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Lifts & Angles

ParadiseXJ

NAXJA Forum User
OK
About 2 years ago I put on a BB lift 2.5" with spacers in the front and 2 rubber isolators. In the rear I used my stock springs and added 2" longer shackles with a 1/2 lift block to even things out. I was never really happy with the way the springs looked although the rear of the jeep did rise up maybe a couple inches.

So I bought "new" stock springs to use with the shackles cause it just seemed like the springs were flat. After installing the "new" stock springs it was even worse. They were flat and ready to invert. So I decided to just blow the cash and buy some 3.5" lift leaf springs and go back to the stock shackles.

The pics:


2426393_8_full.jpg


Here are the stock springs with the longer shackles (Note: FLAT)

2426393_9_full.jpg



Here are the "new" OME or stock springs (Note: Less than flat)

So then, remove the "lift" shackles and install 3.5" lift springs on old stock shackles with new greasable bushings.

2426393_10_full.jpg


Here's the finished product. The arch is back in the spring without the shackle. I do't know if the shackle screwed up the geometry of the spring but I just paid $300 and a half day just to have ARCH and true lift height.

The lift from center of hub is a true 3.5"

So, the point of this is a.) shackles suck b.) stock springs SUCK c.) spring for the better stuff because you'll just have to fix it later.

Now, for my question. The 2.5" lift didn't come with any angle shims because it didn't really lift the jeep enough to worry about. The new springs cames with a 3% angle shim. The drive shaft angle from the rear end is now just about dead on flat, that's good I think. The front isn't changed, it's still at a true 2.5". So, I have 3.5" in the back and 2.5" in the front. Will this affect my transfer case negatively with the variation in the angle?

It looks great and I will drive it up and down the street to settle the bushing/shackles befroe I torque it up in the morning. I also detached the rear sway bar and wired it up just to see how it affects the road ride. If it gets squirrely I can just hook 'em back up.
 
A 2 inch shackle will only give 1 inch of lift, or so I hear.

What type of leaf spring clamps are those? I see them everywhere and they look reusable, unlike my rusty's "bend" style.
 
i have added stock xj springs to my exsisting springs (now have 6 or 7 leaves)with no ill affects other than a harsh ride but im used to it now i threw my sway bar away and dont miss it i got about 3 to 3.5 inches out of it with spacers in the front but alas my 301.000 mile front springs have sagged and need replacement
 
i'm tempting fate right now, i've got the factory top leaf (bent/warped on each end from the last owner overloading the thing, rear was 2" below the front at least when i got it) w/ the lower 3 leaves from an early 80's S-10 spring pack and stock jeep helper. it works good, rides decent, flexes good, and will probably snap the nextime i take it off road, lol. definatly not flat or inverted now, and if my ZJ coils lift the front much more than i expect, i'm gonna hack the eyelet's off the S-10 top leaf and put it on to get the rest of the lift, maybe even play w/ different springs to get the height i want.... i love cheap tech!!!
 
The shackles I use were 3" longer, touting 2" of lift with the .5" block, ergo 2.5". It didn't really work out that way. As I said the OEM springs kind of suck and the shackles seemed to make them suck even more.

The clips came with the springs and are expandable but I played hell looking for clips too.

I searched "spring clips", "leaf spring clips", "leaf spring retainer clip" and got nothing.
 
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