Closing the 2 year gap on my lift and want to make some improvements

Srry in advance for such a long post...this is my first post on these forums.

1992 Jeep XJ Laredo
4.0 V6 HO

Ive had my jeep for about 2 1/2 years now. After owning the jeep for a year, I bought a Rough Country 4.5 Inch Lift will full springs in the rear and replacement lower control arms. The kit also included a drop bracket for the trackbar and a 1 inch transfer case drop. During installation the arch on the rear leafs did not match up. What I mean is...I had to install one end of the leaf and put a jack under the center of the leaf and jack it up....decreasing the arch of the leaf to reach the shackle at the rear bumper. My first question is: Has anyone else experienced this when installing a lift kit?

Embarrased to say the kit is now 1 1/2 years old and I never contacted Rough Country in regards to the rear leafs. The ride is rough but the flex is very nice offroad. About 3 months ago I was getting some wobble up front and took it to an alignment shop to see what the problem was. They said my Track bar drop kit was loose and needed to be tighted. They also said they think my front axle was bent and they wanted me to pay them $400 to disassemble the front axle and correct the bend in it.

This seemed very unusual to me so I called a local 4x4 shop and asked him about it. He looked at my axle and said that yes it was bent but he has never seen or heard of anyone "fixing" a bent axle without replacing it. He also asked me if I had been doing any "jumping" in my jeep. The problem with this is that I rarely go offroad and when I do im too scared to break something to do anything tough. From my untrained eyes I see no bend in either of my axles but the 4x4 guy told me both from and axles were bent...the front more sever than the rear.

Could this in anyway be from such a rough ride or the rear springs I was too stupid to ask around about? This was 3 months ago and I still drive it around no problems at all. If my axles were bent I would think you would feel some kind of vibration. My jeep rides smooth as butter on a nice road but hit even a small hiccup in the road and...well lets just say that its a pretty rough ride.

Beyond the axle issues...would it be wiser to buy new shocks to see if it improves the ride or just spring for some better quality leafs in the rear and maybe new coils up front?

BTW the shocks that are on there now came with the lift and I have zero clue as to what they are.

As you can tell if you read this long A$$ post. Im not much of a mechanic or 4x4 expert. I bought the lift and tires mostly for looks but also to play around in sometimes. I am far from a hardcore offroader and my jeep sees rocks once a year...if im lucky. Mostly mud and snow fun for me. I am looking to do some more offroading but these issues must me corrected before I would even think about doing something serious offroad. Thank you for reading this long post and any information would be much appreciated

If it were mine I'd get yet another opinion and a price quote and then compare that price quote to what a junkyard axle will cost you (probably less). If the junkyard axle costs the same or less, then run what you have until it breaks and then just buy another axle from a yard and swap it in (fairly easy to do).

Has anyone here experienced having to install the leaf springs as i meantioned...and if not should I worry about them and try to get them replaced soon?

I don't really see how springs would cause the axle to bend..... Btw, it is possible that you got your jeep already with that problem.

In any case, look upon this as an opportunity to upgrade

on your rear springs...



what direction is the shackle pointed. down, to the front, to the back?



If these shackles are hitting the frame mount at all this could be where your rough ride is coming from. (You mentioned having trouble mounting the springs). I had that problem when my springs were too short eye-to-eye (rustys).

The track bar mounts, either of them, can cause front-end wobble...get this taken care of...regularly tighten the track bar just to make sure. Its preventative maintenance

The shackles are pointing toward the front of the vehicle. When the jack was taken from under the leaf during installation, the tension in it pulled the shackle in that direction. If this is part of the rough ride...how can this be corrected without replacing the leafs?

Diagram showing shackle direction

E | o | Rear
N --/-- Bu
G / mp
I O er
N
E

The degree is pretty bad too. Standing still the shackle is almost fully foreward. There is maybe an inch of room to move in that direction.

Well forget the diagram...forums took out the spaces. Anyways its angled in the direction of the engine.

they should be pointed straight down or slightly towards the rear of the vehicle... I bet this is your problem with the rough ride.

when mine were doing this, i got longer shackles, and then the springs broke in and it finally settled in the vertical position. rides much better.

Take a flashlight and look carefully at the shackle pocket...is the shackle hitting the sheetmetal anywhere?

if its been over a year and the springs are still too short..get new ones , or maby the longer shackle will work.

-j

They shackle is pointed toward the engine...but I see no visible damage or denting the metal surrounding the shackle on either side. I imagine that if it was hitting...there would be some visible damage to it. Who makes a good adjustable trac bar thats not to costy? That will probably be the first thing I do to the jeep. My trac bar wont stay tight with the cheap drop bracket that came with my lift. I have to tighten it every week.

also what about shocks...Could it be that my shocks are stiff and dont properly compress when hitting bumps in the road? I dont have a problem with flex at low speed indicated that the leaf cant possibly be too stiff. So maybe shocks are the answer? But dont they compress and depress at the same rate? If that were the case I would probably notice huh?

Some times when someone installs a lift, they tighten the rear shackle bolts before the vehicle is lowered (weight of vehicle on the springs). Try loosening the shackle bolts with the vehicle on the ground and see if that helps.

The shocks could be too stiff. when i first got my rubicon Express 4.5" like 5 years ago..the shocks it came with were very harsh. when my rustys springs were causing the shackles to hit, i could hear a loud banging in the rear on speed bumps and pot holes.


if the shackles are pointed just a little bit towards the engine, thats not a problem. you say there are no scrapes on the shackles or the mounts, so maby thats not causing the harshness.

From what i can remember, the rough country lift is stiff campared to most others..could be wrong.

other than that i'd say just look at EVERY pivot or joint in the suspension and whats connected to it..look for worn out bushings, metal to metal contact, bent things, oil leaking from shocks, extreme control arm angles, loose shock mounts, u-bolts......

for the track bar...if you want low maintenance, great performance, get the REHD trackbar and mount. there is no other.
i've had mine going on 2 years, and its been perfect.


good luck

-J