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ZJ info pls - regarding options and springs

D

dan89XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Oregon
Hi, I have a chance to buy a low mile set of ZJ springs. However, the guy who has them dosent know which springs are front or which are rear. He says the lenght are diffrent between them. Can anyone tell me how tall/long they are ?

They are off a 98 ZJ with the 5.9 V8 motor.. I asked him if the Jeep had Up Country, and he said there was no such option in 98 ?

My plan is to install these on my 89 XJ for a slight lift and to replace sagging front springs.

Thanks,
Dan
 
dan89XJ said:
Hi, I have a chance to buy a low mile set of ZJ springs. However, the guy who has them dosent know which springs are front or which are rear. He says the lenght are diffrent between them. Can anyone tell me how tall/long they are ?

They are off a 98 ZJ with the 5.9 V8 motor.. I asked him if the Jeep had Up Country, and he said there was no such option in 98 ?:bs:

My plan is to install these on my 89 XJ for a slight lift and to replace sagging front springs.

Thanks,
Dan[/QUOTE

Long/skinney front, short/fat rear. Will give you about 1-1/2 to 2 inches of lift, and might ride like crap do to the higher spring rate.
Click to expand...
 
scoobyxj said:
Long/skinney front, short/fat rear. Will give you about 1-1/2 to 2 inches of lift, and might ride like crap do to the higher spring rate.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

Where did you hear it'd ride like crap ? Ive heard alot of diffrent things
 
dan89XJ said:
They are off a 98 ZJ with the 5.9 V8 motor.. I asked him if the Jeep had Up Country, and he said there was no such option in 98 ?
Click to expand...

He is right, though not about 1998 in general....just about the 5.9L - which was only made in 1998.

There was no such thing as a ZJ 5.9L with up country so far as I or any other 5.9L ZJ owner has ever seen, except for those of us that later added up country coils, skids, and hooks. But never from the factory. Not even special order, that I know of.

My guess is you would see about 1-1.5" out of those springs, give or take a little depending on the shape of yours and the shape of his.
 
Don't know if I can be helpful but I will tell you what I know anyway.

I am looking at the parts list for '98 ZJ and it has the UpCountry front coil part number on it, 52089141, don't know if that means it was actually available.

A spring part number for ZJ with a V8 is 52808104.

According to http://www.rocklizardfabrications.com/home_brew_budget_boost.htm ZJ V8 coils ride sweet in an XJ.

FWIW, I went to the junkyard last saturday shopping for some springs. Left a deposit on some sweet '01 XJ leafs with 4k miles on them, mint. Going to do above mentioned AAL BB with them. Bought some supposedly ZJ V8 coils, got them home, and the part number on the tags matches the springs currently on my XJ, 52001118. Can't wait to argue with them about that, NOT!
 
dan89XJ said:
Thanks for the info.

Where did you hear it'd ride like crap ? Ive heard alot of diffrent things
Click to expand...

Might ride like crap, might. I can't really say for shure 'cause I've never ridden in a XJ with ZJ coils. I can say that my old lady's 98 5.2ltr ZJ rides like a Caddy though. The only reason I say it may ride like crap is the 5.9 is a much heavier motor than a 4.0, and the fact the ZJ is heavier to begin with the coils will have a higher spring rate. Which translates in a rougher ride for our light weight XJ's. Altough I doubt it would be any worse than a some lift coils that get sent with cheeper lifts.
 
scoobyxj said:
The only reason I say it may ride like crap is the 5.9 is a much heavier motor than a 4.0, and the fact the ZJ is heavier to begin with the coils will have a higher spring rate. Which translates in a rougher ride for our light weight XJ's. Altough I doubt it would be any worse than a some lift coils that get sent with cheeper lifts.
Click to expand...

I would disagree.... 5.9 is NOT that much heavier than the 4.0. The 4.0 is a beefy motor and I would guess 50-75 lbs which is not much on the front of a vehicle. Yes I would expect a difference in ride but nothing teeth-jaring.
 
Boris T said:
I would disagree.... 5.9 is NOT that much heavier than the 4.0. The 4.0 is a beefy motor and I would guess 50-75 lbs which is not much on the front of a vehicle. Yes I would expect a difference in ride but nothing teeth-jaring.
Click to expand...

Nort sure on the exact weight but yest this is true. It's about the same as the 5.2 which is not that much heavier than the 4.0L.

And given that the ZJ is still a unibody POS, it is not all that much heavier than the XJ. A little, yes. A lot, no. A lot of people like the ride that ZJ V8 coils give their 4.0L XJ's.
 
I found some info about the weights of the ZJ's in 98..

3936 lbs (1785 kg) - 5.2 L
4218 lbs (1913 kg) - 5.9 L

As you can see.. the 5.9 version of the ZJ weighed more ! part number of the springs I'm buying are.. 5208 8362.. on the tag

I hope these will give me some decent lift :)

Dan
 
Sparkman: Seems to me the first part number 5208 is a number for ZJ coils. and there is a few diffrent numbers after that. Good luck at the junkyard..
 
I think you're right about the 5208 part. I have a whole list of them at home.

BTW: I typo'd the part number up above, it should say...

"A spring part number for ZJ with a V8 is 52088104."
 
Sparkman: what is this list you possess ? I'd like to see it :)

wigeon: intresting short tech article from JP, however.. I dont think its very informitive - like there are diffrent zj springs out there - 4.0, v8 springs.. that will give you diffrent amounts of lift. But from the article we can conclude ZJ coils will ineeded give you lift.
 
I have pdf's of the OEM '98 ZJ parts list and '01 XJ parts list. Found them on the web somewhere, don't remember where. I plan on taking the pages for front springs from both to the junkyard with me.
 
93-98 ZJ front coils have a 2 letter code on them as well as the 5200xxx part numbers. IIRC all jeep springs have a 2 letter code. The G code springs are from an upcountry and will have extra lift. I think the other code letter is K. I was just at the junkyard and all 5 had the K code. The 1 with upcountry had the G code spring still in it. My upcountry XJ has a slightly firmer ride ( no rear swaybar either ) but not so it would rattle your teeth.
 
Last edited:
Well I went back to the junkyard and the guys were really nice, exchanged my coils no problem. The ones I got are 52088362, code FN, very beefy compared to the 52001118. I will let you guys know what I think once I get them installed.

A little OT but related...

The leafs I got are nice, but I can't figure out which ones they are. The only numbers I can find on them are RPN496AB3390 and Made In Mexico. If I am measuring free arch correctly it's around 5-3/4". They supposedly only have 4k miles on them, out of a 2000 XJ that burned.
 
Sparkman - you got the same springs I am getting ! Mine are on the way via UPS.

What are your plans for the rear ? Just swapping in those '00 packs ? or are u going to homebrew up some packs with them ?

I havent figured out what I'm gonna do about the rear yet.. I hope to find some packs cheap and make something good.

btw - 4k on a '00 and it burnt down.. yikes.
 
the ZJ front coils look just like XJ fronts with alot of coils
the rears are shorter with alot less coil loops

the guy was NOT bs'ing you either
uc was NOT available on 5.9L's :lecture:
 
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