Will I break my leaves if I do this ?

Hi,

I currently have Old Man Emu springs on my XJ. Got shackles that lift 4 cm (about 1,5"). I have removed one leaf from each of the packs for better flex, height etc, it was too high and too stiff in the rear before. I flex my 31s nicely into the fenders now, and I'll continue to do so with the added 4 cm of lift. However, this means the leaves will bend more the wrong way...

I am positive I have read somewhere that leaves will break when treated like this. What is your judgement on this? Any hands-on experience? I can live with my leaves sagging and/or breaking earlier than normal, but not if they'll break right away...

Thanks :spin1:

well it can lead to breakage becauhe extra stress placed on them.. but when you compress your springs past the level.. or reverse arch your springs they sag very rapidly

extended shackles do add more stress to the springs, but i personally think that a 1.5" longer shackle is a great upgrade to the suspension. the stock shackle is limiting IMHO. when i went to Rusty's 4.5" lift springs they netted close to 6" and 5.5" after setteling for a while. the stock shackle would hit the mounts when flexing, hence the addition of a longer shackle.
removed the bottom and seccond from top leaf and replaced with stock XJ leafs in the packs. they ride sooo smooth. with the 1.5" extended shackle, they flex really well.

after swaping the leaves, they netted 4.5" of lift. for over 2 years this setup has worked perfect. no broken springs...sagging..

granted i dont wheel rocks that much and its a DD. I do a lot of high speed driving in washes and the springs get their share of flexing. I say go for it.

Amund2 said:

I am positive I have read somewhere that leaves will break when treated like this. What is your judgement on this? Any hands-on experience? I can live with my leaves sagging and/or breaking earlier than normal, but not if they'll break right away...

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they will not suffer any adverse effects if you adjust your bumpstops accordingly. they need to be lowered about the same as your lift adds.

jjvande said:

extended shackles do add more stress to the springs

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no, extended shackles absolutely do NOT add more stress to the springs. not true, can't happen, impossible, defies known physics, etc. Adding extended shackles and not adjusting your bumpstops leads to overextension of, and therefore more stress on the springs. the shackles themselves have nothing to do with it.

Thanks. The shackles are 8cm longer than the stock ones, i.e. something like 3 inches? which lifts 1,5". I really don't want to extend my bumpstops, i love the way they stuff... but I guess I don't have a choice, can't afford new leaves all the time

no, extended shackles absolutely do NOT add more stress to the springs. not true, can't happen, impossible, defies known physics, etc. Adding extended shackles and not adjusting your bumpstops leads to overextension of, and therefore more stress on the springs. the shackles themselves have nothing to do with it.

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if we want to get picky... you just contradicted yourself.

the stress is as a result of adding the shackles...the springs flex to a greater degree :arrowr: ////MORE STRESS :rattle: therefore, the shackles DO have something to do with it.

who needs bump stops anyway :speepin:

amund , why do you need more lift? because you removed one leaf and you want it back to where it was?

my shackles are only 1.5" longer for 0.75" of lift. I have no experience with longer ones like yours are, but i would go for it.

see if anyone else chimes in here. there's a lot of great info. on this forum.

cheers