My jeep is pretty much stock and I use it for plowing . I have redone the front suspension pretty much . but the rear is falling apart my leafs are sagging ,sway bar brackets hanging on by a thread etc. I do use air shocks all the way around and like I said I'm looking for stock leaf spring with maybe a slighly more heavy duty weight rating as along as it's not gonna effect the ride quality. I usually have weight in the back of my jeep cargo area and I use a cargo carrier in my trailer hitch which adds more weigh on the leaf springs but use the air shocks to help level it out . What do you guys recommend for the this situation? We have Dorman, omix-ada, dayton is what I'm looking at now
I have been very happy with my crown HD leafs. Put them in 3 Jeeps now. Load capacity is good and although they ride a little stiffer I don't think it's much. Especially once they are broken in.
Both of these are running them. Both netted about 1.5" of height. I run a spacer in the front to level them out.
Crown and Dorman both make good springs. Whatever way you go it's probably a good thing because XJ rear shock mounts aren't very well suited for load supporting purposes.
I've been told the same on a thread I posted looking to up the suspension strength for rough road driving. It was recommended that 1/8" steel plate be welded over the leaf spring mounts to reinforce the mounts. Rusty's also makes a reinforcing bracket as pictured below.
My son and I put the Crown HD springs in his 91 XJ last fall. Everything went pretty good on the install. All the bolts came out and nothing snapped or had to be cut. I guess that's the beauty of having a 100% Vancouver Island car where we don't see salt on the roads. Anyway, we've been really happy with those springs. Ride quality is good, and not too harsh at all.
How do you like the air shocks on your 91, how was the ride? I have a 91 XJ that the springs seem fairly good on. But , the back shocks seem to be going bad. I plan on carrying a fairly heavy load in the back and was thinking about changing to air shocks to level the load. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
go with Gabriel and the air shocks work well. personally i have used them on my plow truck for about 5 years and no damage has occurred with all the abuse i have put it through. The shock is shot but the air bag still works . obviously you need to replace the whole thing as a set but works great.
Ive had the dormans on my 98 XJ for about 75K miles over 5 years and they now are flat. This is with about 100 lbs of tools and supplies in the rear always. I feel they were good til they went flat.
Last week I put OMEs on the rear and they were supposed to give 2" but it looks to be almost 3" which is more than I wanted. With the OME shocks it rides VERY nice with tools in the rear. I hope it settles some. But that was over $550 for 2 springs, bushings and 2 shocks.
For a stock loaded rig Id give the heaviest Generals a try. And they are US made!
Not sure what you guys think of Crown but i have talked to them and they said the reason they can put OEM numbers next to their products is because they have to come within certain specs or mopar quality specs. my rear leaf codes are ZFU and ZUU which translate into a 52000706ab which are about 95lbs per in rating Crown told me other models like the 4886185aa 4886186 and 5200707 all have about a 200lb per in weight rating . The free arch ranges from 6-7" so there is not much of a difference there but a huge different in rating. I'm not sure how accurate these numbers are and other people use lbs capacity per spring like the general spring link. Then it's like **** how do you choose.
I bought these for my 1998 XJ - Pro Comp 3.5 Inch Rear Leaf Spring - 53111
Technical Details
Lift Height 3.5"
Flat length 52.12"
Free length 47.95"
Poly Bushings
They are very Noisy - I have never had such noisy Spring...The spring sliders touch but they are so flexable the meatle rubs.....Sqeaky sqeaky installed 3 weeks ago - maybe rust will make them quite...
NOTE: get ready to remove rear bumper. both rear shackles were bad so I replaced. the shackle Nut spot weld led go....FUN!!!!
I have been happy with my crown HD springs. They ride firm, but are silent and haven't sagged yet. One Jeep has had them a couple years, the other one about a year or so. With anything that uses a poly bushing, you have to grease them before you install otherwise they will squeak.
I run Poly, I just greased them before installing them. I run poly on one side of my control arms (johney joints on the other side) and on both ends of my leaf springs and in my shackles. None of them make any noise, but they are all heavily greased.
another question, My springs seem fine, but my son is going to be carrying a heavy load in the back aprox 500 lbs 1/2 way across country. Next year we are planning on lifting the jeep plus a number of other up grades. I'm looking for some thing "cheap and easy" to "level the load. Air shocks sound like the answer unless there is something better/cheaper/safer
I really want to avoid damaging anything (rust free car). My understanding is if I keep the pressures low that should not be a problem. ??CORRECT? . Are there any parts to "reinforce the brackets" to protect them?
Thanks
Just another question, My springs seem fine, but my son is going to be carrying a heavy load in the back aprox 500 lbs 1/2 way accross country. Next year we are planning on lifting the jeep plus a number of other up grades. I'm looking for some thing cheap and easy to "level the load. Air shocks sound like the answer unless there is something better/cheaper. Helper springs? Again the back springs are good but the back shocks are borderline. Next summer these air shocks will likely be tossed.
I really want to avoid damaging anything (rust free car), but my understanding is if I keep the pressures low that should not be a problem. ??CORRECT? . Are there any parts to "reinforce the brackets" to protect them?
Thanks
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