Hello all.

This is my first post here, so forgive me if it's in the wrong sub. Forgive the long story too. I ran into a problem with my 1997 XJ a bit ago and have yet to find an answer, so I figured I would come on here and see what y'all think. My rear leaf springs are worn and needed replacement, so I opted for heavy-duty ones. Why not? Now, it must be said that I already have a heavy-duty leaf spring from Crown I had bought for another XJ some years past but never used. Yes, I said a leaf spring, not pair. When I bought it, there was no indication that it was anything else but a pair. Why anyone would sell a single leaf spring is beyond me, but I digress. I figured this time around I would use the single leaf spring and buy another (maybe even another pair), except from what I gather, these parts are hard to come by right now. I have had leaf springs on backorder for 4 months and everywhere else is showing the same shipping times. I finally found available parts on Ebay of all places, except the part number does not match the leaf spring I already have. So my question is this: what is the difference between Crown's heavy-duty leaf spring 4886186AB and 4886186AA? I appreciate anything y'all can offer me. It's been bugging me.

---CJ51976

 

I don't know if there is a difference or just a change in part numbers. You could call Crown Automotive Group and ask them..... the first number is in MA .....800-343-9666
This second number is in Lawrenceville, GA 800-241-9462

Good Luck.

 

I agree with this. Looks like a part number revision, not a different part. But I would personally contact Crown to ask if they are interchangeable and what the differences are.

FYI when you have part numbers, at least for automotive, you need to change the number if form, fit or function changes. The fact it has the same number but different letters at the end is what makes me think this as a new revision of the same interchangeable part. But again, contacting Crown directly is free, and could save you the hundred bucks or w/e it would cost if the two springs were not interchangeable.

Also, Morris 4x4 lists both PNs as "aliases" AKA interchangeable.
https://www.morris4x4center.com/leaf...4886186ab.html

 

Thank you Sig220 for the suggestion. This may sound ridiculous, but I did not think to contact Crown directly. I called Morris and Quadratec, both distributors of the part in question, and neither answered their phone on every occasion I called. I even left voice-mail. That being said, I called Crown and there is indeed no difference between the two parts. Though, after reading moonsandals' reply, it makes sense why the two have different serial numbers. I appreciate the help!

 

Well... I ordered the part via Ebay. It was delivered today. To my shock, the spring I received was wildly different than I was lead to believe. Mine (AB) has 4 leaves while the new one (AA) has 5, and is considerably beefier than mine too. Frankly, considering I was assured there was no difference between Crown's heavy-duty leaf spring 4886186AB and 4886186AA, I did not think to compare the two via the picture on the order. Of course, the picture was so small, it was hard to actually count the leaves in the pack anyway. I guess that is my fault, even though Crown themselves convinced me. Despite that, I suppose there is a difference after all. Thoughts?

 

buy another AA.

 

That's the obvious answer, yes. I do think there is a possibility there is 4 leaf AND a 5 leaf of the AA and AB. But I guess there is no point in wondering. It's just a pain in the *** since had I known that I would have ordered a pair, which still leaves me with a spare leaf spring in the end that I have no use for.

 

CJ, where are you located? All our XJ's are getting long in the tooth and will need springs. Maybe you can sell yours?

I will be in the market for springs before the end of the month. I am seeing the two different part numbers as well. Wonder what part number Morris is shipping?

 

You've gone too deep in my opinion. Return it to the eBay buyer and restart in your search. I know it sounds more convenient sometimes to just keep it and resell it or buy another brand new one and use the one that doesn't match as a backup. But honestly, when you start to get that deep into it, it gets annoying because most of the time money is just wasted on an already expensive vehicle. I'm not your dad so I'm not trying to be all high and mighty over you, just trying to help a fellow Jeeper who probably struggles with the same issue I have of wanting to put every penny you have into the dang thing.

Good luck and I try to never trust crowns guarantees they make a lot of Jeep parts and at this point, I don't think they always provide the utmost quality that we want from them, as we can see here.

 

This AA claims to have 4:




Who did you get the eBay spring from?

 

Another 4-leaf:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Crown-Autom...Cclp%3A2334524

 

I bought the spring from WunderCarParts. They have a website come to find out. I called the number, rather than deal through Ebay's customer support, and apparently, their parts warehouse sent me the wrong part. They sent a Zone 5-leaf spring rather than the Crown 4-leaf spring. How that mistake came to be I do not know. And no, the Zone spring was not marked to indicate such. Only a serial number. I guess I could have looked that up, but I did not think to at the time. This was all a big misunderstanding. So Crown is likely right on there being no difference between AB and AA heavy-duty leaf springs. In the end, I decided to buy another of each that I have now, the original Crown and the Zone, so that I have two complete pairs and I will sell the Crown pair to finally be rid of it. Yes, I have bushings to match both.

 

Now that you got that all sorted out, where are you located? The end of the month is near! I will be buying new leaf springs!

BTW, if my search "foo" is up to snuff, the "Zone" 5 leafs spring supposed to give you 3.5" of lift, correct? I will avoid them, most lift I want to see is about 2".