Add a leaf to a new spring pack?

My buddy's got a newer (+/-1 year) spring pack and now he wants a bit more lift. I was thinking that a 3" aal on a new spring pack would be more or less equivalent in life expenctancy/dependability to a new 3" lift leaf pack. Could someone back me up or set me straight on this?

Only if they are equivalent in arch and spring rate. usually AALs are thicker and stiffer than oem and many aftermarket springs and thus bear a bulk of the load and may eventually break. Think about what is giving you those three inches: The one leaf.

My first jeep came from the PO with AALs it didn't take me long to break them.

If you want to do an AAL I'd try and find a set of leaves for that pack. You might even consider calling the manufacturer or distributor of the current pack. Worse case scenario you bastardize the old worn packs and use their main and/or secondary leaves.

I have one of those quadratec HD packs in the back of the DD. I'll add the 80K mile old leaves as I need an inch here or there until i "need" real spring packs. I've always had good success with RE packs, but then again I've not tried any others yet.

Jeep on.

boredchimp said:

My buddy's got a newer (+/-1 year) spring pack and now he wants a bit more lift. I was thinking that a 3" aal on a new spring pack would be more or less equivalent in life expenctancy/dependability to a new 3" lift leaf pack. Could someone back me up or set me straight on this?

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If you use a good quality full-length AAL, you'll be fine. Everyone talks about AAL's being so thick...Look at those S-10 leaves.

Unless you spend a good deal on new leaves, they'll settle anyway. My RE 4.5" packs give me 3.5"...probably closer to 3.(I measure) They are only a few years old.

aah yes, My experiences were with short thick AALs. YMMV

I have had full length AALs on a set of 80,000mile stock XJ leafs and I have not had any (measurable) sag in 2 years. If you have a newer leaf pack and full length AALs you should be good for at least a couple years. The exception being if you wheel hard and regularly; then you will wear down your pack faster.

I have a full length RE AAL and one extra stock XJ leaf on my unsagged stock XJ Cherokee leaf pack. 3.25" of lift, smooth ride on the road, good flex on the trail, regularily carries 250 + lbs of cargo. I have been to Moab, Utah and Ouray, Colorado with this set up and. No sag, no complaints, no problems. Short AAL and lift blocks kill spring packs. Don't forget to extend your bumpstops.

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Thanks for the great responses. Thats why I love this place. :guitar:

So long aal seem to do better than short ones. I was also thinking of researching junkyard/bastard packs. Thanks! eace:

boredchimp said:

So long aal seem to do better than short ones. I was also thinking of researching junkyard/bastard packs.

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Don't do a short AAL !

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