Some help w/ rear leaf setup

Hey,
(if you want to skip to the leaf question go to the bottom, this is just background info about the front setup in case it helps)

Ok just got this truck not too long ago, 99 XJ which seller stated as having 4.5" of lift. Needs some work in the suspension department, its good enough to get by but I'd rather have it in the best shape possible before moving on to new gears and lockers etc

Now I measured from the center of my hubs to the fender flare lips and got 22.5" in rear and 23" in front, which according to posts i've seen on here means I've got 5.5" of lift rather then 4.5".

So far I've ordered RC's Long Arm Upgrade, RC's HD Adjustable Trackbar w/ new bracket, new drop pitman arm, RC 2.2 Steering Stabilizer, set of RC 2.2 Shocks and RC Sway Bar Discos. Basically replaced anything that looked worn (SS is blown, Shocks move on the lower bushing in front, only has links not discos, UCA is original and bushings look shot, LCAs had zerks ripped off, trackbar is oem style)

Now I'm starting to put together what to do about the rear.

From looking it seems it has the RC Adjustable Shackles, 2" Lift Blocks, and some unknown leafs.

The shackles are basically at a 90 deg angle, the bushings in the leafs are worn and squeak pretty bad, the leafs themselves look rather flat, and i prefer not to run blocks.

So far I'm thinking of sticking with the RC Adj. Shackles and getting the HD Offroad Engineering Shackle Relocators as well as a new leaf pack.

So my question is what size leaf pack should I be looking at? Like I said above i *think* i have 5.5" of lift altho the seller said it was 4.5". The shackles I read as adding about 1-1.5" and the relocators are from .75" to 1.5". Should I be looking at 3" packs? Any rec. on which packs to go for or is there no real difference?

Sorry for writing so much, just trying to answer any possible questions right off the bat , thanks

I would run a RE 3.5 pack and stick with the adj shackles and the Relocators. I have this set up and even with stock shackels I netted 5.5. it all depends with the relocation brackets where you set your shackel angle at. You will be very happy with the ride and performace of this set up.

jonesinxj said:

I would run a RE 3.5 pack and stick with the adj shackles and the Relocators. I have this set up and even with stock shackels I netted 5.5. it all depends with the relocation brackets where you set your shackel angle at. You will be very happy with the ride and performace of this set up.

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Yea i forgot to mention i was aiming for some comfortability as well, one of the reasons I went with the Long Arms in the front.

Thanks for the thoughts

the shackle relocators will help drastically with the shackle angle and ride quality. i agree with running an RE3.5 with adj. shackles and relocators. they are both fully adjustable so you can tune your ride height how you like it

Alright well I think thats the way I'll go then, just going to do a few things before i tackle it back there (found my exhaust was pinched on the front pipe so gonna put a new one of those and a dynomax kit on, sye and shaft, and then some tuneup stuff) Hopefully it'll be fully ready for a fun summer and ride a hell of a lot more comfortably then it does now

thanks!

Might want to post a pic of the dent in your exhaust(you might be looking at the FACTORY dimple).

I'll post a pic shortly, im pretty sure it's just a straight dent but no harm in being sure. I'm battling a 12mpg average and a resistance to accel over 60-65 going thru uphill grades on the rt 87 & 17 in NY. (running what i believe is 5.5" lift with 265/75R16 Load Range E 10 ply Maxxis Buckshots with AW4 and stock gears in the d30 and 8.25" on a '99)

My A/F needs to be replaced definitely, i was going to also swap in the 4-hole injectors, replace the front pipe and catback, new stant 195* thermostat (and drain out all the old coolant obviously, and put new fresh coolant in with water wetter), a can of bg 44k (have tons of it at the mazda dealer i work at), new front o2 sensor and a trans cooler. I'm also going to check plugs and everything but the wires and cap look fairly fresh. My FP Check Valve is also faulty but i'm not going to go after that as i just turn the key on a few times before cranking and it works fine.

The accel issue i was thinking might just be due to stock gearing, but then i found the dent in the exhaust and I think the restriction may be enough to give me the accel problem.

Anywho pic of the exhaust dent coming soon, gonna jump in the truck in a minute to go to the bookstore.

While I am posting pics might as well throw another one out there, anyone think this looks like 5.5" of lift? Tires are 265/75r16 on 16" moabs. I took the hub to flare measurements but it just looks smaller then 5.5" to me

That dent in the exhaust comes from the foctory like that. It's for clearence of the front axle at stock height.

teknicsrx7 said:

While I am posting pics might as well throw another one out there, anyone think this looks like 5.5" of lift? Tires are 265/75r16 on 16" moabs. I took the hub to flare measurements but it just looks smaller then 5.5" to me

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On 31s, yeah, it seems a bit low. It looks closer to 4" to me, but I am no expert. So when you took the hub to flare measurement, did it come out to about 5.5? If we have a stock measurement and that one comes up at 5.5, that is more of a reliable indicator than how it looks.

Wow so that exhaust pipe is normal? Amazing looks bent as hell. Well glad I posted it up then that'll save some $.

Any idea on my problems keeping it over 60-65 on uphill grades on the highway? I need my foot to the floor practically to keep it moving but it still loses steam uphill. Trans seems smooth but in those situations it sometimes won't drop down a gear, I'm not sure if it might be due to stock gears or bigger tires or if it's some mechanical problem. Hopefully the air filter and catback and tuneup will help.

I measured from hub to flare and got 23" front and 22.5" in rear, the only stock measurements I found here were 17.5 and 17. My neighbor has a stock '00 I could go check it's height and compare. When I measured from door sill to ground I believe it was 24.5 or 25", supposively stock on a '99 is 20" so that's why I've been confused as to what I really have especially since the seller said 4.5".

To my uneducated eye I thought it looked about 4" too.

Dodge van main spring. There is a writeup somewhere.... Also, going up hill with stock gear and larger tires take some effort. Try down shifting to 3rd. Also, I would adjust your cable for your tans pressure. Theres a writeup on that one too.

teknicsrx7 said:

Any idea on my problems keeping it over 60-65 on uphill grades on the highway? I need my foot to the floor practically to keep it moving but it still loses steam uphill. Trans seems smooth but in those situations it sometimes won't drop down a gear, I'm not sure if it might be due to stock gears or bigger tires or if it's some mechanical problem. Hopefully the air filter and catback and tuneup will help.

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I think it's just a tire size/gearing/trans programming problem.
It's just a quirk of the AW-4s. Once the torque converter's locked in 4th, it sure doesn't like to downshift. If you manually shift to 3rd, the TC will lock and it'll usually hold speed.
Not much you can do except 4.10 gears.

tbburg said:

I think it's just a tire size/gearing/trans programming problem.
It's just a quirk of the AW-4s. Once the torque converter's locked in 4th, it sure doesn't like to downshift. If you manually shift to 3rd, the TC will lock and it'll usually hold speed.
Not much you can do except 4.10 gears.

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Ok I figured a 4-speed + 3.55 + big tires was probably the uphill problem. I figured on doing 4.10s and an arb in the rear. Still going to do the other things to try to hit at least 15-16 mpg highway if possible. I'm glad I know the exhaust is normal, don't like it tho so might cut out that section and weld in a smooth round piece.

Also going to look into that trans pressure thing that was mentioned.

Glad everyone here is helpful, I work on cars for a living but I know every car has it's own "personality" I guess. This place definitely helps shrink the learning curve.

Im hoping when I feel my truck is fully prep'd and I have time to setup the trails on my property to fit trucks I can throw a "thank you ride" for a weekend or something. Got 60 acres outside of Binghamton with permission/access to over 2000 connected acres, right on a nice mountain valley range. Right now the access trails from my property are a bit overgrown since they mostly see ATV traffic. I'm excited as hell to get everything setup!

Definately gearing,I tow my 3000# trailer all over the "Rockies" at "Light Speed",consider going to 4.56's if your keeping the 32's !

if you EVER plan on running 33's, go straight to 4.56 gearing, it'll be fun on 31's, and great on 33's. but a lot of people who go 33's on 4.10's say it needs more gearing.... unless you do your own gear work, and enjoy buying new gears at ever tire size change to keep it ideal...

alright did the trans throttle cable adjustment thing, havent been able to drive tho (fractured my foot) so we'll see if that helped at all. I'll give some thought about final tire size before i do the gears, these are just what came on it, i was thinking of 33s but I'm not focused on the whole gear or tire thing yet, just getting the suspension back in operable shape or at least not "unknown" shape.

First Ill be trying to figure out my actual lift size, guessing best bet is to measure against my neighbors jeep, trying to wait to know theyre not around lol.

thanks again guys, my first order should be coming in tomorrow, woo! next is NJ Inspection, bleh. Then if everything passes there, leafs and exhaust in a week or so. then do a few trails and see my next move.

Thanks again