Sring Pack?

I´ve got a XJ main leaf, I was/am gonna cut down for an add a leaf. Was digging through the garage and tripped over the spring pack from a 1 ton. Eye to eye same as my 88 XJ, 1/4" narrower and 1/8" thicker, like an 8 leaf pack, with numerous mix and match possibilities. Chev. shackles, actually the same width as the XJ.
Possible to use just the main leaf, with the XJ pack. Arch seems pretty close.
Something to thick about, or forget it and go back to plan one?

that could totally work, there are a few basic rules to follow for building a spring-pack:

1) the longer and flatter the leaf pack the better, until it becomes a clearance issue
2) lots of thin leafs is a lot better than a few thick ones
3) get rid of friction! there are full length poly liners, plastic end pads, and special paint available to do this.

My thinking on the heavier main leaf, was to prevent some of the bow/bend/kink problems on the main leaf, I´ve heard about with the AAL. Don´t know if the main leaf, being a quarter inch narrower than the other leafs would be a factor. The long leaf, was on a 1 ton for 20 some years, no kinks or stress bows, seems pretty sturdy, maybe too sturdy.
I´ll have to look closely at the arch and see how close it is.
Found a local outlet for graphit paint. Teflon inserts, shouldn´t be too expensive to ship, they don´t wiegh much.
Have an extra set of U bolts, long center pins and some new spring clamps. Can probably find a new set of bushings locally.
Any tips on where I might start, the 1 ton main leaf, and the XJ pack or the main leaf and the full AAL and the XJ pack?
Don´t really want much more than 2" of lift, just enough to keep my 30´s from rubbing, most of my driving is high speed dirt roading, crowns and ruts. Occasional triple digit runs up the autobahn.

8Mud said:

1/4" narrower and 1/8" thicker

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I wouldn't recommend using them. Stick to leaves that match.



Brett.......you sure have been quick lately with marginal answers........... :nono:

Goatman said:

I wouldn't recommend using them. Stick to leaves that match.



Brett.......you sure have been quick lately with marginal answers........... :nono:

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the 1/8" thicker might be a little too stiff, but the 1/4" narrower isnt' going to hurt anything, as long as the lengths and bushings fit right, it'd be fine. the only problem I could see is that the spring clamps would allow the lower springs to fan 1/8" before they would hit the main leaf, but comeon, 1/8", big deal. obviously he isn't looking to do things the "perfect" way or he would be buying leafs.

BrettM said:

the 1/8" thicker might be a little too stiff, but the 1/4" narrower isnt' going to hurt anything,

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I'm not sure about the 1/4" narrower, whether that would be okay or not (but, it seems likely that it would be okay). The 1/8" thicker should be fine; as BrettM says, it will be stiff. I used an add-a-leaf that was designed for a 1/2 ton Ford F100 pickup - it was supposed to give about 2" lift on the pickup, but yielded over 4" on the XJ, and it is at least 2 times thicker than any of the XJ leaves. It rides firm, but good shocks have made it tolerable. To keep the leaves from fanning, I reused the stock spring clips and modified two of the stock clips, as shown (one on the front of each leaf spring pack):

8Mud, you do what you want, but as I said, I wouldn't recomend using mismatched leaves. It's too easy to find the correct leaves, with the same width and thickness. There are considerably different degrees of "working", and varying standards of what is acceptable.

You want a good performing spring, so it needs to be balanced and matched, and well thought out, not just a bunch of random leaves thrown together. You asked a good question, and you deserve more than :bs:

If you want to find out if I know what I'm talking about, just look at other posts I've made about leaf springs, and make your own decision.

Goatman said:

8Mud, you do what you want, but as I said, I wouldn't recomend using mismatched leaves. It's too easy to find the correct leaves, with the same width and thickness. There are considerably different degrees of "working", and varying standards of what is acceptable.

You want a good performing spring, so it needs to be balanced and matched, and well thought out, not just a bunch of random leaves thrown together. You asked a good question, and you deserve more than :bs:

If you want to find out if I know what I'm talking about, just look at other posts I've made about leaf springs, and make your own decision.

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it's true, Goatman knows his shtuff on leaf springs, and if you want the best for your XJ I recommend following his advice here and in his other posts, or calling up a spring company and order some (Deaver, Alcan, National) or order a production spring-pack (OME, RE, etc).

But you asked if it was possible, and the answer is yes, there won't be anything dangerous about it as long as you use half a brain. The ride may not be the best ever, but it will work.

reading back to your second post, I see that you already have another XJ main leaf that you could cut and use as an Add A Leaf and that you only want 2 inches of lift. That is probably your best bet then, the other thicker leaf would probably give more than 2". If the additional XJ main leaf doesn't give quite as much as you want, the Chevy shackle you mentioned is most likely 1" longer than the XJ shackle, which would give you another 1/2" lift.

Re: Spring Pack?

Goatman said:

you deserve more than :bs:

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Since this post was directly after mine, I was wondering what part of my response you considered to be :bs: ?

I'm real careful to only comment from my personal experience and try to avoid just repeating what someone else has said. So the reason I ask is that I only told 8Mud my actual experience, and made that clear in my post - no SPOBI as far as I know. I have been using my current setup for over 2 years - so although it is not optimal, it certainly does work exactly as I described in my previous post (stiff, but tolerable).

As I stated, it's certainly not the best (or even the second best) suspension set-up, but I figured that 8Mud is an adult and can handle information about what "works" as opposed to what is the "best" setup. Do you know something about 8Mud that I don't concerning his intellectual ability to discern different opinions and facts?

If I said something factually in error (you know, b***sh**), I'd like to know what it was so that I don't misdirect someone else. :sure:

Thanks.

Leaves here for the XJ are kind of rare, Jeep OEM central (Belgium) is typicaly double the price. A few regional suppliers, quality and origin unknown, have replacement stock springs (regular or up country) for about $450 a pair, plus tax and shipping. Rancho short AAL is about $150 plus shipping (locally). Shipping from the states can triple the price (a $110 trailer hitch and $278 shipping). Can get the springs rearched, but the results in the past, have been some less than ideal, last time I was looking for 2" of lift, got 4".
Money is a little to hard to come buy, to throw it away.
The pack I have now is in pretty good shape, a slight kink about 4" in from the shackle. Xj drives good at any speed, actually well set up.
Was thinking about the leaves spreading, probably can deal with that, with a little thought a set of clamps and my welder (small spacer welded to the clamp, to line up with the top leaf). I like Red87Cherokees idea, probably gonna remember that one.
But if there are no real benefits to using the thicker top leaf, I´m probably, going with my home made, long AAL and when/if it breaks, try something else.
Thanx for the imput guys, it´s appreciated.
P:S: the inspections around here are pretty strict, most aftermarket parts, require a certification, which along with the shipping, makes mod.´s with stateside parts, a rich mans game. But if it´s well done, the inspectors often don´t notice, they are not that famililiar with the XJ. :shhh:

There are quite a few vehicles that use 2.5" wide leaf springs, but I don't know the junkyard situation over there. YJ's, lot's of pick up trucks, both US and foreign built, many SUV's, use 2.5" wide leaves that are the same thickness. You can pick up a set of springs at a junkyard and then mix and match and cut them to the length you want to make your spring pack do what you want. It takes a little trial and error, so involves labor but very little expense. Based on my experience, which is very subjective, I think the extra XJ main leaf would only get you around an inch. If you're current main leaf is bent slightly, it will likely break eventually, so you could use the other main leaf and cut down the one that is bent.

Re: Spring Pack?

red87cherokee said:

Since this post was directly after mine, I was wondering what part of my response you considered to be :bs: ?

I'm real careful to only comment from my personal experience and try to avoid just repeating what someone else has said. So the reason I ask is that I only told 8Mud my actual experience, and made that clear in my post - no SPOBI as far as I know. I have been using my current setup for over 2 years - so although it is not optimal, it certainly does work exactly as I described in my previous post (stiff, but tolerable).

As I stated, it's certainly not the best (or even the second best) suspension set-up, but I figured that 8Mud is an adult and can handle information about what "works" as opposed to what is the "best" setup. Do you know something about 8Mud that I don't concerning his intellectual ability to discern different opinions and facts?

If I said something factually in error (you know, b***sh**), I'd like to know what it was so that I don't misdirect someone else. :sure:

Thanks.

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Don't worry about it, you're post explained what you did. I just think if someone asks "will it work?", they're trying to find out if this is a good thing to do, not just can they get by with it. Like I said, there are different degrees of what "works". Read what I said a few posts up.

I´ve got a little body work to do and some leaks to plug up, before I start messing with the springs. I´ll have a look around and see what´s available. I´ve been getting away with an occasional, rear inner fender rub, for awhile now, hasn´t messed up my tires (30X9.50, MT´s), new bump stops helped a bit. Think someday, the liner and maybe the flair is going to trim itself.
The first week of vacation and the first week of snow, are good times to hit the junk yards. We´ll see what turns up.
Tanx again.

Don't know all that much about spring packs, but I know that the Chevy lowering 2" shackle is 4" longer than a stock for an XJs', providing 2" of lift...

Using a cut-off XJ main leaf is the ideal way to accomplish what you want. I accidently had this discussion with the owner of a spring shop a couple of weeks ago when I went in with a friend to discuss options for the friend's J20. The shop owner showed us a Jeep leaf with the lengths staggered, and he said the next best thing to a full military wrap is a second leaf that extends all the way to the eye of the main leaf. He said Jeep springs often get the tips bent down when worked hard because the swecond leaf is shorter than the main leaf. A short AAL only make things worse.

The shop did exactly this with the J20 springs -- except he used a new leaf rather than trimming an old one. And he did recommend keeping all leaves the same thickness, or as close as possible to the same.

When I did this on an '88 Laredo with 165,000 miles, I used the main leaves from an 89 Limited. I grossed about 1-1/4" over where it was (net was about 3/4" due to sag). One of the people at NAC Fest did the same thing to a 2000 and he gained a full 1-1/2" -- I'm guessing I got less because either both the original springs and the donor springs were rather tired, or because one or both had the soft ride suspension that was offered in 88 (I'd bet the Limited had that).

I don't like the mixed width choice. Yes, it would work, but it wouldn't be right. Doing it with cut-off XJ main leaves has been done (not just by me), the results are good, the ride quality is good -- what's not to like?