Drilling holes in Leaf Spring for Stretch?

NickMaul

NickMaul

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2009
Location
Norfolk, VA
Hello NC4x4,

I seek some guidance about drilling holes in leaf springs for a little extra stretch. It seems like everyone and their mother can't stop talking about their suspension stretch. My 35s in the rear xj wheel well are already gobbling up a lot of fender near the rear door. I also plan on redoing my rear shock mounts where they meet the body so that handles any collateral work that would need to be done.

Basically what I am asking is, will drilling another hole in a set of leaf springs say 1.5" to 2" back weaken them enough for possible failure? I will not be drilling them. I have tried and it is a royal PITA. Luckily there is a dedicated spring shop a few minutes away from my house.

TIA

Nick
 
Drill an offset hole in the perch instead.
 
Rats. Oh well. I have seen ruff stuff carrying these for some time. 2+ Perch Kit

A little expensive and a lot of cutting and welding. Not a big deal really but what about welding 1/2" plate to the top of the original perches with a new hole for the stretch? Doesn't look like there is a lot of meat left on the original perch.
 
NickMaul said:
Rats. Oh well. I have seen ruff stuff carrying these for some time. 2+ Perch Kit

A little expensive and a lot of cutting and welding. Not a big deal really but what about welding 1/2" plate to the top of the original perches with a new hole for the stretch? Doesn't look like there is a lot of meat left on the original perch.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good plan. Grind a radius on the edges of the ends of the plates so you don't have a sharp edge against the bottom of the main leafs.
 
Guy I used to run around with stretched his by turning the leafs around, using a shackle relocation bracket and lengthened the drive shaft. Of course there was some cutting of the back fenders involved, he clearanced the gas tank a little (dented it after applying some careful heat) and ran a track bar. Worked great. The track bar is about a must no matter how you stretch it though.
 
Other options include F150 2 WD main leaf with a lift pack. That is what I run. Custom spring pack. MJ springs have the hole 2" or 3" further back. I forget which. I really want a set of MJ lift springs to see what kind of lift they give an xj. They are also longer so shackles are not vertical.
 
77GreenMachine said:
Guy I used to run around with stretched his by turning the leafs around, using a shackle relocation bracket and lengthened the drive shaft. Of course there was some cutting of the back fenders involved, he clearanced the gas tank a little (dented it after applying some careful heat) and ran a track bar. Worked great. The track bar is about a must no matter how you stretch it though.
Click to expand...

ghost said:
Other options include F150 2 WD main leaf with a lift pack. That is what I run. Custom spring pack. MJ springs have the hole 2" or 3" further back. I forget which. I really want a set of MJ lift springs to see what kind of lift they give an xj. They are also longer so shackles are not vertical.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the leaf spring suggestions. However I have pretty much dialed in the leaf springs I have now. They are mid 90s dodge van leaf springs (Think utility van instead of soccer mom) witch extend the rear leaf from the center pin back. That netted me a really awesome shackle angle when paired with some shackle box relocations and it gives me some pretty good axle droop.

It looks like I am going to make a 1/2" plate with a new hole giving me somewhere around a 1.5"-2.0" stretch and the other hole will house a center pin bottom that will fit into the pre-existing center pin hole in the perch. I'll test it out and if it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling I will weld it onto the perch for extra security.

Thanks all! :smokin::usa:
 
XJsavage said:
If you end up redrilling the springs, don't expect it to be easy. Spring steel is something from another planet.
Click to expand...

I've attempted it before. Basically brought me to my knees in tears of defeat. If there wasn't a chance of them breaking at the new hole I would have a local spring shop tackle the task.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Masonry bit. A friend drilled his out many years ago while I watched and drank beer. I think he drilled out all the leafs before I finished my beer.
 
XJsavage said:
If you end up redrilling the springs, don't expect it to be easy. Spring steel is something from another planet.
Click to expand...
Hell the time I cut some leafs down to make aal I was really confused at what the fuck they were made of.

Anyways if I had to drill one I'd take it to work and put the thing on the mill.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
 
Just for the record... leaf springs are hard, but not as hard as some folks assume. Back in the day, I made the replacement blades (out of leaf springs) for the posthole diggers the USFS provided to the volunteers who erected 99% of the split-rail fence in Uwharrie. This required milling, drilling and countersinking. Leaf springs are not that bad to machine if you know how to do it. Some of the old timers may remember... I know Scott F. does.
 
Last edited:
I still don't see why you would want to create a weak point in your springs. It already has a hole and now you're going to introduce another and for what? 2-3 inches of forward movement at best. Like stated previously, years ago I bought the 7" MORE mounts and burned them in. Moved the axle an inch forward and it was good. Worst case is you flip them and get some more movement forward.
 
Back
Top