Hi guys I bought my 2000 jeep xj 3 weeks ago and it had a 3in lift on it and it rode excellent. My dad and I have had several jeeps and have never had one ride this well, both on and off road. But today I just finished installing my 5.5in lift springs from rubicon express and I added spacer blocks to the front. It rides super rough. So bad I got sick driving it. The front rides fine but the back is awful. I know that new leafs with make it rode stiffer but I wasn't expecting this bad...
I was wondering if anyone else installed these springs and if theirs softened up and after how long did they finally soften up?

 

Short arms or long? What's your shackle angle look like?

 

Currently short Arms but I am going to build my long arm kit this weekend. Shackle is angled slightly to the rear of the jeep.
But the short arms shouldn't affect the ride quality of the rear...right?

 

Make sure the 'friction pads' are still between each leaf spring.
Also check bolt torque on shackles. If they are too tight they prevent leaf movement.

 

The friction pads are still there. I think I have the shackles too tight. I didn't think about it when putting them on. I will go check them right now.

 

Uh ideally shackles should be at a 45 degree angle with the top of the shackle pointed towards the front of the jeep

 

Okay yeah that's how mine look. That's what I meant when I said they're pointing towards the back haha

 

Just Checked the shackles and loosened them a bit and took it for a test drive with no change. Still rides horribly Stiff.

 

I was reading a thread somewhere else and they mentioned if your shocks are too stiff they will affect your ride and now thinking about it I remember my shocks having a super high compression rate so I took them off and took it for a test drive and it rode much better. So I will probably get some fox shocks and put a very light compression valving in them and permitting some break in time for the springs I think it should Be okay.

 

Try this, remove shocks from axle bolts then grab bumper and push down/up repeatedly. Look and feel for binding/resistance. Without the shocks the rear end should easily.

 

Are your shackle bolts hitting something? Trailer hitch possibly?

 

He's running a 5.5" lift on short arms. It's going to ride like a dump truck no matter what he does. Good shocks, good shackle angles, flat control arm angles. These are the answers. People usually buy a flatter leaf spring and come up with rest of the lift height using relocators and lift shackles. A thick 5.5" leaf pack alone isn't gonna be ideal.

 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned a SYE. With 5.5 springs & lift blocks you probably need it.

 

That wouldn't cause it to ride poorly though, SYE is really just to eliminate driveline vibrations

 

sounds like your shocks aren't long enough. it's not so much the valving, it's the fact that when you hit something your shocks are preventing the springs to extend. you didn't say you replaced the shocks with the new leafs.