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Ford 56" leaf spring swap with a twist

C

cdawall

NAXJA Forum User
Location
EAFB
So I am tired of dealing with XJ spring packs. I am looking to swap a heavier set of springs in, but I do not want to push my rear axle back. I am not looking to do a bastard pack or anything of the sort as the upper leaf seems to fail just as often as anything else in XJ packs.

I have been looking at ranger/explorer packs as those are what I am used to with the vehicles I normally deal with and they tend to not fail out wheeling.

XJ leaf springs are 23" in front of the bolt and 28 5/8" past for a 52" leaf with a 655 cap. Expo are 25 11/16 in front of the bolt and 31" past for a 56" leaf with 1100-1200lbs cap's. They are known to lift about 4" which is about what I want.

Now if I push the forward mount forward the roughly 2-3" and mount the rear wherever it needs for proper shackle angle am I going to hit the bumper and am I missing anything in my plan? I am already going to be removing both sets of leaf spring mounts to plate the framerail when I go to replace the floor and install the rear 8.8" I have laying around.
 
Couple of stocker sets with anything from F150 to stacked XJ packs for a bastard pack. Along with guys I wheel with have smoked pretty much any brand around so they don't really appeal to me.
 
Why not try a real set? Clayton and iron rock have had good reviews and aren't expensive. I run deavers and they are bees knees but they aren't that cheap.
 
The ford 56's are supposed to flex better and I plan to cut the forward and aft mount off when the framerail gets plated anyway...
 
cdawall said:
The ford 56's are supposed to flex better...
Click to expand...

Not compared to deavers lol how many leafs in a pack and what's their spring rate/weight capacity. I find it hard that they flex better than stock since stock has such a small weight capacity and spring rate
 
Demonoid369 said:
Not compared to deavers lol how many leafs in a pack and what's their spring rate/weight capacity. I find it hard that they flex better than stock since stock has such a small weight capacity and spring rate
Click to expand...

Pack is 4+1 or 3+1 depending what you go with. They flex better than the jeep ones I have had or seen on the trail.

I am not a man of deaver money, building a leaf spring mount and running junkyard ford leafs for comparable flex makes a bit more sense to me. I also hear word on the street is they do not like having a large amount of weight in the back of the jeep. Mine stays with a pretty heft amount back there and I plan to toss the spare on a bumper eventually (315/75R16 on aluminum rim)
 
If you're relocating the front mount forward... A set of shackle relocation boxes should give you what you need to get the rear setup right and not hit the bumper
 
XJLI said:
I mean, you can't really complain that your leaf spring packs suck when you are cobbling them together with old ass parts
Click to expand...

No I can't, but I refuse to buy new ones that I have seen fall apart on the trail within a year or two. Would rather purchase or junkyard a set of expo leafs or even chevy 64's would appear to fit.

rockclimber said:
If you're relocating the front mount forward... A set of shackle relocation boxes should give you what you need to get the rear setup right and not hit the bumper
Click to expand...

I think I can live with that height wise if I run ranger leafs. Should gain 1.5-2 from the leafs and the rest from a shackle/relocation.
 
Demonoid369 said:
So you think this thread is a shit storm and complain on cherokeeforum? I don't see your reasoning behind this
Click to expand...

It turned into buy deavers. I thought I had a simple question and wanted a simple answer from some people that have done it. Figured NAXJA was the place to ask. Turns out CF had someone who had done similar and his build answered what I need.

Hell I searched for a bit before asking anything long enough to find synergy sells a replacement set of forward mounts if I am feeling lazy.
 
Out of 12 post only two post say deaver lol it didn't turn into a buy deaver thread lol xjli mention iron rock and Clayton first lol
 
Demonoid369 said:
Out of 12 post only two post say deaver lol it didn't turn into a buy deaver thread lol xjli mention iron rock and Clayton first lol
Click to expand...

out of 12 posts 6 are mine, 2 are yours, 2 say deaver, 1 is an additional question and one answers the question asked.

I am set now my question was answered so short of more pertinent information coming up for the question at hand I could really care less what you have to say...
 
wow.....you have issues with a crappy set up and your solution is longer oem leaves yet you do not address the issue of breaking leaf springs. :confused:
 
You're not going to fix any problems.

I have MJ leafs on my XJ, the front mount is moved forward 2" and the rear back about 2". It travels good and works good.

I would not go with the Explorer leafs, they are very thick and will not flex as well as you think they will.
 
More curious about running chevy 63's now still going to have to push the front moint way forward, but its a known setup that flexes well.

The for 56's are as well outside of the xj world anyway...

As for oem leafs I have never seen leafs have issues like this outside of Toyota's and Cherokees. Lightweight vehicle woes I guess.
 
Running a longer spring is part of the reason the 56" springs will give you more flex, but they will also give you more axle wrap. Any plans for a traction bar?

Another option could be to get a stock main leaf, grab some spare springs and military wrap the eyes of the main to gain some strength.
 
Plan was to run 56 or 64's and see if they needed a traction bar. I run 57's on my other rig without on and it has more tq and 1 tons without issues (or ruining leafs).
 
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