What you have is what you've got Matey

Over time, your springs will get shorter
or your ride height will get lower.

It is one of those facts of life things.

 

Throw your bag of golf clubs in the cargo area and you're ready to go........

 

No idea what the realistic timeframe is for springs settling, to be honest. It's something I've heard for ages.

I'd suspect there are variables like manufacturer & usage that factor in.

I've got the OME HD springs and I measured it last month after replacing the isolators. It's at 3" and that's with approx 100k miles on them. Still the same as 2 years ago.

 

Kind of a myth. Overloading and or excessive articulation can cause metal fatigue and change the temper of the metal which results in collapsed springs but there really isn't a big settling of the springs after initially bouncing the vehicle to unbind the suspension and let it settle neutral.springs are generally engineered to a specific spring rate and standard alloy comp and consistent spring rate which is how much weight it takes to compress the spring one inch. Think of this way, metal temper is about how individual molecules line up and once tempered they don't change unless some form of excessive internal friction rearranges them, heat and or mechanical force. As far as track bar goes it would be negligible if springs move .25 inches, your talking miniscule differences and you've already thrown all the suspension angles off anyways with a short arm lift and will be riding in a fully extended setup compared to stock geometry so all your vectors of force distribution and stress loads on joints gets magnified, bump steer gets amplified, hold on tight from excessive body roll and fight the natural understeer and higher tail wag.

 

What you wrote above clashes with my experience Br.
My experience with Morris Minors.

A Minor's front end is held up by a couple of torsion bars.
The bars are splined.
The splines fit into a bracket that bolts to the body.

Moving the bar a spline or two in the bracket
to return ride height to spec was routine.

WJs ride on torsion bars.
Coiled torsion bars.

My '03 rode 2" lower on the old springs
than it does on the new ones.
1/10th in a year settlement.

Blacksmiths routinely re-arched leaf springs
in former times.

How say you please?

 

Also note that as you lift you should widen the stance to help offset increased lateral loads on tire sidewalls. Jeep jk wheels are a horrible choice for lifted wjs as they narrow the wheel track.

 

Your talking metal fatigue and losing its temper over time not break in. Also not all metal is created equal. You will find that the spring rate has changed in all those examples you used and the metal has lost some of its temper and possibly has micro fractures in the metal.yes back in the day they used to reach springs and they would have to go through the whole process of remembering the spring after heat forming it. Most settling is due to everything in suspension unbinding and finding its neutral spot not springs breaking in

 

Re-temper

 

BTW 1/10 of an inch could be accounted for from flattening isolators too

 

Thanks Br.

I used the original isolators with my new springs.
If the old Isolators had flattened,
they hadn't flattened enough for me to see.

 

No I'm not saying your wrong but as far as worrying about track bar length then it's negligible and they will settle in mostly from bouncing the vehicle, over time is another story. Springs and torsion bars can be overloaded but if if properly used usually will not sag

 

Thanks Br,

The front suspension on my 1st '03 WJ settled about 2"
The same with the 03 I had before.

My 1st '03 had been thrashed.
This one is a low mileage car
that shows no signs oaf being ill-used,

 

Springs can sag over time but my main point was that a new spring generally doesn't need a break in in the same sense as a fresh motor or brakes. Break in is more for wear seating and springs will most likely go through qc at factory to verify tolerances and possibly be preloaded to verify spring rate, lots of factors effect coil springngs in different ways than leafs or torsion which is just a matter of material grade and cross sectional area or diameter, sway bar is a torsion bar too and is hollow because stresses are focused towards the outside vs the core you don't necessarily need it solid. Coil springs also factor in coil spacing and can have progressive rates vs linear torsion systems. Also in regards to trackbar length, the only way to ensure your thrust angle (axle centered and not dogwalking) is correct is with a 4 wheel alignment. Not eyeballing tires to fender. Regardless it's always good to drive it 1 or 2000 miles and then recheck everything. Chances are you won't see any sag in the springs beyond a mm or 2

 

Thanks Br

I think you are saying much the same as I said in my 1st post Br,

 

I put new upcountry springs in my jeep 3 or more years ago and they have literally not "settled" at all. They are still the same as when i put them on 25000 kms ago. To be honest I bought it at 204000 it has 251000kms now in just over 7 years.

 

Yeah I went ahead and installed both new track bar and sway bar. I figure I will enjoy it now in its sub optimum state, rather than waiting for the ideal condition. Getting old every day!

 

Tomorrow, you will start getting younger Bb

 

Drive each front corner onto something a few times to flex the suspension. Then get it aligned asap

 

if you put in true springs,made from spring steel, they should not settle. A bushing or two may beed to adjust is all.

if they do settle measurably - you ain't got real springs.

 

much of the sag people get is from poor quality springs. Since temper and coil design have a lot to do with how they work. The only reason you must tighten up everything under its own weight is so those stock rubber bushings are not in a load at rest. wears them out. Now if all you suspension points were spherical like a Heim or JJ then you could tighten every thing at full drop wont matter since its not self centering by a bushing its all by the springs rate. those bushing can rotate 360, stock rubber would rip apart.

 

Anywhere between 500-1000 miles

 

I've just realised your misumberconstumblement bbbigJW.

They are supposed to be installed at the "ride height",
simply means
that you fit the track bar and rear sway bar with the weight of your car on your new springs.

Better late than never I suppose.

 

May as well have been never.

 

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