New rear leaf possiblity?

now i've been researching lift kits for a little while on here and through companies like Rough Country, Rubicon Express, Old Man Emu,......etc.

now my Rear Leaf question is this.....Would it be ok to take a Brand New (and i mean never installed or ran) Leaf Pack from a stock XJ and put an AAL in the pack? and still get the desired lift whether it be 3, 3.5, 4.5 inches? and still retain good ride quality and longevity of the AAL? or do you think the AAL would squash out like they always do after a short period of time?

in my head i am thinking the AAL would hold up for quite awhile because the NEW leaf spring does not have the sag and flattened effect it would if it had 100,000 plus miles on it. and it would still be cheaper than buying a brand new leaf pack from any of these other places. Quadratec has new leafs listed for 69.99 and add that X2 to the cost of an AAL kit and its less than the same kit upgraded to full leaf packs. granted you still have to do the labor part of disassembly and reassemble, but if you are effecient at it, it would make sense right? plus you get all the hardware in the AAL kit to reassemble it anyways! so no extra cost there.

i mean its basically like putting together your own brand spanking new lift pack, for cheap!

just looking for anyone who has some thoughs on this scenario. it sounds good to me in theory, but as for practicallity, thats another story.

oh and my truck is a 94 XJ sport w/ 4.0L, auto tranny, D30front, 8.25 rear

i'm just waiting to see what Cal and other experienced jeepers have to say on this one! whether it be good or bad i'm ready to hear it!

I have a RE long AAL's that are 7 years old and have 70k on them. They have hauled over 1500#'s about a dozen times and I also removed the short bottom leaf. They started at 3.5" of lift and still has 3" of lift. The springs were original.

so basically what you're saying is that if i was to start out with a leaf setup that is "fairly new" and "unused", that the AAL should last just as long as the rest of the leafs in the pack. correct? cause thats what i was thinking logically would happen.

Yes, you will be okay with a new AAL and a new stock spring pack...

people run into problems with AALs when they try to do an AAL into a stock spring pack that is frowning/sagging and worn out.

My question is....how are you doing the math? lets say you get the $70 leaf packs from quadratec....most AALs that i've seen are about that much....so you're talking $120-140....

you can get OME leaf packs for around $105 from DPGOffroad....maybe $115...

AALs add their lift by being a thicker and/or more heavily arched leaf...your ride quality will suffer. they generally do not compliment your leaf pack.

let us know what you're thinking - how much lift are you looking for?

JNickel101 said:

Yes, you will be okay with a new AAL and a new stock spring pack...

people run into problems with AALs when they try to do an AAL into a stock spring pack that is frowning/sagging and worn out.

My question is....how are you doing the math? lets say you get the $70 leaf packs from quadratec....most AALs that i've seen are about that much....so you're talking $120-140....

you can get OME leaf packs for around $105 from DPGOffroad....maybe $115...

AALs add their lift by being a thicker and/or more heavily arched leaf...your ride quality will suffer. they generally do not compliment your leaf pack.

let us know what you're thinking - how much lift are you looking for?

Click to expand...

i would like to net a lift between 3-4.5" this is my DD and i dont go off-roading but a couple times a year right now. so i dont really wanna go higher than 4.5" right now i have 31x10.5 BFG A/T on stock steelie 15" rims. i figure @ 4.5" i could keep fender flares, @ 3" i should probably cut them for clearance. either way is ok with me. if this was a truck i trailered or ONLY wheeled in then i would put together a S10 Bastard pack and Thunderbird coils and all that other cheap build stuff. but i am going for GOOD ride quality here and i think Rubicon Express would be a really good way to go.

well lets use this scenario:
RE #6020 3.5" w/ AAL $370.95
RE track bar $157.95
RE shocks (set of 4) $189.95
Porc SYE $162.99
Front D.S. out of Yard from XJ
to be used as new rear shaft - about $25.00
New Leaf Packs $119.98
New upper control arms w/bushings $65.94
and new rear shackles (all bushings shot on all)
Grand Total $1092.76 + shipping costs on all items(not figured in yet)

OR

RE #6025 3.5" w/Full Leaf packs $604.95
RE track bar $157.95
RE shocks (4) $189.95
Porc SYE $162.99
New rear D.S. out of yard $25.00
New upper arms w/bushings $65.94
and rear shackles (same as above)
Grand total $1206.78+ shipping

not ALOT less but it still is. and those are pretty cheap prices considering all that i would be getting correct?

now i am gonna tell you all that i am not planning on buying ALL at once. it will be over a couple month period so it doesnt "sting" so bad on the pocketbook. :bawl:

the items that i have in my List aren't bad are they? should be High Quality and last awhile right? i mean i wanna do this right the first time and not be sorry for anything i bought and think, "man i shoulda bought something else!" :banghead:

i really wanna think this out before i just jump into buying these parts. atriot:

for $200... i would go full leaf... seems to me like your over thinking.... btw, dunno about RE, but most places give you the cheap shitmetal spring clamps... while the re leafs are nice and beefy.... how much would you say your time is worth, per hour? why dick around with oem stuff?