The 3.5" RE leafs will sit around 5 inches.

 

The Rusty's leafs look pretty good. $249 for the pair looks like a good deal. Haven't heard anything about them though.

 

They are good leafs.
Tons better than RC. Equal (if not better) than RE leafs.

I live local to a rustys distributor so I pick them up with no shipping costs. Only reason I went with RE leafs is because I got them cheaper than the rustys.

Rustys leafs gave me a better shackle angle than the RE leafs, rode a bit better, and seemed a bit flexier

 

That's a recipe for destroying stock leaf springs very quickly. Those mods give the old, worn pack much more unrestricted movement. Might be ok with a new HD replacement pack though if you are ok with having your shackles hanging lower than your axle.


As for leaf springs, the only set I ran that I liked were clayton, too bad they don't make a 3" pack . Been through 2 sets of RE, both were new and junk within a couple months. (a 3.5" and a 4.5")

 

After making my own bastard pack, i'll recommend it to everyone to do. Even if your main leaf is sagged (mine was inverted over an inch) adding the main leaf of an s10 pack under your main will give you 1.5" of lift. Add a good shackle to that and you've got a nice riding leaf pack with a good arch.

 

destroying leaf packs quickly. what about something like ruffstuff shackles, stock leafs flipped, and a traction bar?

for your old leaf packs have you ever removed leafs.

 

traction bar helps. but why do you want super soft, old leaf springs in a (what sounds like) a built wheeler? if the stock leafs are constantly inverted past their designed point they won't hold their height too long.

 

I thought about building the bastard pack. Trouble is I use a wheelchair so getting around in a bone yard is a little difficult for me.

 

My Jeep fatigued my stock leafs from running similar setup. sitting about an inch lower on pass side half in on driver.

 

oh. I forgot to mention that I'm also inboarding them underneath the frame rails. not going to invert a whole lot before they hit bumpstop. my buddy did this to his jeep just for fun and it actually worked great minus the massive amounts of wrap. I have some leafs from a 1999xj in great shape

reasons for doing this being 4" stretch and better droop for cheap. worst comes to worst put my RE packs back on right?

 

And also to lower my lift down. With the relo brackets it's sitting an obnoxious 3" taller than the front

 

If you are moving the leaf perches around anyway why not just move the mounts to achieve the desired stretch? Putting the mounts under the framerails gives a hell of an anchor for obstacles to grab too. Go watch some xterras wheel and you will see.

Ive never been a fan of inboarding leaves on an xj either,you can get plenty of flex with them in the stock location and aren't giving up any of their effectiveness.

And while I'm rambling on Ive never been a fan of flipped leaf springs either, leaf springs are set up to be stronger in the front then the back as they have to stay solid to the chassis in order to move the vehicle. Think of the front half of the leaf spring as a control arm. They are designed to push the vehicle. The thinner, back half is not. I wouldnt be surprised to see some snapped main leaves (in fact I already have)

 

Oh ok so move my front mounts back a few inches and weld my new rear mounts onto my bumper? I'm gonna have to go back to foxwars thread on naxja and see how much stretch he achieved by moving the front mounts and if/how he moved the rear

 

How about skyjackers leaf springs?? Any comments on those, I'm looking to replace my stocks, but usually travel with full load (family, ice chest, camping gear,....top rack an trunk full) have fox reserve shocks on the back big improvement but springs are done....

 

Use yj springs for a strech