Installing RO 4.5 Leafs

Ive been piecing together some lift parts for a few weeks now, found some parts on craigslist, some ordered off the internet and some I fabricated myself (im a cnc laser operator at a metal shop) I was a tech at a chrysler/dodge/jeep dealer for 4 yeara until the owner sold the dealer, anyways ive been slowly installing the parts when I find time, tonight I made my way to the rear springs and the springs that I got seem to be too short, with the front mount bolt in the rear mount comes up about 2 or so inches short of the upper shackle mount hole, has anyone ran into this with either the springs or a lift? I have done plenty of suspension r+r but not any lifts, the leafs that i have installed all went in without any problems. I cant imagine that you would need to put a load on the springs to get them to line up.... theae are one of the parts i found off craigslist, there new springs and have Rop-45xj painted on them as a part number... any ideas?

The arc of the spring shortens the distance between the ends of the spring. The more lift required by the spring, the more arc it has.The common fix for this is shackle relocation. Hd offroad and a few others have just released no lift relocation kits to acomadate this. They also have a version that adds one inch of lift. They relocate the upper shackle location. Moving it forward or backward to match the springs you chose. More than likely when you put weight on the spring you will end up with a vertical shackle angle if not addressed and it will ride very harsh and greatly hinder flex in the rear. Your ideal shackle angle is 45* acute to the spring at ride height with the weight of the vehicle on all tires.

http://hdoffroadengineering.myshopi...oducts/no-lift-xj-shackle-relocation-brackets

But if your springs aren't under any load at all at this point, they may only appear to come up a little short. Jack up your axle so it pushes the sprng up and it may flatten out just the way you want. Maybe. You'd still want to keep an eye on your shackle angle, but full-on relocation may not be necessary . . . yet.

4.5" leafs almost guarantee a relocation is needed. Your shackle will most likely be vertical at ride height

I agree, even if i can get them to bolt up the shackle angle will be vertical. Now with the kits that rustys offer i dont see any of them requiring a relocation kit... not that it would be a bad idea anyways. Now i am tring to use the stock shackles right now, i do need to get either a lift shackle or Aal anyways as i have 5.5" springs in the.front, but even with a boomerang style shackle it still wont line up, will it?

If you get an aal it will greatly increase the spring rate. if it were me. Id use the no lift relocation kits and a 6" lift shackle(6" refering to the distance between the holes not the lift height). You will get the lift you want, a good riding spring setup and better flex. When you get all that installed grab a couple of 50lbs. bags of cement and toss them in the back to help it all settle for a few weeks. Then adjust your shackle angle as needed after the leaves have broken in and settled.

Yeah, thats what ill have to do, i didnt really want to do aal anyways and was planning on shackles from the start. Funny thing is the rear should of been the gravy end to do, i knew id run into problems with the front, (and i sure have) but the rear i thought would of gone nice and smooth, lol, i guess the more and i need isnt a bad thas long as its an upgrade, just becoming more money then ii planned on spending. Usually how it is though ...

Finally had some time to get the parts drawn up, programed, cut, mocked and welded up, metal finished and powder coated. Turned out not too bad,would do it a little different next time if there is a next time, but overall not bad for $3 in bolts and some time...