Rear lift advice

I have a '99 that I just upgraded from a 2"BB to a 4" lift. I did a 2.5" Rubicon Express AAL and have a 1.5" shackle. The spring pack is a stock height, but was new in March and I only have about 4k miles on them. I didn't seem to get as much lift in the rear as I should have, in fact, it only measures about 2.5".

So my question is, to get the 4" of lift I want, should I:
1) Pull out what I have in and replace with a new 3" lift spring pack and 1" shackle, or
2) Use a block

Obviously option 1 is the better way to go, but more costly. Any thoughts?

Can tell us what you do have in the rear spring pack currently?

if you have a 2.5" AAL and a 1.5" lift shackle you should be getting approximately 4" of lift over stock - minus sag.

Short AAL's and longer shackles both promote sag in the springs and are not a good long term solution.

For a cheap longer term solution you could do one of several things.

1. get a new 4.5" lift pack
2. use junkyard springs (dakota pack, s-10, etc) to get 4" of lift
3. use a 3.5" long aal and a 3/4 " lift shackle.

DO NOT USE BLOCKS!!

for a very good cheap solution look for Dakota springs at the junk yard. Do a search and you should find lots of Dakota springs.

Michael

I'm just curious about what RE AAL you used. I used their 1410 full length AAL on my 1999 that had 180K miles on the original leafs. My old springs were pretty beat from towing my boat and renovating my house (countless trips to the dump loaded with shite) and I still got 3" from the AAL's alone (from around 16 1/2" in the rear to about 20")

I got the RE1410 2.5" full AAL and I resued my 1.5: Rusty's shackle from the BB. As I said, I'm only at about 2.5" (17" to 19.5") It looks really bad when I have my tool box and stuff in the back. The back end hangs pretty low. I e-mailed Rubicon about it, but haven't heard back

Wow... I actually got more lift than expected with RE 1410 AAL - enough to need a t-case drop, shims and be seriously considering a SYE. I've run the 1410 since Feb 05 and had a couple of 50# cement bags in there for a while with no loss of lift.

I would've thought that with new OEM leaf packs plus the AAL you would have been sitting at least at 20". Just to eliminate the obvious, you're using the full OEM pack plus the AAL, right? Nothing removed? Or do you have a Snap-On trucks worth of tools back there?

Well, I called Rubicon Express and they basically said it's not unheard of, that the actual lift amount varies and there is no real way to predict exactly how much lift you will get. They were not very helpful. I pretty much got a "too bad" answer. He told me I should go with a new spring pack. Thanks for nothing I guess.

I was wondering if I didn't put something together right or maybe they have had some similar issues and been able to resolve it. He told me point blank an AAL is a temporary solution only and a band-aid, and a full spring pack is the only way to go. Why do they sell them then?

I'll have to post some pics and maybe someone here might see something I missed.

Put your old BB add-a-leaf back in, WITH the RE AAL. There's no reason you can't run a 6-leaf spring pack instead of a 5-leaf pack. Stay away from blocks, especially if you want to make up more than a half inch.

I didn't have an AAL for the BB. I was just using the stock spring pack with the 1.5" lift shackle.

I measured again when I got home tonight, and the driver's rear measures 19", and the passenger rear 19.5" (probably not on totally flat pavement). Here are a few pics.

http://www.bowzrz.com/jason/jeep/jeepside.jpg
http://www.bowzrz.com/jason/jeep/CIMG0405.jpg
http://www.bowzrz.com/jason/jeep/CIMG0406.jpg
http://www.bowzrz.com/jason/jeep/CIMG0407.jpg
http://www.bowzrz.com/jason/jeep/CIMG0408.jpg
http://www.bowzrz.com/jason/jeep/CIMG0409.jpg

So again, it's a full 2.5" AAL in stock springs (4 months old, 4K miles) with a 1.5" lift shackle.

jdbwrx said:

Obviously option 1 is the better way to go

Click to expand...

There ya go

You get what you pay for so go with Option #1.

Why waste time, and money, on old springs, AALs and what not. Go the number 1 route and do and do it right.

I just quickly looked at your picks, but your pack looks a little different than mine. I have the main leaf, then the RE 1410 AAL, then the rest of the pack. The RE 1410 AAL was long enough to extend from eye to eye on the stock main leaf. I don't think they marked "front" and "rear" on the AAL, but in my pack if I put it in one way, the AAL extended past the stock main spring eye and did not reach the other. Installed the other way it reached both spring eyes. Yours looks like it doesn't quite reach the rear eye. I don't know if it matters, but thought you should know.

I don't know what your goals are for the rig, but mine needs to be a capable DD with the ability to reach my camping / fishing / skiing sites. I put the AAL knowing it was a short term solution and hope to throw OME 2" leaf packs in there later this fall. My AAL's gave me the lift / look and ground clearance, but my ride definitely suffered.

On my '99 at least, any lift over 2 to 3 inches will start to get expensive - SYE, T-Bar, etc. I'd rather have a little less lift and spend the $ on armor.

What year/ type of dakota will this rear spring option work for, also are they decent springs or would I see bad results on and off road from this mehod.
On my 91 I already have some new leaf packs from Explorer but they are starting to show their age from a couple years of abuse and was looking for some new lift in the back, 4'' sounds good.

wolfpackjeeper said:

What year/ type of dakota will this rear spring option work for, also are they decent springs or would I see bad results on and off road from this mehod.
On my 91 I already have some new leaf packs from Explorer but they are starting to show their age from a couple years of abuse and was looking for some new lift in the back, 4'' sounds good.

Click to expand...

Do a search for Dakota Springs. You should find lots of specific info on what to take them out of and what lift you can expect. I do not have first hand experience with them.

Michael

jdbwrx said:

I didn't have an AAL for the BB. I was just using the stock spring pack with the 1.5" lift shackle.

I measured again when I got home tonight, and the driver's rear measures 19", and the passenger rear 19.5" (probably not on totally flat pavement). Here are a few pics.

http://www.bowzrz.com/jason/jeep/jeepside.jpg
http://www.bowzrz.com/jason/jeep/CIMG0405.jpg
http://www.bowzrz.com/jason/jeep/CIMG0406.jpg
http://www.bowzrz.com/jason/jeep/CIMG0407.jpg
http://www.bowzrz.com/jason/jeep/CIMG0408.jpg
http://www.bowzrz.com/jason/jeep/CIMG0409.jpg

So again, it's a full 2.5" AAL in stock springs (4 months old, 4K miles) with a 1.5" lift shackle.

Click to expand...

From the photos it looks like you might have the AAL in backwards? If so, that can make a difference. Also how long did you use the 1.5" lift shackle with the stock springs? Do you carry lots of weight in the back regularly?

Michael

Michael,

I thought I might have the AAL leaf in backwards too as I was setting them up, but the pin hole is in the center of the leaf. It looks the same regardless if it is 180 degrees to that.

I used the lift shackle for about 3 1/2 months.

I ended up ordering a full spring pack last night. Doing things the right way always costs more...

jdbwrx said:

Michael,

I thought I might have the AAL leaf in backwards too as I was setting them up, but the pin hole is in the center of the leaf. It looks the same regardless if it is 180 degrees to that.

I used the lift shackle for about 3 1/2 months.

I ended up ordering a full spring pack last night. Doing things the right way always costs more...

Click to expand...

Weird - my RE 1410, purchased in Jan '05, definitely had an off-center pin hole and a "right" and "wrong" way to install. Also, mine came with tapered ends, not sqaure cuts. Yours almost looks like a piece of bar stock inbetween the factory leafs.

Whose packs did you buy?

Highmiles said:

Weird - my RE 1410, purchased in Jan '05, definitely had an off-center pin hole and a "right" and "wrong" way to install. Also, mine came with tapered ends, not sqaure cuts. Yours almost looks like a piece of bar stock inbetween the factory leafs.

Whose packs did you buy?

Click to expand...

Makes me wonder if Rubicon express sent me the right AAL's. Guess I'll find out when I take them apart.

I don't know who the stock springs are from. There was kind of a fiasco with that and is way too long of a story to go into. Basically though, the Jeep was still at my folks house in WI, and I had them take it to a shop and have the stockers replaced for me before I flew back to pick it up.

As far as I know, RE only makes 2 types of AALs, one short and one full length. The only benefit to the short model is that you don't have to replace the spring clamps, but the ride suffers.

I don't make any negative statements without knowing more than what I could see from your pics, but those AAL's look almost unfinished rather than the wrong model. Maybe they changed the design, but mine are definitely tapered at each end, just like the stockers.