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Sagging rear, easiest way to raise 1.5" or so?

W

whatwave

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Colorado
I had 2.5" lift and 30s put on my 97 about two years ago. To be totally honest, it wasn't the greatest period in my life and I don't recall exactly what went on it. Jeep drives wonderfully, does all the off road things. But fast forward to today and with tire carrier, fuel skid and all our camping gear it's sagging in the back. Very noticeably.

Ultimately I want to go for a 3.5" lift but in the interim is there anything I can do to raise the rear up slightly for cheap? Related, what should I look for to determine what is currently on there?

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A full length add-a-leaf, either store bought or made from the main leaf of an old XJ Cherokee leaf pack.

Installing a lift shackle on a sagging leaf spring just accelerates the sagging.
 
Take junk yard pack and cut leafs to stager in-between all leafs. I think you end up with 6 leafs making a perfectly stepped pack.

I did this on a crown hd leaf pack to support my load of tools and spare parts.

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You could use a bolt on shackle relocator
 
Ideally the extra leaf should be almost as long as the existing main leaf spanning from spring eye to spring eye. You can add the 2nd longest leaf, but I have had better results and the most resistance to further sagging by taking the main leaf from the donor spring pack and cutting the spring eyes off.
 
Yes but do that from main spring to axle cutting leafs to fit perfectly.
Doing just the main long leaf i dont think will gain much on a already wore out pack.

Give all the leafs a helper.

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I'll just comment that adding a leaf will stiffen the ride. If you like the ride now, you may want to consider doing a leaf swap or swapping multiple leaves. There will be less guess work if you measure the thickness of the leaves in your current leaf pack and the thickness of the leaves in the donor packs. Here is a handy spring rate calculator for leaf springs:

https://suspensionmaxx.com/leaf-spring-rate-calculator

Also, leaf springs are made of pretty tough steel, so if you plan to shorten leaves, be prepared to spend some time with a cutoff saw.
 
An unsnagged XJ Cherokee main leaf will lift the suspension about 1 inch give or take 1/2 inch. The results will vary based upon the amount of sag in the existing leaf spring pack and the amount of sag in the donor leaf pack.

One XJ leaf to XJ spring pack will only make the leaf spring pack about 10% stiffer, and will add some resistance to squatting with a full load of cargo.

An angle grinder with a 4" cut-off disk slice right through spring steel.
 
Last edited:
'Related, what should I look for to determine what is currently on there?'

Look to see if there are anti-friction pads on the springs. If not, then they are probably Rough Country.
 
Suicide wheel cuts leaf springs just fine.
I found drilling for center pin to be the hard part. That damn fancy spring steel

I drilled my center pins to move axle 1" to the rear

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