stock 6 cyl ZJ springs on an xj

olivedrabcj7 · Apr 2, 2005

how much lift is to be gained from stock 6 cyl ZJ springs in the front of an XJ? ive heard of people using V8 ZJ springs and getting 1.5-2".....my buddy wants to lift his XJ a little bit and i can get the zj springs for free from a friend. any ideas?? pictures??

Littlewhitexj · Apr 2, 2005

i wouldnt think you would get much lift from 6cylinder zj springs, maybe an inch?, noone will be able to give you a definate answer, because there are 15 - 20 different springs used on the ZJ, they all have different spring rates, but should be the same height....

Ramsey · Apr 2, 2005

there free, just measure before swap them out and measure again

olivedrabcj7 · Apr 2, 2005

Ramsey said:
there free, just measure before swap them out and measure again

yeah but its a PITA to do and not end up with any lift over stock. i figured maybe somebody has done it and has a measurement for me.

Eagle · Apr 3, 2005

Same engine, same suspension. The nose clip of a ZJ isn't significantly different from that of an XJ from a weight perspective. I doubt he'll get any lift. ZJ V8 springs only produce an inch.

Sero · Apr 3, 2005

You can measure the diameter of the wire to compare, that's what determines the spring rate of the coil. I put V8 ZJ coils in mine and only got about 3/4 of an inch.
If I remember to I can bring my vernier caliper home from work and measure my stock and ZJ springs (I previously measured them but I don't remember what they are) so you have something else to compare with.

rsalemi · Apr 3, 2005

ZJ Upcountry springs raised me 1 1/2" over sagged stock XJ = so 1" at most should be your result.

Eagle · Apr 3, 2005

Sero said:
You can measure the diameter of the wire to compare, that's what determines the spring rate of the coil.

No, it's not. The rate is determined by both the wire diameter and the overall length of the piece of wire (the number of coils), and the diameter of the coils (which is the same between an XJ and a ZJ). Wire diameter alone is only one factor.

Sero · Apr 3, 2005

Eagle said:
No, it's not. The rate is determined by both the wire diameter and the overall length of the piece of wire (the number of coils), and the diameter of the coils (which is the same between an XJ and a ZJ). Wire diameter alone is only one factor.

Sorry I should clarify, I believe we're comparing the difference's between OEM ZJ and XJ coils, in which only wire diameter is relevent, as far as I've seen ,that is the only difference between the 2

olivedrabcj7 · Apr 3, 2005

so is the general consensus to be an inch over stock if anything???

Eagle · Apr 3, 2005

I'd say the consensus is "less than an inch, if anything, and it isn't worth the effort involved."

Eagle · Apr 3, 2005

Sero said:
Sorry I should clarify, I believe we're comparing the difference's between OEM ZJ and XJ coils, in which only wire diameter is relevent, as far as I've seen ,that is the only difference between the 2

So you are stating as a matter of personal knowledge that ALL XJ and ZJ coil springs have the same number of coils?

Tim_MN · Apr 4, 2005

My stock UpCountry XJ coils caliper at .580 and I have some UpCountry Grand coils that caliper at .595 . Both have the same number of coil turns. The Grand coils are 17" tall uninstalled. Somebody caliper some stock XJ coils and measure their free length.

Sero · Apr 4, 2005

Eagle said:
So you are stating as a matter of personal knowledge that ALL XJ and ZJ coil springs have the same number of coils?

From what I've seen...yes

Sero · Apr 4, 2005

Tim_MN said:
My stock UpCountry XJ coils caliper at .580 and I have some UpCountry Grand coils that caliper at .595 . Both have the same number of coil turns. The Grand coils are 17" tall uninstalled. Somebody caliper some stock XJ coils and measure their free length.

Stock XJ free length approx 17.25". Both my XJ and ZJ coils have 8 winds excluding the small top one. If I remember to bring may calipers home from work I'll measure the wire thickness.

Eagle · Apr 4, 2005

Sero said:
Stock XJ free length approx 17.25". Both my XJ and ZJ coils have 8 winds excluding the small top one. If I remember to bring may calipers home from work I'll measure the wire thickness.

The problem is that, between the XJ and the ZJ alone Jeep offers about 25 or more spring part numbers. You are looking at TWO of them and making the blanket statement that they all have the same number of coils. You could be correct. I don't know. But you don't know, either, and for that reason I don't think it's quite fair to be giving advice to a third party as if you did know for certain.

Sero · Apr 4, 2005

Eagle said:
The problem is that, between the XJ and the ZJ alone Jeep offers about 25 or more spring part numbers. You are looking at TWO of them and making the blanket statement that they all have the same number of coils. You could be correct. I don't know. But you don't know, either, and for that reason I don't think it's quite fair to be giving advice to a third party as if you did know for certain.

I've looked at many more than 2 sets of springs, it was a while ago I researched this topic so I don't remeber the specs. I'm commenting specifically on the 2 sets that are in my garage because those are the 2 that I can measure at this moment. As I've said previously, I am basing this on my experience so obviously there could be exceptions.
Also on a side note, I've read at a few different place's that the only difference is the wire diameter.

Chancer · Apr 4, 2005

Tim_MN said:
My stock UpCountry XJ coils caliper at .580 and I have some UpCountry Grand coils that caliper at .595 . Both have the same number of coil turns.

15 hundredths of an inch? That's only 3.8mm - surely it's not enough to make a substantial difference to the properties of a spring with several hundred kilos resting on it?

I did some checking with my local dealer a while back, and Upcountry springs appear to be the same, whether they were fitted to XJs or ZJs, although the part numbers vary between models and year to year. I think that what happened was that Upcountry springs were fitted to V8 ZJs (and diesel ZJs over here) because of the heavier engine.

Can we then make the general assumption that Upcountry springs are the same no matter which vehicle they're on? As a *generalisation*, yes, but I could be wrong... Seems like you should hold out for the V8 ones.

Sparkman · Apr 4, 2005

I just measured my V8 ZJ springs, 0.565" diameter, 9.5 turns, 17-3/8" long. They are 52088363 and from a 5.9 ZJ AFAIK.

Sero · Apr 5, 2005

My V8 ZJ coils are also 0.565" and the stock XJ's are 0.515"

9.5 coils sound right. I'm counting 8 large ones then it go's about 1.5 till the end of the small top one.

stock 6 cyl ZJ springs on an xj

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