-ND4SPD-

So I've done a lot of searching on this subject but for as many questions I've found answers... I just continue to have more questions. Surprisingly there isn't a ton of info & not much of it is all in one place for others to reference.

I'd like to put together a recipe for a regular man's stretch that's not too difficult or expensive (everything I've seen is wild custom builds or dedicated crawlers). No gas tank re-location & no steering box re-location.

Here's what I have so far (in Black) & what I'm not sure about (in Grey). Feel free to throw out your experience, opinion, or suggestions.


Front Stretch 2-3"
- Move coil buckets backwards on the axle tubes.
- Move frame-side track bar bracket forward.
- Lower shock mount location?
- Longer control arms?
- Longer drive shaft?


Rear Stretch 2-3"
- 53" Chevy S10 Springs (2WD) or use offset spring perch / u-bolt eliminators or shift leaf backwards
- Upper Spring Mount location?
- Longer drive shaft?

Atmos

there isn't a ton of info on what you're looking for because it's not easily doable as you're wishing for. the problem with stretching the front is you very quickly run into the issue of a) needing to build a custom long arm b) drag link being angled too far forward (when you stretch, the knuckles get closer to the front of the vehicle. depending how far you go this can cause trouble with clearing diff, track bar, and in my case tie rod)

the only way to really go about doing it is by doing it the right way, which will cost you. and even then you're only going to get a couple inches out of the front anyway. the steering box is a *****


rear is much easier, if you're willing to put some fat leaf springs on then go for it. I personally hate mine to death. an easy way to stretch the rear is to offset the axle from the spring center pin. this can be done by purchasing some nice leaf perches with 3 mounting holes drilled in. the chevy springs are great for 1 thing, which is having the center pin in the middle of the spring instead of offset like XJ. but that's more of a matter of flex. I run 56's and they hang so far off the rear I hit them on everything. useless.

my jeep is about 106" wheelbase. I want to bump it up to 108 or 109. with stock applications I think most people would benefit more from high clearance mods and armor


one thing I have done is use XJ springs flipped backwards. leaf springs are not made to be ran backwards, but I can see this method working if you do it right with a traction bar. you'll gain a decent chunk of WB but once again, not exactly cheap or easy. you will need an extended driveline

-ND4SPD-

You bring up some excellent points which probably does explain why you don't see it more often. I guess I'm thinking along the lines of trying to gain back the wheelbase you loose by going with a high lift hight 6"+

Here are some offset rear leaf perches which you could use with XJ springs because as you mentioned, I'm not fond of flipping the XJ springs (seems like more of a hack then a mod). I also don't want to run a traction bar if possible.

http://www.tmrcustoms.com/store/inde...oducts_id=1981

Atmos

it is more of a hack mod, which is why I went with chevy springs but that required a surprising amount of fabrication. and my simple solution to help make up for the WB lost when you life 6"+ is to not lift it that high in the first place :P the UBE leaf perches are nice, I'd try those out for a quick stretch. offset coil buckets can work in front too, but that can quickly turn into a LOT of work.

XJNVA

Offset perches are good for an inch or 2. You could also use something similar to a zero-rate or Diy4X's EZ-Inch.

Longer rear leaves are common too. You could get a set of Explorer rear leaves (56" kind of soft,) rear 3/4 ton+ GMC/Chevy leaves (56",) or rear half ton GMC/Chevy leaves (52".) You could also run the shackle hangers off the rear bumper like the CJ/YJ guys do. You may run into axle wrap and tank clearance issues with these long leaves though.

I am in the beginning stages of building an 80's K20/30/CUCV truggy, and I am using 52's up front with about 2" of stretch, and shackle flipped 56's out back.

I would look into the offset perches for a cheap and easy couple inches.

94XjSport94

Flipping springs causes a lot of axles wrap, even my $700 Deavers have axle wrap. The front half of a spring is shorter with a bigger eye to act as a control arm so to speak to help with axle wrap. Every XJ needs a traction bar...


Stretching the front more than 2" or so is not easy without full hydro, a 4 triangulated 4 link, and losing a lot of sheet metal.

The rear needs to be 4 linked if you're going over 110 or so. Mine is at 107, It works but I wish it was 109-110. I built longer hangers and moved my relo boxes back to the bumper while moving the axle to the foremost hole in the perches. Traction bar is being built next week.

stang65

For the front I did mine when I did a axle swap had it pushed out to 105.5 but backed it back to 104.5. when I did it i was able to position my coil so it doesn't bend backwards.

you could reverse the rear xj springs give you around 3-4 " stretch but your looking at tank relocation. or going dodge Dakota leafs think they can give you a 2" stretch and are longer than a xj leaf so use a shackle relocation bracket. I've been trying to find the right combo for mine I feel like if I can push the rear back around 1" it would make it perfect. here is mine for a idea of what I mean and how it sits

-ND4SPD-

Thanks for the input so far guys.

Looks like Ruffstuff makes an offset leaf spring perch as well

http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/2PLUS.html

1tonxj

You know a 24ft stick of structural 2x2 . 250 wall tube is about $150...8 joints are $300-400...and so me 2x4 rec tutubfor a croass member and 2.5 square tube for a link bridge is another $100 and some tabs made for almost nothing out of scrap plate made at home to mount the links or spend a few dollars premade...some junkyard coils and for an aggressive stretch you move the stock tank up . you can cut and weld a stock front shaft together slugging the it with 1.75 and filling the gap with 2.0 .120 and it will balance pretty good ...If you stretch it do it with coils the first time it is not that expensive just takes some of your labor ...lol...those guys with the rock grabbing rear bumper mounted shackles are hilarious.

Atmos

I hated my shackles mounted that way!

1tonxj

Yeah I seen the Wrangler guys and Chevy guys with them and they were front and back ...lol...they ate a lot of rocks ...lol...you need some super thick steel fot the shackles and mounts to survive ramming every boulder on the trail ...Coils are really tbe simple way to go .

Atmos

3 link / 4 link setup with a flat belly is worth every penny