leaf from pack to pack. so we'll see what happens. then theres the LCA bushings....

everything lays flat and is super tight. spring perch hole were already enlarged from previous springs.

RCP Phx said:

Also are you running any shims,if so what type?What U-bolts are you running?

Click to expand...

running 6* re shims and re u bolts

I think im gonna end of ditching these any going with denver or bds

I've had my RE 3.5s on for close to 3 years now and only had a problem once when my UBE bolts loosened up.

RE use to have their springs made in the USA and I had no problems with them.

My father installed some on his xj last year and had nothing but issues with them. The day he installed them they had an S type shape to them and a week later they started to fan out. took it to moab a few weeks later and the axle wrap from the springs was ridiculous and caused a u joint to fail. He chatted with them right after that trip and asked them if they was warranted...definitly not they said. So jeep safari rolls around this year and he takes it down. He ran a few trails with the same problems experiencing insane axle wrap. He took it down to the arena and chatted with RE and they said there was nothing they could do for him and that they would sale him another set....they wouldnt even look at them on the jeep and said it was drivers error. straight from the arena over to flat iron mesa the pinion was standing straight up on every obstacle he tried. The pinion wrapped up came down and blew a ARB and a Dutchman axleshaft on a foot and a half tall ledge. Wont run their springs from now on but all there other products seem great and have not been a problem for us. Disappointed with their springs though. Switched over to some custom ones and have had zero wrap and zero problems. So apparently 5.5 HEAVY DUTY is not so heavy duty after all....

Yeah I had nothing but problems. I also just checked the bushings and they went to shit already. RE does not stand behind their products one bit. I will never buy another part from them.