LH4X4

Am I doing something wrong? I added 2 leaves from a s-10 and some autozone drop shackles and now they won't flex hardly at all. I'm guessing they are just to stiff. Should I just chunk them and buy some aftermarket rear springs or is there some quick fix that I don't know of? Maybe some revolver shackles would help? I did some searching but couldn't find anything on this. I checked to make sure the shocks aren't bottoming out and they've still got probably 3 more inches of travel left at full (and I use that term loosely) flex. Any Ideas?

93gc40

Did you ADD 2 leafs to the pack or swap 2 S10 leafs with 2 XJ leafs? Adding 2 leafs in making a 4 leaf pack a 6 leaf would be stiffer. Aftermarket XJ lift pack, Might flex better than a S-10 B-pack IF the spring rate is lower than the Bastard pack. Leaf springs don't flex much to begin with. Most of the flex comes from the shackles. What does your shackle angle look like?

Lyon

Those Bastards!!! lol!

Yeah, your packs are probably too stiff. Although if you have the stock rear shackles you'll loose some flex. You could get the extended shackles but with a really stiff leaf pack you might gain too much lift and run in to other problems. Vibes, pinion angles ect.... You could do the relocation shackle brackets which will soften the ride, give you more rear flex and should only net you about a 1/2 inch of lift so you keep just about your current height which is nice. I almost bought the Teraflex shackles for mine. I could have gotten a set for less than 1/2 price almost new. I did a lot of searching on them on the forums and most guys took them off after a month. Yes, they flex like mad, but there was a body roll issue. Everytime going in to a turn it felt like they were fishtailing or the rear of the Jeep felt like it was in the other lane. There is no stability anymore using the flex shackles. Guys also didn't like them during bad camber situations. Plus, depending on the rear driveshaft you have you could have problems as well. Guys with stock rear shafts pulled them out of the tail shaft housing. Guys who did SYE's, had to get longer shafts made for the rear to compensate for the travel which was more money. Just some food for thought.

http://www.hdoffroadengineering.com/...relocation-kit

Here is a thread as well

http://www.cherokeetalk.com/forum/f6...brackets-9684/

als98xj

You didn't mention if the swaybar was disconnected.

xjmarc

Which leaves did you use? I ask because some S10 packs have an overload spring and if is made to limit flex.

tiwvr1

surprised no one comment on this, I did this when i was 16 by accedent. I didnt want my suspension falling off so I made the shackle bolts real tight. Should only be about 80 ftlbs I guess. I had NO movement cause the bolts were so tight they squished the bushings and just wouldnt move.

caged

^yup, check your bolts. probably too tight.

did you tighten everything up while on jackstands? you want to tighten them up with the wheel/weight on the ground. and don't over tighten.

LH4X4

i'll bet you anything I overtightened the bolts. Lets see if I can remember everyones questions. I do not have a sway bar on the front or rear. I think I still had it on jackstands when I tightened the bolts so I'm hoping thats the problem. I added 2 leaves to my spring pack but I didn't add the bottom overload spring. Actually this is what I did. I bought some zero rate aal's from ORD (basically just a 1" block that bolts in with the spring pack), 2 leaves from an S-10 and some drop shackles that seem to be about 3 inches longer than stock. All this made the rear sit perfectly level with the front on 6.5" coils.

SeriousOffroad

And using a Boomerang style shackle helps a lot.

http://www.seriousoffroadproducts.co...ducts_id=77862

DUDE454

Another big is to take off the rear Anti sway. Taking off the rear wont affect driving much at all and will help a darn good amount with flex

dukie564

you'll also gain flexing ability if you clean up the leaves really good (smooth) and use liners between them.

Maybe also consider using dakota leaves instead of s10 leaves - they yield better flex from what i've heard.

I'd stay away from revolver shackles on a road vehicle - a lot of people don't like the effects at higher speeds.

Lyon

If the boomerang shackles flex that far and are that great, you should be offering extended shocks with them. You can't go past the length of the shocks.

Lyon

Very good point on this. I guess we just tend to assume that people know the basics before actually doing the lift. I thought about mentioning this but I was like "well, he knew how to do the bastard pack, he's gotta know to let the Jeep down and then torque them" Good call though.

LH4X4

Oh no you can't assume anything with me. I'm by far more of a fab guy than a mechanic. I just put full widths under my XJ with no problem, but i'll screw up something simple like overtightening a bolt quick. It's the little stuff I suck at.

Lyon

Full widths? NICEEEE!!! Pics pics pics pics!!!!!

Well, you can't be doing that bad if you're doing all these projects. I don't have the patients to do a bastard pack so you're one ahead of me. I'd rather just buy the pack set up. haha!