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Grand coil springs

Silver Bullet

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Conecticut
A friend of is thinking of swapping a set of coils out of a V8 Grand into his XJ and was wondering how much lift he will gain. I was not aware that the springs were the same so I figured I would ask for him since he does not have internet access right now.
He plans to add a 2" spacer to it along with an Ad A Leaf in the rear with a lift shackle. (Not my idea of a good lift but then again it's not my project).

Thanks for any info guys.
 
The V8 ZJ springs are the same as the UpCountry XJ springs, about a 1" lift over stock. If you search in the OEM forum you will find part numbers and more information.
 
If you look in the Jeep parts book, there are about 25 coil springs listed for the ZJ Grand Cherokee. You have stock 6-cyl, 6-cyl with Up Country, stock V8 5.2L, 5.2L V8 with Up Country, stock 5.9L V8, 5.9L V8 with Up Country ... and various spring codes within each of those groups. It is impossible to predict how much lift he's going to get.

Rough guess -- between 1" and 2"
 
Two things I can add is, one v8springs have a higher rate so it may ride much ruffer after the conversion, and two the guyes who do a front to rear swap lift on ZJ's usally gain about 3-4 inches in the back of there ZJ's. Last IMHO i would not lift any higher than two inches on stock length lower control arms As I don;t think there would be enough adjustment to get the axle back in alignment.
 
Eagle said:
If you look in the Jeep parts book, there are about 25 coil springs listed for the ZJ Grand Cherokee. You have stock 6-cyl, 6-cyl with Up Country, stock V8 5.2L, 5.2L V8 with Up Country, stock 5.9L V8, 5.9L V8 with Up Country ... and various spring codes within each of those groups. It is impossible to predict how much lift he's going to get.

Rough guess -- between 1" and 2"

Yep, Eagle's right. Tell your friend to have fun narrowing his choices down. I found that more often than not, XJs and ZJs even have different part codes differentiating between driver's side and passenger's side with no apparent visible difference and received an extremely inadequate explanation of why from the dealer.

Different production lots? As good a guess as any, I suppose. Hard for me to believe they have the weight that well calculated... ;^]

I once saw an alarmingly obvious difference in wire thickness between the right and left front coils on a junked '96 ZJ 5.2 which really confused me. Both coils still had the factory tags attached. It took me a while to finally find some I could be comfortable with. Best of luck!
______________________________

Mr. Crawler... creepy as all get-out!
 
Here, I just posted this on another forum, so I'll cut and paste it here. Some of it may not apply, but it will give you some pretty good idears which direction to possibly go.

Read this over first: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100704&highlight=Project+jeep+week

Now, since that article, I have learned a few new tricks that are even better. Instead of trying to find the correct ZJ coils to actually give you enough lift, just get some Carquest HD XJ progressive coils. They give 2.25" lift, and cost $67.28 for the pair. The part number is CC784 if you need to order them.
Use the two leafs from a stock XJ pack like in the article, because that hasn't changed. They will give you about 2.25-2.5" lift. Don't worry about the RE extended shackle for the 2" lift you are wanting. Don't waste time making leaf clamps. The time and money you spend making them and getting the hardware, you could just get the 2.5" clamps from here: www.huskyspring.com/main.taf?cat=160
I have been getting my clamps from there, and they are great. Online ordering is very easy, shipping is fast and cheap. It will cost you about $15 for 4 clamps shipped. Sure, $15 may be a lot, but by the time you by the steel and hardware like in my article and add up your time it takes to make them, it is just easier to buy these.
I'll add this up just for the fun of it

  • $ 67.28 Coils
  • $ 15.00 Clamps
  • $ 20.00 Ubolts
  • $ 12.00 YJ Wrangler Rear brakeline (for $12, why not for extra security)
  • $ 2.00 Center Pins
  • $ 50.00 Stock Low Mileage Leaf Packs (if you pay more than that, you should just buy new ones)
  • $135.00 Monroe SensaTrac Shocks

$362.59 Total

Sure, you could get a $99 budget boost with some crappy $120 hydro shocks from somewhere, but it won't ride anything like the quality of this setup. This setup has been compared to the quality of the Old Man Emu kit, but for half the price. Sure it isn't OME, but for half the price, it is dang close enough and beats the snot out of any other BB on the market. Oh, and the OME kit doesn't come with leaf spring bushings, UBolts, or longer rear brakeline either.
 
Any one use the autozone spring clamp. Its like a ubolt with a plate on top.
 
I guess the next logical question would be: Do the Carquest HD XJ coil springs ride as well as the ZJ V8s and how much will they settle? Do they also compliment the modified rear packs as well?

2.25" of lift above stock for stock replacement springs makes me wonder about such things... ;^]

______________________________

Mr. Crawler... creepy as all get-out!
 
The Carquest springs are a firm coil like the ZJ coil. I have not personally riden in an XJ with the Carquest coils yet, but after many individuals using my writeup and adding their own little variations and writing to me with their results and impressions of this setup, the Carquest coils have been making people very happy with the ride quality. The ZJ coils are firm but very nice and controlled, and compliment the rear very well, so since the Carquest coils have a nice firmness similar to the ZJ coils, then it would make sense that they compliment the rear as well.

ZJ coils have many different spring rates within the I6 and V8 coils. You can have a V8 coil with an "F" spring code and only get about 5/8" lift, and another V8 coil with a "G" spring code and get about 1 1/2" lift, plus you throw in year, mileage, etc., you just can't be sure of the actual lift height you may get until you throw them in and set it on the ground, then you might find out you wasted your whole afternoon getting 1/2" lift. Carquest coils are cheap, and they will be new, and you know pretty close to what you will get as far as lift height. As for sagging, I couldn't honestly tell you, but I would assume by their firmness and being brand new they should hold steady for some time. Here is a picture I found of them:

Carquest_Coil_Springs.jpg
 
Thanks for all of the excellent information (I didn't mean to hijack the thread). I enjoyed your write-up... ;^]

The ZJ V8 coils I picked have a "G" code on one side and either an "H" or an "N" (not very legible) on the other. Very beefy-looking and low miles. It sounds like I still might need to be crossin' my fingers for that 1.5" lift, though... ;^]

_____________________________

Mr. Crawler... creepy as all get-out!
 
If you already have "G" code ZJ coils, then they are worth a shot. You will get some lift and atleast a very nice ride out of them.
 
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