dave1123

My 2000 XJ sits high and the same height in both front and rear, but the rear springs have no arch to them. They are flat from both ends and don't bottom out with a load, but they don't look right. Am I missing something?

OldTires

And the shocks feel fine?

dave1123

Shocks are fine and only 6 months old. Monroe Sensatrack. Yaknow something though? They are getting ready to repave a short section of I81 near me and they put asphalt over the old rubber strips between the concrete slabs and they are so rough hitting those that one of my tail light bulbs rattled out of it's socket! I'm not using the part of the highway until they get it repaved. That's why I was looking at my springs.

BTW, it's only got 134K miles on it.

EZEARL

Even new from the factory the springs had hardly any arch to them. Eventually they'll go negative arch.

RocketMouse

I don't think so. Depends on how old they are etc.... but just as an example, just a few months ago I put brand new Crown 755 lb. HD rear full springs on mine with new longer shocks. And when settled, there is a little bit of an arch to them with some weight in the back, so yours might not be that far off.
My OEM's were completely flat with no load, so I knew it was time for replacement since I was doing a mild lift on the ole girl.

boxburn

Now I feel more confident about my springs, they can some weight before going flat. With no extra weight though they do have a bit of a curve.

dave1123

At this point I haven't actually crawled under it yet, but it's good to know they aren't shot already. I just had about 500 lbs aboard in the cargo area and She didn't bottom out, just rode slightly nose high. A little scary cornering at speed though. 10 boxes of 60 magazines each. Weight was estimated by handling each box.

This is about the same weight I carry every Sunday, but that's distributed in the back seat as well. This was all in the back and seemed to feel different. As far as power was concerned, not a problem, but braking was the only way I knew I had a load on. Going down a 25% grade was fun! I pulled the trans down into 3rd gear and it made no difference. 2nd was better until it got slow enough to drop into 1st. Screeching halt! My WJ would stay in 2nd. I guess I've got some learning to do.

jordan96xj

I added a pair of adjustable lifting air shocks to the rear. Very handy for adjusting the height under various weights. They were only around $100. I have had them on for about 3 years and they have performed as advertised.

For me they work well because my XJ is primarily a 80 miles/day daily driver with about 75lbs of gear in the back. But occasionally tows a small pop-up camper. So with camping gear and the substantial tongue weight, it needs a little more support during those infrequent uses. But I don't want the rear to be riding high (raked) and too stiff when I'm not towing.