suspension leans

ive had my RE 4.5" lift on since october and ive wheeled it a few times, carried heavy loads in the rear etc, so i think its safe to say its fairly settled at this point. i got the kit with all the upgrades, full leafs, superflex arms, monotubes, HD trackbar. that being said, my XJ does not sit level left to right. the drivers side is about an inch lower, front and back, than the passenger side. i have noticed that the leafs on the passenger side arent all completely lined up with each other anymore, and they squeak a lot, not sure how that happened or how to fix it. could that be contributing to it leaning? any other ideas?

mine does the same hting! except the drivers side is higher

My '91 did the same when I had the RE 4.5 installed. Before this, I had a Rancho 3" and it was perfect... no squeaks, sat level side-to-side. Did you remove the rear stablizer upon installation?

After several years, mine leveled out some.. I'm still not satisfied with the stance.. and can feel a difference in body roll, front driver side tends to roll in more than the left.

You can do a few things..

1. Loosen the rear shackle bolts and rock the body side-to-side... lube the grommits.

2. Swap the rear springs right-to-left, left-to-right, to see if that makes a difference.

3. Make sure the front coils aren't binding and are seated properly.

I'm changing out the rear shackles with Tomken's to see if that makes a difference...

This is a common problem and something tells me it may be the springs...

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yeah the reason i think its the leafs is because the drivers side squeaks and the leafs arent aligned anymore

1990JEEPXJ said:

yeah the reason i think its the leafs is because the drivers side squeaks and the leafs arent aligned anymore

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What are you planning on doing with it???

In the beginning I couldn't get any help from the installer or RE... I called Deaver and they recommended re-arching the rear springs. Aside from replacing them or swapping out the shackles to see if that makes a difference there is little recourse.

How do you know its the leafs? ... I've speculated a front coil could be out of spec as well.

RE claims each spring is tested... I don't know about that, maybe one (1) spring out of a batch.

Rubicon coils are designed to provide the best in ride quality without sacrificing durability and load capacity. All
coils are powder coated silver. Our coils are made with the most advanced processes in the industry. Every coil is
tested and checked for compliance to our rigid spec.

Click to expand...

Rubicon Cherokee Spring packs feature all the qualities that make our Extreme-Duty springs so great, plus rubber bushings for less noise transmission or squeaking. These have been proven by many years of hard use and great popularity in the JeepSpeed race series.

Click to expand...

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well my plans for my XJ is to keep it mostly a DD with an occasional wheeling trip. i just done want something to be in question suspension-wise. i the next few days i will switch the leafs and try to realign the pack an go from there i guess

My jeep did the same thing, i called them an they wanted pic's.. So i sent them some pics an they sent me a new spring.. Mine were almost 2 years old at the time..I paid 0 for the new spring...

Crap, i'm soory i just notice it said RE... Good luck with this....
I have the RC set up.. Sorry

1990JEEPXJ said:

well my plans for my XJ is to keep it mostly a DD with an occasional wheeling trip. i just done want something to be in question suspension-wise. i the next few days i will switch the leafs and try to realign the pack an go from there i guess

Click to expand...

Let me know the outcome after switching your leafs.... the mental dilemma I have is determining which spring is bad... a possible weak spring on the driver side, or out of spec spring on the passenger side.

Let me know what you find...

Although I had my RE system installed several years ago, I haven't put many miles on it since then... my XJ sat in the garage for two years. I'm currently restoring mine and also need to resolve this suspension "thing."

Mine will be going into the body shop soon for exterior work... I replaced all the worn interior components to OEM specs... seats, headliner, console, switches, etc. I also replaced my old Grant steering wheel with a new one... had custom made door sill armor made up to protect the plastic molding.

Here a pic with the RE system.

Before you guys do anything.Go find a level/flat surface and loosen all the leaf spring/shackle/control arm/trackbar bolts.Roll/drive/jump on the rig a few times and re-torque all your hardware.

x 2 . Lube everything as well and did you check the friction pads between the leafs?

RCP Phx said:

Before you guys do anything.Go find a level/flat surface and loosen all the leaf spring/shackle/control arm/trackbar bolts.Roll/drive/jump on the rig a few times and re-torque all your hardware.

Click to expand...

i plan on doing that as well when i do my axle swap and switch the leafs over.

dakineJ said:

x 2 . Lube everything as well and did you check the friction pads between the leafs?

Click to expand...

what would i need to check for on the friction pads? on the lower side, some of them are partially showing since the individual leafs are no longer lined up properly.

well i swapped the axle and switched the leafs and as it sits right now, its level. but i havent driven it yet as im stalling the SYE right now. but i do think i found the cause, my RE shackle bushings are SHOT already. i dont know how but they are.

1990JEEPXJ said:

well i swapped the axle and switched the leafs and as it sits right now, its level. but i havent driven it yet as im stalling the SYE right now. but i do think i found the cause, my RE shackle bushings are SHOT already. i dont know how but they are.

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I thought this was a new RE 4.5" system... interesting the bushings are shot already.. in 5 months? Who did the install and were they brand new parts?

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it was a new RE 4.5" lift. and i installed it myself. im thinking i might not have tightened the shackles enough though. can i just get replacement bushings from RE?

Yes, RE sells the parts. What was the outcome? Was the rear passenger side too high or the rear driver side too low?... in other words, after you swapped the springs did it settle to the high side or low side, or somewhere in between?

Also, did your system lean straight out of the box after you installed it?... or did it take a few months to start leaning?

I have the rear passenger spring squeaking now, I'm thinking about ditching these RE's and installing Deaver springs. I had my Rancho springs on for 6 or 7 years and they never squeaked... sat perfectly level side-to-side, and the spring rates felt identical.

My RE problems could be an installation issue, I don't know. What I would like to know is who actually manufactures RE springs. I've had nothing but problems with this RE kit. The spring rates appear to be different, creating more body lean during right turns, than left turns.

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