The front leaf spring thread. who's doing it now? what have you learned?

[SimpleXJ]

Hi guys. I'm planning on swapping my MJ to leaves up front and I dug up this thread in a search. I only plan to run 33's and 4.5-5" of lift over stock. Could I go SUA up front and be able to skip the hi-steer? If so what is the availablity for 5" SUA leaves for the front?

Current setup is ford 8.8 SOA rear, and D30 front with 3" springs and 2" spacers. I'd like to keep the D30 up front until I find a d44 that's the right width to go with the 8.8

Thanks!

 

[xjaddiction]

I've been driving my set-up for a couple of months, with one off-road trip. Off-road the set-up works very well. I like the leaves better than the coiled 4 link I had on the XJ. On the road the leaves are soft and the ride is excellent... Steering on the other hand is NO FUN.

I have the Waggy "Y" set up with a serious "Z" bent drag link. i have a ZJ TRE from pitman, and the link to the Waggy Drag-link. So full steering isn't a problem. i also have a XJ pit-man arm. I also have a Sky Jacker steering-stabilizer.

The problem, as BrettM stated above is the dead spot in the steering, and the bump steer. While not impossible to steer, you'll be driving the thing with utmost concentration. I'd say that it's a bit SPOOKY.

The fix, just like th others have stated, is to go either partial high-steer, or all the way. I'm going all the way with the high-steer. I have a friend who'll make the Tie-rod and drag link.

I've got; Chevy flat top knuckles rom a K-5, I have access to everything neccessary to ream knuckles. I'm going to use Chevy 1-Ton TRE's. I need high steer arms

QUESTION; Who should I use for the high steer arms? Will I need a spacer and what size? Can I use the high-steer arms with the built in spacer and 10* angle built in?

 

[SimpleXJ]

Sorry if this sounds dumb, but is yours setup on a d30? I can't tell from the pic because of my laptop screen. Also, what do you mean by waggy "Y" setup?


Has anyone done a leaf sprung D30 SUA? Just wondering if that'll get around the steering issue with the d30. I'm only looking for 5" of lift tops.

Thanks

 

[xjaddiction]

No, that's a Waggy dana 44.The Waggy is short for Grand Wagoneer. I used the steering "y" link from it. that includes the Drag link that bolts to the Tie-rod, hence the "Y".

 

[SimpleXJ]

No, that's a Waggy dana 44.The Waggy is short for Grand Wagoneer. I used the steering "y" link from it. that includes the Drag link that bolts to the Tie-rod, hence the "Y".

Ok, I get it now. Thanks for clearing that up
I'd love to have a d44 up front, but that means I'd have to ditch the 8.8 I just put in. How wide is that waggy d44? It's full size isn't it? And it'll be different bolt pattern than the 8.8 right?


Thanks again

 

[xjaddiction]

The axles I got were out of an '86 grand waggoneer. They are both D-44's front driver's side drop, and rear is centered. The width of the front axle is 61 1/2"es, which I think is about the same width as stock. The "full-width" axles you will hear about are the Ford truck D-44's.

The bolt pattern of the Waggy 44's are 6 lug on 5.5, just like Chevy's, Yota's, and Isuzu's. The ford D-44's are 5 on 5.5, also not the 5 on 4.5 you have on the 8.8.

I bought both Waggy D-44's for less than $140, at a local pull-apart. I spent another $750 at Randy's ring and pinion getting 5:13 gears, lock-rite for the front, and a full spool for the rear.


If I were you, I would decide what kind of wheelin' your doing, what size tires your going to run, and get the appropriate axles. You can go with full width's Ford D-44 HP (high pinion) front and a rear 9" or a D-60 for lots of West Coast rock crawlin strength. Or as I did with the D-44's from a waggy for South East slick (slippery rock) mud, on some 38's, and sell that 8.8. Put the money into your next set of axles.


here is some meaningfull info for your quest as steering will be an issue too, might as well do it right from the start;

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Steering/Steering_Research/steeringresearch.htm



http://77cj.littlekeylime.com/flatop_knucles.html

 

[BrettM]

QUESTION; Who should I use for the high steer arms? Will I need a spacer and what size? Can I use the high-steer arms with the built in spacer and 10* angle built in?

I would recommend the PartsMike (www.partsmikeparts.com) arms. They have a pretty short balljoint to TRE distance which you will need to get full steering without going to a longer pitman arm. They also have the 10* correction which is good. I'm not a big fan of spacers, but if you need more height to clear the leaf springs his super arms are taller.

 

[SimpleXJ]

XJAddiction: Thanks! I had no idea waggy axles are close to stock width. I actually know where a waggy sits that I can have for free. Don't know what it's got 'til I get there though. I'll just stick the 8.8 under my XJ. You just solved all my problems Thank You!!!

 

[davidt]

why do you want to go with leafs in the front, you can buy a short arm kit on the cheap untill you decide to go bigger. The only reason I did the swap was to get a d44 in the front, otherwise I wouldn't have wasted my time...My advice, learn to wheel on something small, then if it isn't enough, go bigger.

 

[xjaddiction]

Thanks, Brett.

Simple XJ, I used Wrangler (YJ) 4" lift leaves up front, giving me about 8"es of lift. These leaves were used, so I'm sure some settling had occurred. Make a cross member up front to attatch the leaves, I used the bumper. A friend of mine just made a cross-member for the leaf conversion. I'll get some pics when I can. He may even be selling them soon.

 

[davidt]

oh yeah if you do crossover, get a real tierod, check out what happens when you don't :crazy:

I am going to make one out of .250 wall DOM, hopefully it will fix the problem. As far as a cross member goes, check out my leafspring thread, I have some good pictures of what I did.

 

[rust bucket xj]

Think these will be the first pics i ever posted of my xj on naxja.

Eh, Its no longer red.

I did the leaf swap, i love it, too bad the po dont like it because. Rides 100x better on the street, and handles slightly better too even with the steep draglink angle. Wheels great as well. I need to get some .75 hd xj shackles (maybe i'll just make some .25" plate shackles.

Anyway i made a bumper xmember from 3x4 .25" wall rect tubing, held onto the unibody with 14 bolts. Still need to beef the rear mounts as i'm using the stock lca mounts. Used waggy 7 leaf packs, and stock dak shackles (.75" xj shackles). Gave me bout 8" in the front. Did crossover needs some tlc yet, gonna put slightly less tall spring perches on, and convert the waggy 44 to 5x5.5 wiht 1" spacers to give a little bit more width and use 2" rear spacrs on the 8.8 that adapt to 5x4.5

Oh and maybe some matching front wheels with matching bs for a change...

on rollers after the paint job

somebody wanted a pic with approach angle.

doesnt seem to bug me too much, more so i forget i cant bang them like towhooks
but yeah its not bad

seems more stable too

seems to flex ok

 

[BrettM]

i forget i cant bang them like towhooks

get some double military wrapped BDS springs with lifetime no questions asked warranty, then you can bang them like towhooks.

 

[NXJ]

get some double military wrapped BDS springs with lifetime no questions asked warranty, then you can bang them like towhooks.

Where ? Link ? More !

 

[BrettM]

http://www.bds-suspension.com/

mine were under $70 each (3.5" YJs) but I got them down the street from the factory.

 

[THRASHER]

I am going to run 44044's on the xj I am building up now, for those who are running these springs up front, are you taking any leafs out of the pack? I was running stock waggys w/ and got around 7in, am hoping for around 9in with the 44044's, but would like them to flex as much as possible

Kevin

 

[mmmkay325]

for you guys runnin' bds's yj 3.5 what type of shackle are you runnin' in the front?

 

[BrettM]

mine is off a Chevy, it's basically the same as an MJ shackle, but my friend had them lying around.

 

[mississippi_xj]

crossover looks the way to go... i have found a set of machined knuckles. are you guys having to run them with spacers? or will a regular knuckle do the job?

it looks like I am back on track with the project... well mostly

how are you guys finding the manners on the road? i figure that the ride quality should be good. how is body role? are you finding that a sway bar should be used? I am going to sell my car to help finance this so the xj is going to be my dd. just trying to do it right the first time.

 

[BrettM]

crossover looks the way to go... i have found a set of machined knuckles. are you guys having to run them with spacers? or will a regular knuckle do the job?

it looks like I am back on track with the project... well mostly

how are you guys finding the manners on the road? i figure that the ride quality should be good. how is body role? are you finding that a sway bar should be used? I am going to sell my car to help finance this so the xj is going to be my dd. just trying to do it right the first time.

I don't have a spacer on my crossover, just the shorter PartsMike arm, though very occasionally the draglink hits the leaf. Get a taller 1.5" arm like PartsMike's Super Arm and it will be perfect.

the road manners are very good, much better than the 3", 4" or 5.5" short arm coil lifts that I've had before, but not as good as longarms or drop brackets and coils. No swaybar is needed for me because of the stiffer springs and interleaf friction.