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Suspension Tuning

To the top again - good info in here...
 
Im really thinking about building a spring pack.. and figured this would be some good tech!
 
wow, what happend to "good tech" like this? great info!
 
I'm going to bring this thread back to the top with a question similar to the opening one.

I currently have a 2" budget boost, with coil spacers and a short add-a-leaf. I bought the lift before I learned to avoid the short leaf, and am paying for it now. I'm happy with the flex in the front, but would like to modify my leaf packs to flex more. I currently get almost no flex in the rear because the add-a-leaf is so stiff, and on the road the Jeep rides like the rear axle is bolted directly to the body with no spring in between.

I would like to ditch the add-a-leaf and stay at about two inches of lift, but am wondering what to replace it with. I was thinking about adding in a leaf from a spring-under vehicle like an S-10 or Blazer, or possibly going with an extended shackle and stock packs. Whatever I do, I'm going to paint the leaves with slippery paint and put liners in between when I swap in a D44 next week.

All this talk of flatter springs being better for flex has me wondering whether I would be better off adding in another XJ main leaf with the eyes cut off (or similarly flat spring-over leaf). I don't really know which would be best. I suppose anything would be an improvement, but I'd like to make the best 2" lift leaf pack possible. Thoughts?

(by the way, Les, what did you end up doing with your leaves and are you happy with them?)
 
i used the tera flex revolver shackles they twist so there is a reduced bind

mine has a pretty balanced flex,i was personaly impressed the down fall is they dont provide much lift
 
Since somebody else resurrected this I'll ask the question. As long as you use blocks less than 2" and add a traction bar to stop axle wrap is this OK? How does using blocks reduce spring life as mentioned by some? I am happy with my flex I just need about 2" more of lift to level with the front. Thanks.

Matt
 
hadfield4wd said:
Since somebody else resurrected this I'll ask the question. As long as you use blocks less than 2" and add a traction bar to stop axle wrap is this OK? How does using blocks reduce spring life as mentioned by some? I am happy with my flex I just need about 2" more of lift to level with the front. Thanks.

Matt
Click to expand...

Using blocks creates even more leverage against the spring and will quicken the effects of axle wrap.
 
Mambeu said:
... (by the way, Les, what did you end up doing with your leaves and are you happy with them?)
Click to expand...

Sorry about a late response ...

A combination of Dakota leafs along with the XJ leafs were used. I kinda played around adjusting leaf lengths and thickness' to achieve a very soft spring rate. The pack ended up using the thinner XJ leafs next to the main leaf with the thicker Dakota springs lower in the pack (It was a 5 leaf pack). All were coated with graphite paint along with poly liners between the individual leafs. In order to get the lift height I wanted, I used a 1.5" block and extended shackles. A ladder bar was used to control axle wrap.

All in all, I was happy with it. I did not have a lot of flex (especially droop), but they flexed enough to maintain contact well and they rode very nice on and off road. The poor old main leafs finally succumbed and cracked (too many flexes without adequate bumpstops) and both packs had to be replaced. They were a very good economical spring and served me very well.

Les
 
Cool, thanks for answering.

I need to head to the junkyard for some spare axle shafts, so I think I'm going to pick up some 2.5" wide spring-under leaf packs while I'm there. I want to get rid of my stiff short add-a-leaf before my big Paragon trip in three weeks. I'm thinking that ditching my add-a-leaf, and replacing my second leaf with the second leaf out of a spring-under leaf pack (a nice, long leaf) would be a good first combination to try.
 
Hey just wanted to bring this back to the top and add a question. I have called every spring shop in 100 miles that I can find and none of them sell the full length liner. Is there a place I could mail order it from, or could I just cut down a sheet of plastic and use that. If I cut the sheet down it woulnt have the edges to hold it centerd, but its free/cheep so I could keep replacing it. So far I have the XJ main with s-10 main and second with XJ 3rd, I am happy with the ride but I dont get the flex I want.


Thanks.
 
derider said:
Hey just wanted to bring this back to the top and add a question. I have called every spring shop in 100 miles that I can find and none of them sell the full length liner. Is there a place I could mail order it from, or could I just cut down a sheet of plastic and use that. If I cut the sheet down it woulnt have the edges to hold it centerd, but its free/cheep so I could keep replacing it. So far I have the XJ main with s-10 main and second with XJ 3rd, I am happy with the ride but I dont get the flex I want.


Thanks.
Click to expand...
hows the shackle angle? may want to look at these to improve your shackle angle http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=955999
 
89xj said:
hows the shackle angle? may want to look at these to improve your shackle angle http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=955999
Click to expand...

Its not vary good and I was going to do that to, but dont want to add lift so I have been trying to find a main leaf thats a inch or two longer and use a boomarang to get the angle. I have just been trying to track down all the parts I need so I only have to take the pak apart one more time.

I am only at 3 in of lift and want to stay there, plans are to cut to run 33's with minium lift and bump stops. If I cant find a main leaf that I am looking for I am going to build the relocation bracket and try a shorter shackle.

Thanks for any information.

P.S.
I have also been thinking about puting the shackle at a 30 degree angle to keep the same lift and I think that would allow more droop but I havent been able to determin if there are many side effects to that.
 
Last edited:
derider said:
Its not vary good and I was going to do that to, but dont want to add lift so I have been trying to find a main leaf thats a inch or two longer and use a boomarang to get the angle. I have just been trying to track down all the parts I need so I only have to take the pak apart one more time.

I am only at 3 in of lift and want to stay there, plans are to cut to run 33's with minium lift and bump stops. If I cant find a main leaf that I am looking for I am going to build the relocation bracket and try a shorter shackle.

Thanks for any information.

P.S.
I have also been thinking about puting the shackle at a 30 degree angle to keep the same lift and I think that would allow more droop but I havent been able to determin if there are many side effects to that.
Click to expand...

boomerange shackle does not change the shackle angle, it only improves clearance when the spring is compressed. i believe there is a thread about using the main leaf from a dodge van. here it is http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=949841&highlight=dodge+van+main
 
cal said:
it's here, thats why everyone tells everyone else to search. ;)
Click to expand...

werd.gif

Billy
 
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