RE 5.5 HD leafs

[AJ99]

Ok so maybe someone knows about these leafs....

I bought them at the begining of the year. I cant seem to flex out my rear as much as i though i would be able to with these springs. I have a boomerang shackle on them as well. Im thinking about dropping out a leaf to see if that helps at all. The springs just seem too stiff. I have had all my gear and tools in the jeep for about 2 months to try to get them to soften up and it did nothing. ive even taken off my shocks and flexed and not a difference.

[Repsolaaron]

Your subject explains it all. There Heavy Duty springs.

[AJ99]

ya thats what i was thinking. I drop a leaf out and seems like it flexs a little more but not fully still...

[REDxj5150]

I had the 5.5 inch HD springs in the back way far in the past. I ran 5.5 RE coils which are rated at 180 lb spring rate. I had to have 2" spacers for it to be level. It never flexed very well in the rear, so a very long time ago before I was even a member of infectious I ditched them for RE 4.5 with longer shackles and ditched the 2" pucks in the front. They flexed great since the day I got them, but over time they lost some of the lift. I added a leaf to them when I switched to 35's and got black wheels. Unfortunately I've never ran a different type of spring, but I heard BDS XJ leaf springs are awfully flexy. Perhaps you should see what's popular on NAXJA.

[Lake_v2]

My thoughts on leaves... basically any leaf made for more than 3" lift will be stiff and have terrible flex...

the amount of arch required to the the lift above 3" physically prevents the springs from having any flexibility or quality ride.

Just my thoughts, not sure if true in all cases, but from what I have seen its what happens.

[REDxj5150]

[quote="Lake_v2"]My thoughts on leaves... basically any leaf made for more than 3" lift will be stiff and have terrible flex...

the amount of arch required to the the lift above 3" physically prevents the springs from having any flexibility or quality ride.

Just my thoughts, not sure if true in all cases, but from what I have seen its what happens.[/quote]


Length is a huge factor in this. 3" in a YJ is not the same arch as 3" on an XJ.

[Lake_v2]

True but also think about the arch difference between.stock xj to yj leafs. A stock xj leaf pack sprung over in a yj is 1.5” taller than a stock yj leaf sprung over so the xj spring already has more arch from factory than xj leaf... Xj springs are built to be sprung over add over 3” height to an already arched spring and it will be a stiff spring

[REDxj5150]

So essentially what you're saying is that AJ should stop pussy footin' around and link the damn thing...

[Desert Dog]

AJ, I have heard great things about the Rock Krawler leafs. I have had back luck with every RE item I have ever purchased.

Or.....Rock Krawler makes a rear coil conversion kit for the XJ

[JeremyRowell]

I got over ten years of use out of my RE 4.5 leafs. They flexed and rode really good. They were getting a bit too soft and I was starting to bottom out quite a bit. Just changed them out for BDS springs. Only took the heep out once, but rode well and no bottoming out FULLY loaded.

[Goatman]

[quote="Lake_v2"]My thoughts on leaves... basically any leaf made for more than 3" lift will be stiff and have terrible flex...

the amount of arch required to the the lift above 3" physically prevents the springs from having any flexibility or quality ride.

Just my thoughts, not sure if true in all cases, but from what I have seen its what happens.[/quote]

Not really. The Deavers we use are a 5.5" lift and they flex great and ride soft. I made my own leaf packs for the old XJ and I had 10 leaves in them and they rode soft and flexed great and carried a bunch of weight. Like anything else, the design and construction are the important elements.

[AJ99]

Well i droped out a leaf on the pack and it seems to ride a lot better than it did before. I also have a bit more uptravle than i had before so im happy with that. I think i need to move my shackle box back a tad because the leafs are a bit longer than stock. I have a boomerang shackle but it seems my angle is off.

Richard and i have talked about linking the rear and its not really what i want to do. Ya it will flex great but in order to get proper geometry id have to go through the floor and im not wanting to do that with a daily driver. Maybe if it was a trail rig. Plus im not going full out rock crawler either.

I have looked at the Rock Krawler Springs numerous times and have read the reviews. I like them but they were back ordered and I was having issues with my original springs and needed springs asap so i went with the RE.

All in all after dropping the one leaf out of them i think that will do the trick other than possibly moving my shackle box back a tad.