Fast forward to a few weeks of ownership and I've deciphered the lift I have going on . In the front we have 5.5 inch rubicon express coils and rough country lca drops with fixed RC lca's, stock upper control arms .... , rocky road adjustable track bar and rustys wheel to wheel tie rod conversion steering with I believe rustys or rc shocks they're silver with no stickers , for the rear is where it gets interesting ... rubicon express drop shackles , brand new Dorman leaf spring packs with add a leaf and a 2 inch block ...also with new stocks u-bolts etc ... rides fine drives fine but don't care for stock uppers in front and the blocks in rear. Everything is basically brand new ... opinions ? Don't care for the blocks or stock uppers not sure what brand to go with when I do replacement leafs and uppers .
Definitely ditch the rear setup, and get proper leafs. Sell the stuff you have now to recoup some of the cost. I have the RE 4.5" leafs with RE boomerang shackles (as opposed to shackle relocators) that total 5.5" lift. Amazing ride.
The shocks sound like the RC 2.0...don't know much about them. Haven't heard much bad on them, so just rock them until they need replacing in my opinion. Bilsteins are popular for good reason, they're awesome, haha...
As far as your front setup goes, if you're happy with it, keep it. You can always get just upper adjustables and replace those without much issue. How you setup the front will depend a lot on what you want to do with it, what kind of terrain you wheel on, what you want it to do...at 5.5" a long arm setup would ride tons better. I had a 6.5" lift on adjustable short arms, and it was awful. Put the 3-link in, night and day difference. Much better geometry.
Ask yourself what you want/need it to do and go from there.
The shocks sound like the RC 2.0...don't know much about them. Haven't heard much bad on them, so just rock them until they need replacing in my opinion. Bilsteins are popular for good reason, they're awesome, haha...
As far as your front setup goes, if you're happy with it, keep it. You can always get just upper adjustables and replace those without much issue. How you setup the front will depend a lot on what you want to do with it, what kind of terrain you wheel on, what you want it to do...at 5.5" a long arm setup would ride tons better. I had a 6.5" lift on adjustable short arms, and it was awful. Put the 3-link in, night and day difference. Much better geometry.
Ask yourself what you want/need it to do and go from there.
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Not sure what you are doing with the jeep but I dislike those Lca drops, they drag and get stuck on everything....(rocks). On the xj you can run less lift and do more cutting to make your lift work.
Me I might just toss the blocks & add some leafs to the pack, or do as mentioned, sell them and get different ones.
Me I might just toss the blocks & add some leafs to the pack, or do as mentioned, sell them and get different ones.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of CAD's, but if it's mainly streeted, it's a better ride as it changes the angles. Okay for light offroad. Again, depends on what you want.
It's primarily a weekend/winter and hunting rig it will be light off-road until it's not something that I need to depend on for my long commute in case of break down or bad weather with my usual daily . It really doesn't ride bad at all but I don't care for blocks in the rear even if they're steel . The leafs still have fresh stickers and paint on them same with everything . I'd like to go rubicon express if I did the leafs soon so they ever have decent sales ?
Link:
http://www.seriousoffroadproducts.co...-XJ-4.5-RE1462
$160 a pop with bushings. You might be able to find them cheaper...just google search the PN. I got mine from Serious, excellent customer service and fast shipping...Frank's a good guy.
http://www.seriousoffroadproducts.co...-XJ-4.5-RE1462
$160 a pop with bushings. You might be able to find them cheaper...just google search the PN. I got mine from Serious, excellent customer service and fast shipping...Frank's a good guy.
There's a local spring company here I could see what they could do with my current leafs ? Bad idea ?
Not at all, you could get a custom set for not much money I would think, and they can adjust things like spring rate, so you can have a soft, medium or stiff ride depending on your preference. Think of it as a professionally done bastard pack. Talk to them and find out what they offer, and how much it would cost, definitely worth a shot.
I called kc spring works they've been in business for a very long time . He said he has people call all the time asking the same thing I am . He said there are far too many people making Cherokee leaf springs for them to be able to make any money doing it . So he will not touch Cherokee leafs . However he said he's been doing leaf springs and lift springs for many decades and that there is absolutely nothing wrong with my two inch block . He said the manufacturers send them out the door with that much every day without issue and they 9 times out of 10 the issues people claim to be the blocks fault is spring failure from old age and people that add a block under an already cracked leaf pack without bothering to check but we can all agree aluminum blocks are a terrible idea. So now I'm more confused than I was originally but I will say those were my original thoughts until I went reading around and quite possibly trying to find a solution where there is no problem for my intended use for now.
Quote:
He's referring to commercial vehicles IMO, as they're the only vehicles I've ever seen that roll from the factory with blocks. I have never seen "factory" lift blocks on a passenger vehicle. That doesn't necessarily mean they don't exist, just that I've never seen it. If he is referring to commercial vehicles, those leaf systems are designed to work with blocks, and have anti-wrap bars installed. I agree with the tired spring assessment, but that's not always 100% true...and I have seen commercial trucks with leafs, blocks and anti-wrap bars still break leafs...right under the block. Sounds to me like the majority of his business is geared towards the commercial market as he won't touch passenger vehicles, not a money maker for him...Originally Posted by GreaseMonkey17
I called kc spring works they've been in business for a very long time . He said he has people call all the time asking the same thing I am . He said there are far too many people making Cherokee leaf springs for them to be able to make any money doing it . So he will not touch Cherokee leafs . However he said he's been doing leaf springs and lift springs for many decades and that there is absolutely nothing wrong with my two inch block . He said the manufacturers send them out the door with that much every day without issue and they 9 times out of 10 the issues people claim to be the blocks fault is spring failure from old age and people that add a block under an already cracked leaf pack without bothering to check but we can all agree aluminum blocks are a terrible idea. So now I'm more confused than I was originally but I will say those were my original thoughts until I went reading around and quite possibly trying to find a solution where there is no problem for my intended use for now.
If you're happy with your current setup, keep it.
I've seen factory blocks installed on a lot of factory trucks clear back to long before my time . I am a mechanic myself but I'm young and still learning and like to hear other people's reasoning . I'm not a huge fan of the blocks still for sake of ride quality more than anything and for when and if I ever get to do any real crawling the added stiffness from the aal and block will keep me from getting good flex in the rear . I will upgrade to rubicon expresses when money allows.
I have a set of OME
with a pair of shackles from a Ford Ranger. I am getting 4.5" of lift from this setup. The ride is a bit stiff, not bad though.
Your front suspension setup is about the same as mine, I wouldn't change a thing. CADs with fixed length tubular LCAs and 4.5" springs. I am happy with the ride on the street and have not had issue with the CADs hanging up off road. My wheeling is fairly mellow though. Playing in the dunes in OBX and trail riding in the woods/mud. Don't mess with rocks, aint many in my area.
Your front suspension setup is about the same as mine, I wouldn't change a thing. CADs with fixed length tubular LCAs and 4.5" springs. I am happy with the ride on the street and have not had issue with the CADs hanging up off road. My wheeling is fairly mellow though. Playing in the dunes in OBX and trail riding in the woods/mud. Don't mess with rocks, aint many in my area.
Not a lot of rocks here either . Mainly hunting which is to and from a remote cabin and across creek crossings and such for deer retrieval stand set up etc . We've been buried before although long from home so a winch would be convenient .