Wheelbase thoughts...

[CrustyJeep]

No you've got me curious on the free arch of XJ leafs. I had thought they were roughly comperable to Waggies, but from the picture, I'm guessing not. That's no good.

They don't appear to be working the shackles near as much as my Waggies do.

 

[boxboy]

:eeek: Matt what is limiting your downward travel? the shock? that spring should have more downward travel then what you are picturing?:eeek:

 

[NotMatt]

:eeek: Matt what is limiting your downward travel? the shock? that spring should have more downward travel then what you are picturing?:eeek:

Nothing limiting the down travel as far as I remember in this pic. The shocks aren't attached and that is the stock XJ spring mounted in the stock forward hanger, with one extra XJ main leaf added (eyes cut off), and no spring clamps whatsoever.

I'll see if I can find a curb or something to drive up onto and take another picture tonight.

 

[Binder]

If your not happy with it just rip it out and try again. I can't tell you how many times I have gone through this. It's all a long ongoing learning process that never ends.

 

[CrustyJeep]

If your not happy with it just rip it out and try again.

Yeah, but let's get to the bottom of this XJ leaf thing, this is good tech

 

[Cascade_Crawler]

well ****. I dont wanna run these **** springs if im gonna hate em :redneck:

 

[Binder]

Yeah, but let's get to the bottom of this XJ leaf thing, this is good tech

That's a easy one. Jeep crap meet scrap pile. It'll fit right in with all of those "recycled" toyota parts.:haha:

 

[CrustyJeep]

That's a easy one. Jeep crap meet scrap pile. It'll fit right in with all of those "recycled" toyota parts.:haha:

I like my JEEP waggies

I mean... As much as a person could like leaf springs... Just to qualify

 

[Cascade_Crawler]

I run 7 leaf waggys f/r now. Obviously the front flexes better than the rear, but reasonable and they are a little stiff for my taste. I'm gonna have to ride in matts rig at the cleanup to see if those xjs ride any worse than my current setup.

Searching on pirate those RE SOA springs have a great reputation. Im thinking I should run those F/R and make new mounts to stretch the wheelbase to my specs. Damn they're expensive though.

 

[NotMatt]

Well, sorry to disappoint on the pictures... I made it as far as opening the garage door before I realized that the damn fitting from the hard line to the soft rear line is pissing brake fluid all over the place. Guess I gotta go find a new fitting and run up to Leavenworth tomorrow to borrow the flare tool from my dad, since it's as tight as it's gonna get without stripping something out.

 

[JThompson]

I am actually interested in the XJ rear spring tech. My buddy has a really nice, but still rather wheeled '97 XJ. Around 5 years ago or so, he had a RE 4.5 put on professionally. He later added a front 2" coil spacer/longer rear shackle to give a boost.
Well, even after several years and a lot of wheeling/driving (200k) I think the rear RE springs are as stiff as hell. He has some uptravel and almost no downtravel. His frontend flexes so well you lose site of the fawking tire before it flexes out! But that rear... it is almost backwards of how my IFS toy was.
I noticed the rear springs are not very long, and the extended length shackle almost is verticle. Not much room to swing forward (drooping). Ideas for better/custom springs? I have yet to seriously measure....

 

[The Reverend]

I am going through the same evolution on my YJ. I started out with about a 3" stretch and trimed fenders, to about 6" with the comp cut to run a longer spring. I enjoyed the extra wheel base, and always felt it gave me a little more advantage over the stock wheel base, but feel I could do better with the stock location, 4 link and coils. So with this being said, I have chosen to go back to close to stock axle location and fill in the comp corners with new sheet metal.

I think at the end of the day it is really personal preference:beer:

 

[erslll]

I am running 4.5" RE XJ springs front and rear. I outboarded them both front and rear. The fixed end frame mount is raised up to the side of the frame to reduce the height some. No traction bar on either end and, so far, seems to work really well.