Anyone on here done front leafs on a cherokee? for simplicity of swapping axles? curious to what a yj 4" lift spring would give..

Thanks

 

Its still going to take a lot of welding to do the swap,On a xj its like putting the cart in front of the horse.

 

welding is not an issue, just have to brace the front, my sides are already braced, then weld on some spring hangars off the front, its less welding than building my own long arms or 3 link or 4 link

 

I used to know a guy that did a front leaf spring swap in an xj. He said it flexed awesome and eliminated all the control arms whatnot

 

mdo817 can help you. In his club that's kinda their trade mark.

 

any idea if he has a build thread?

 

hope you like a terrible ride....

 

People do it, I think they're coping out of a proper setup and axle swaps.

 

haters gunna hate, leafs are simply easy, flex great and ride smooth with the right setup.... who reallt cares if its rough, i dont DD the damn thing

 

Plus you drive a xj. Not a grand cherokee

 

leafs barely work in the rear of an XJ. they wrap, hop, and clap out. you'll lose approach angle with the front hangers.

you're going to have fun trying to fit leaf springs in the front with a stock width front axle. unless you put them underneath the frame rail, which you wont have room for with the diff, you'll have to mount them outside the framerail. where the tire will contact them at full crank.

 

Nuff said

 

full width = more space for activities.

 

No not really, but I'll help...

The Bad:

- Front shackles mean the axle moves forward during compression = harsh ride. Same reason why shackle reversal kits are popular for YJs.

- Steering will become sloppy without a panhard bar, especially with the shackles in the front.

- You will have more axle wrap than what you would with factory control arms.

- You better hope you get the geometry perfect when you burn in the mounts, because alignment changes now become caster adjustments.

The Good:

- Literally the only benefit I would say comes with front leaf spring swaps is stability. Leaf springs act like a sway bar due to the spring twisting during flex. Obviously a sway bar on a typical control arm setup will serve the same purpose.

To sum up, unless leaf springs give you a massive hard on, don't do it.

 

I disagree on the steering comment. steering will be fine with leaf springs especially with high steer. but once again have fun doing it on a D30.

another thing you'll have to worry about is inverting shackles. that's always a fun trail fix. looks like 93_xjcherokee did a nice job on his swap though. only problem is driving those big honkin shackles face first into rocks. I've seen that cause a leaf spring to bend up in nasty ways