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Replacing rear leaf springs

B

Bzamora

NAXJA Forum User
Location
WA
My '99 has the Up Country package and is in need of fresh springs at the rear as it's starting to sag slightly. I have a choice of either the OEM ones (52002392AB ) or replacements from Crown (4886186) which cost half as much. Is there any reason to stick with the OEM springs or are the Crown replacements just as good? I am not looking for more or less lift, I simply want to restore the original +1" ride height.
 
Crown leaf springs get good reviews from Cherokee owners, the rest of their parts, not so good. The Heavy Duty leaf springs are the replacement for your 1 inch taller than stock Up-Country springs.
 
Just one vote against the Crown springs. I put some in and they had bad gaps between the leaves, arrived slightly pre-rusted, and had sagged back to under stock height within 2 months. Does anyone make good leaf springs for a stock Jeep?
 
my dorman springs (standard ride height) have done well for several years.
 
asymptonic said:
Just one vote against the Crown springs. I put some in and they had bad gaps between the leaves, arrived slightly pre-rusted, and had sagged back to under stock height within 2 months. Does anyone make good leaf springs for a stock Jeep?
Click to expand...


You're the second person I've seen complain that the Crown springs go poop pretty quick. Not a good sign.
 
Yeah, Crown stuff is all over the place. I just mistakenly bought their multifunction switch (turn signal). Complete garbage, doesn't even cancel reliably. Found a Mopar one and I'm back in business. I'm to the point I would only use Crown for non-functional items like trim pieces.
 
Could use stock springs and an extended shackle if you cant find good replacements.

Wouldn't use Crown either

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
I bought my springs from these guys:

https://www.sdtrucksprings.com/jeep-cherokee-replacement-leaf-spring-4-leaves-1984-2001

The springs seem to have held up fine (3+ yrs). However, after I made the purchase, I had a very strange debit show up on my credit card that I did not recognize for several hundred dollars. I have no proof that it was someone at SD truck springs. But the correlation between the purchase and the strange charge on my credit card made me very suspicious. Of course, I wasn't liable for the charge; just saying.
 
If you are going to attempt this you should make sure to plan for the possibility that one of the spring bolts might break. I started this project thinking it would take a couple of hours. One broken bolt later it took 3 weeks. Fortunately there is a solution (link below) but I am VERY glad that my XJ was in an open area and wasn't blocking access for my other vehicles because it ended up sitting on jack stands until I could order/receive these parts and get them installed.



https://www.ironman4x4fab.com/product-page/xj-leaf-spring-mount-stretch-kit
 
tjmotter said:
If you are going to attempt this you should make sure to plan for the possibility that one of the spring bolts might break. I started this project thinking it would take a couple of hours. One broken bolt later it took 3 weeks. Fortunately there is a solution (link below) but I am VERY glad that my XJ was in an open area and wasn't blocking access for my other vehicles because it ended up sitting on jack stands until I could order/receive these parts and get them installed.

https://www.ironman4x4fab.com/product-page/xj-leaf-spring-mount-stretch-kit
Click to expand...

Good point!

However, the rear spring mount is looking to be a failure point. I used anti-seize from the beginning on my leaf bolts. However, the weld in nutcerts that the spring bolts screw into, will break out over time.

I had a weird popping noise in the rear, and it turned out to be a broke out nutcert from the frame rail. The one on the other side was cracked as well, but still intact in the frame rail. The bolts came out with ease due to the anti-seized I used in the past and could still be screwed in by hand. Just stress over time will take its toll on the rear most leaf mounts.

I used the HD Offroad relocation brackets for the fix, similar to the Ironman ones. Oddly, it even eliminated a minor vibe I use to have, but could never get rid of.....Bonus!

https://www.hdoffroadengineering.com/products/no-lift-xj-shackle-relocation-brackets
 
You got off easy, I think I spent 4-6 months on mine. LOL

In between Harvey floods and other shit.....

tjmotter said:
If you are going to attempt this you should make sure to plan for the possibility that one of the spring bolts might break. I started this project thinking it would take a couple of hours. One broken bolt later it took 3 weeks. Fortunately there is a solution (link below) but I am VERY glad that my XJ was in an open area and wasn't blocking access for my other vehicles because it ended up sitting on jack stands until I could order/receive these parts and get them installed.



https://www.ironman4x4fab.com/product-page/xj-leaf-spring-mount-stretch-kit
Click to expand...
 
tjmotter said:
I am still fixing Harvey related issues but I prioritized my XJ over my fence ;-)
Click to expand...

Well hello fellow HH survivor, what part of town do you swim in? LOL
 
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