Rusty's Leaf Springs

I was going to post his in the non-tech forum, but I don't posess this privilage...

I have a 3" full spring lift from Rusty's Offroad. With in a year and a half, I noticed that the right side of the Jeep was sitting lower. I measured and sure enough, the rear passenger's side leafs where sagging 1" as compared to the driver's side. I called Rusty and he finally told me that he would warranty the one spring or give me a discount on a new set. Now, I don't have the money to buy a new lift. If I did, I would probably go with the 4.5", but then I would need to spend even more money since I would be at 6" of lift with the spacers and shackles I already have. If I get just the one spring, the passenger's side would sit about 2" higher than the driver's side. I got about 5" of lift in the rear for the first 6 months to a year when I first put the lift in. Do you guys think he should warranty both springs or what? I think it is a pretty crappy situation. I don't think I should have to ride around for 6 months to a year waiting for the one spring to settle and I don't think I should have to buy a new spring to go along with the warrantied one.

Has anyone else ever had a similar situation with one new leaf spring and one two year old one? I'm hoping to get some opinions on what you guys would do in this situation.

Nearly ever xj I have seen has a lean to the right, this is in part caused by the torque of the engine that pushes the right side down a little bit.

-Alex

you should tell him that he needs to cover both springs if they have both sagged out excessively under normal driving conditions. call and talk with Rusty directly. If he is a jerk, tell him that even Rough Country will back their springs!!.....

yep, rotate your leaf springs after 6-12 months is what i've been told....

EDIT: I want to say i've heard of people putting an extra, smaller leaf (like the smallest or 2nd smallest leaf in the pack) but I cant remember exactly what the situation was for that.

Try rotating your leaf packs and see what it does. it might level out pretty fast. but it is a normal thing. its not a faulty leaf pack or anything.

So the leaf pack that is sitting 1" lower than the other is normal? Swapping sides with the leaf might remedy this? From what I measured, using 17.5" as being stock length from enter of axle to lower edge of fender flare, th driver's side is at exactly 3" and the passenger's side is at 2". The shackles seem to be at the same angles, slightly angled toward the back. Maybe I will swap sides with the leafs when/if I do an axle swap. I hope to do one sometime this summer. Anyone have anything else to add, any opinions/experiences is GREATLY appreciated.

This is very common.

Take your leafs off.

Remove the center pins.

Shuffle every other leaf between packs.

Reassemble.

Reinstall.

Start flipping your leafs side to side 1-2 times a year and it wont be a problem.

:edit:

You may find when you take the packs apart that your center pins are toast. Its usually a good idea to have some new ones around in advance. You can get them online or at most leaf spring shops. I try and keep a spare pair in my glovebox "Just in case".

JNickel101 said:

yep, rotate your leaf springs after 6-12 months is what i've been told....

EDIT: I want to say i've heard of people putting an extra, smaller leaf (like the smallest or 2nd smallest leaf in the pack) but I cant remember exactly what the situation was for that.

Try rotating your leaf packs and see what it does. it might level out pretty fast. but it is a normal thing. its not a faulty leaf pack or anything.

Click to expand...

Rotate meaning swap the driver's and passenger's leafs or flip the springs around so the rear eyes are in the front and the fronts in the rear, if that makes since?

cal said:

This is very common.

Take your leafs off.

Remove the center pins.

Shuffle every other leaf between packs.

Reassemble.

Reinstall.

Start flipping your leafs side to side 1-2 times a year and it wont be a problem.

:edit:

You may find when you take the packs apart that your center pins are toast. Its usually a good idea to have some new ones around in advance. You can get them online or at most leaf spring shops. I try and keep a spare pair in my glovebox "Just in case".

Click to expand...

Forgive my noobie ignorance, but what exactly does that mean? - nevermind, it just dawned on me...

I am very glad I asked you guys, I had no clue about this stuff.

Tommy4949 said:

Forgive my noobie ignorance, but what exactly does that mean? - nevermind, it just dawned on me...

I am very glad I asked you guys, I had no clue about this stuff.

Click to expand...

Neither did any of us, until it happened to every one of our xj's too.

Leafs that are stiff enough to never sag don't flex well and ride like a skateboard on a cobblestone street.

XJ&TJ4ME said:

you should tell him that he needs to cover both springs if they have both sagged out excessively under normal driving conditions. call and talk with Rusty directly. If he is a jerk, tell him that even Rough Country will back their springs!!.....

Click to expand...

Which Rusty?

the owner

Have you tried to find out if both have acutally sagged and one is worse than the other?

4LowandGo said:

Are they complete spring packs or add-a-leaf??

Click to expand...

They are complete spring packs...

What the...

Just the one has sagged, the driver's side is right at 3" of lift height

Sorry about the edit. I read your comments a second time and saw that they are complete spring packs. I don't know what to say. I have Rusty's 6" springs with 1.75 shackles too and they are within a quarter inch of each other after more than two years of hard wheeling. I wish I could help. I'm sure someone else can though!

My 3" HD packs from Rusty are even? I just got the HD kits because it's the same price! Slightly higher compression rate to make for a slightly firmer ride, a slight bit more of lift.....for no extra charge? Hells yes!

XJ&TJ4ME said:

the owner

Click to expand...

:roflmao: only a couple working there.



I say find out how long he'll warrent that discount and buy some new leaf packs when you get the money. Keep in mind most leaf packs anywhere advertise certain inchs but need to re,ember the break in process. which I know you do, so again get new set of leafs is my suggestion if you can wait.

Blaine B. said:

My 3" HD packs from Rusty are even? I just got the HD kits because it's the same price! Slightly higher compression rate to make for a slightly firmer ride, a slight bit more of lift.....for no extra charge? Hells yes!

Click to expand...

The HD actually refers to the higher spring rate of the front coils. And the rear leafs are actually 3.5" lift springs. Mine had "3.5" stamped right on the top of the leafs. If you look at the leaf springs on the individual leaf spring section of his web site, you will notice that he doesn't list a 3" lift leaf spring, only a 3.5". In the coils spring section he lists a 3" and 3" HD coil for the XJ. Also, the 3.5" leaf pack has 5 leafs but the 4.5" and 6.5" leaf packs have 6. Which do you think is more likely to sag within a year?:doh:

Mine leaf packs have settled to 3" on the left and 2" on the right after less than 2 years. I also got the HD version of the 3" Spring Pack Kit.

:edit: Oh, and I got 5" of lift out of the rear leafs for the first few months. It took almost a year for them to settle to 3". I didn't carry much stuff in the cargo area though.

I thought about just getting add-a-leafs if/when I go higher, but not with one side sagging more than the other. We will see what happens when I try what I have learned on here with swapping leafs between packs.:dunno:

MiNi Beast said:

:roflmao: only a couple working there.



I say find out how long he'll warrent that discount and buy some new leaf packs when you get the money. Keep in mind most leaf packs anywhere advertise certain inchs but need to re,ember the break in process. which I know you do, so again get new set of leafs is my suggestion if you can wait.

Click to expand...

I will probably hold out until I can get some new springs and just use the warranty for $$ off. I would try to talk him into warrantying the pair of leafs, but I am not much of a people person. I am more of a, "Listen *SSHOLE!!! Do the right thing!!!" kind of guy.:firedevil

Tommy4949 said:

I will probably hold out until I can get some new springs and just use the warranty for $$ off. I would try to talk him into warrantying the pair of leafs, but I am not much of a people person. I am more of a, "Listen *SSHOLE!!! Do the right thing!!!" kind of guy.:firedevil

Click to expand...

Well listen here then as*hole, wait and get a new set of leafs!!





























:laugh3: