I'm doing an S10 bastard pack on my rear springs... wondering which leaves out of each pack I should use and which order I should arrange them in to get 4.25-4.5" of lift? I have the S10 packs with the 3 heavy leaves (no flat overload springs). I'm hoping for my Jeep to sit level, runing RE 3.5 coils up front (which are known to actually give more like 4.25" lift).

 

well my buddy used the S10 leaves... he ended up going

XJ main - s10 main - XJ 2nd - S10 2nd - the rest where XJ

this got him around 2.5"

truthfully you would be way happier with a bastard pack and a 1 or 1.5" shackle combo... it will ride and flex better, you might also consider a shackle relocation

the big problem is that at 3" you will have around 75°-80° shackle angle... it will be even worse at 4.5" (worse than 90°) remember the goal is 45°

 

It'll depend on how flat the springs are. I've done 2 xjs with S10 springs. One we used the main from the S10 added to the pack and got 2in. and the second we used the second leaf from the S10 and got 2in. It basically changed the arc of the spring pack plus the thickness of the added leaf.

 

post a pic of these bastard packs.

 

Its all trial and error. I just run s10 leafs, relocation boxes and a longer shackle and got 5"

 

cut the eyes off the s-10 mains and leave the xj main in the jeep, pull the rest of the xj leafs and toss them in the bin.
stick all the s-10 springs under the xj main and bolt it back together. you can leave out the overload spring.
you will have to drill out the center holes in the xj mains to use the proper size center pin to fit the s-10 leafs. i think they're like 3/8. you will also have to grind down the foot on the center pins to fit into your axle perch.
i've done about 10 of these bastard packs using both s-10 and dakota leafs.
the s-10 seems to work better.

always use new hardware when doing bastard packs.

 

If you wanted pics of mine, I'l see if I can get some up this weekend. Not going to see much. Just a stack of leaf springs.

 

I used the XJ main leaf, and then the entire S10 pack, including the main spring with the eyes cut out. It gave me about 3.5 inches, and has held up well, almost no sag in over a year

 

Yeah Agent Orange whose pack did you want pics of? Here are the ones I'm using, if you look closely you can see there are three leafs with no overload.

I figure I'll put all of these under my XJ main & see how it sits. If I need to add another XJ leaf to get the right height, which one would you guys reccomend I use? Besides my stock packs and the S10 packs I also have an extra set of XJ leaves at my disposal.

I kinda figured my shackle angle might not be so great with this type of setup, I might add relocation boxes early next year and either rework the bastard pack or get some full packs at that time. But for now I just wanna get it lifted... I won't be doing any hard wheeling until I get some armor installed so flex isn't a big deal, hopefully it doesn't ride too hard on the street though.

 

I did 3" HD coils up front from Rustys, which ended up giving 3.5" measured lift from stock in the front.

I did top XJ leaf and the rest S15 (the GMC version of the S10), without the overload. This gained 5.5" measured lift over the origional, but they were flat to frowning. Measuring along body lines the body sits level, so I figure it netted the same as front: 3.5"

The top leaf was flatter than the S15 spring curve, so it is actually pushing down on the pack. Just throwing the S10 or S15 springs in as is would probably net an inch more, however the locating pin is an inch or two off.

That brings me to my question: is there a cheap and easy way of adding an offset to the rear axle perch to be able to just drop a set of S10s in without having to drill the pack or reuse the top leaf? My cousin wheels a lot and says he goes through an S10 pack a year, and I just figured as they are the same length it would make things easier to just have them drop in.

If new perches are the only way, Im going to do an 8.8 swap anyway, I just need a pointer as to which perches to use.

 

I used the springs from an S-15 (gmc). I kept the XJ main, then used the s-15 main, second, and third for about 4-4.5" of lift over stock.

 

Interesting question. I suppose it would depend on how far off they are. I just got through enlarging the hole in my XJ top leaf to fit the 3/8" pin the S10 springs use. Man that spring steel is tough, took a carbide tipped bit and a lot of patience just to open up the holes an extra 1/16 of an inch. I can't imagine having to drill fresh holes through an entire spring pack.

 

I bought a 96 Cherokee a little over a year ago. The rear springs are shot. I was thinking about buying hd leaf springs for it for less than $200. About how much more is it to use s10 springs.

 

Probably a lot less than $200 since most of us get the S10 springs out of a junkyard... my local you-pull yard charges around $30 per pack for leaf springs which is a little high IMO. I got both of mine for $30 from a guy who pulled them and then changed his mind. There are deals out there if you look around.

 

Ok thanks. I think I'll go that route then. I'm always looking for the best deal.