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More flex in the rear?

K

kenny schmitt

NAXJA Forum User
Location
US
I have 96 with the RE 5.5 short arm and 33" x-terrains. i have great flex in the front (almost to much) but how do i get more in the rear. it is a DD but when i wheel it would be nice if the rear flexes a little or alot more. iv seen pics of xj's with alot of rear flex with leaf packs. anything i could do
 
You can soften the rear (remove a leaf), break them in more (load the rear up really heavy and wheel a few hard trips), or stiffen the front up (stiffer coils) forcing the rear to work.

Or do a mix of all three.
 
A longer leafspring will help ( F-150) You just have to fab some new shackel mounts for the longer springs.
 
flatter the leaf spring --------> more flex

if you have a spring with lots of arch to it, you wont get as much flex. not sure how the RE leaf packs are arched, but if its a straight 5.5" leaf pack, then.....
 
kenny schmitt said:
well i dont want the rear to sag and no i dont have a rear swaybar but to stiffen up the front what would you recmend
Click to expand...

Don't stiffen the front!!:doh: Loosen the rear!!! :D
 
revolver shackles might be a quick fix...but they usually draw more negative attributes than other methods

do some some research, they might just be what you're looking for

good luck
 
shorter (flatter) leafs and longer shackles... If you're running stock shackles: that's your problem. But I don't know what the RE kit has.
 
kenny schmitt said:
I have 96 with the RE 5.5 short arm and 33" x-terrains. i have great flex in the front (almost to much) but how do i get more in the rear. it is a DD but when i wheel it would be nice if the rear flexes a little or alot more. iv seen pics of xj's with alot of rear flex with leaf packs.
Click to expand...

how long have you had the kit installed?...a bout how many miles do you think you have ran it?
 
norcalchris said:
how long have you had the kit installed?...a bout how many miles do you think you have ran it?
Click to expand...
X2, they usually take a lil while to break in. Ride around with some extra weight in back to help therm break in.

If you've had it a while, broke it in, and still aren't happy, yes a flatter spring pack may be your only real answer.

ColoradoRaptor said:
A longer leafspring will help ( F-150) You just have to fab some new shackel mounts for the longer springs.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I did, worked great! I can post pics if you want. I didn't have any sagging issues with this setup. I did however lose a spring clip at Callalantee on "Little Tellico". This allowed axle wrap due to the leaves fanning out, and bent/warped one of the packs. Other than that, and that was my fault, the only negatives to this is the shackles/springs hang down a bit. However I have hit mine a lot with no problems, It actually helped keep my quarter panels from being completely destroyed.

The shackle relocation alone adds about 2" of lift, and there is no reason you couldn't do it with the RE pack. As mentioned, you'll need to remove a leaf or 2, just don't remove too many or you will get axle wrap. Your best bet would be to bastardize the pack by replacing RE leaves with XJ leaves until it sits level.

Starboard M said:
I thought you had to stiffen the front to loosen the rear? :wave:
Click to expand...
:roflmao:
 
i do have a bit of arch so im going to look into flatter pcks and as for the shackles they are th ones that came with the RE kit also going to look into those. if longer shackles will help i wouldnt mind having a little more lift but hen i have to space the front. im also going to look into the revolver shackles but iv heard bad things
 
bandit455 said:
consider stiffening the front with some deaver coil springs
Click to expand...
Thats what I did and absolutly love the way it floats in the rough stuff. Just stiff enough for me to be able to remove the front sway bar also.
 
look at your shackle if its vertical (straight up) your rear will ride rough and be stiff the angle makes a world of difference mine is horible right now but the same springs will act TOTALLY different with a different angle i experienced this on a fullsize less weight but a better ride with the angle fixed
 
2 Quick things to check....

#1-Are your RE shackles the ones that have a notch in them to give a little more clearance on the rear cross member? Dumb question, but it has to be asked, are they on the correct way and not hitting the cross member?

#2-Check to see of your shackles are hitting the bolt from your rear bumper. On both of my XJs I had to remove one bolt on each side because the shackle was stopping on the tip of the bumper bolt and not swinging far enough for the spring to flatten out. (both on a RE shackle and a non-RE)

Find something to flex it on, put it in park and look around your rear suspension to see is something is physically limiting your travel.

It's worth checking before you go a more complicated route.

Edit: You could also check out the RE boomerang shackles.
 
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