TJ Leafs

scarface

scarface

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Location
Cornelius
Don't give me alot of shit. I have heard it already.

What products to us, or avoid.


Here's what i'm thinking
'97 TJ 8.8 going in. Sping under? 4" to 4.5" XJ leafs? Clear 35's, strech alittle

Here's why
Cheaper, Less BS in the long run, B/C i fawking want to. :flipoff2:

Now i would like to hear suggestions on how to make this work.

But let it fly if you must... :huggy: :D
 
I read an article on Kilby enterprises web site called TJ7 it explains alot. I'd prob do a spring over though. Spring under as you already know doesn't let the axle travel far.
 
Rob's running them in his TJ, I'm sure he'll chime in if he's not too busy, as are Donna & Sheldon Gardner from GoFerIt... I think he used a RE 2" YJ pack? XJ's are way long. SOA.

It'll work, but he's getting hop thanks to the required anti-wrap bar, and there isn't much room to run the shocks vertical or nearly so.
 
It's sorta like the guys taking a GSXR 1000 and putting a 10" swing arm on it, in one move they have ruined what engineers spent countless hours perfecting. IMHO that's what happens when you put leaf springs under a TJ, you're backing up and creating more problems than you have solved. The bracket kit for a TJ rear isn't too expensive and all your stck stuff bolts up. People complain about it having to much body roll, if that's the complaint, put a sway bar (anti-rock,etc..) back there. But switching from a link set up back to leafs never really made much sense to me, maybe someone who's done it and is completely happy with it will chime in, cause I'm curious the benefits of it myself.
 
mbalbritton said:
longer than YJ, but damn near the same length as XJ.
Click to expand...
Waggy's are 47" eye to eye...
XJ's were like 52", with a really offset pin.

I guess they went to leaves because the factory suspension points sucked ass (they do), and they weren't thinking about "all that newfangled link stuff"..

Honestly, I'm betting the idea came about when TJ "lifts" were still coming out with less than desirable behavor, short arms, etc... Just a guess. (Just thinking - 5-ish years ago, what was really available? For the most part, owners of new design vehicles are usually heavily into bolt-on kits and such... not so keen on hacking.. ya know what I mean?)
 
Run SOA, here's your chance to get everything mounted above your axle. I'm running stock YJ leaves SOA, with an extra leaf added to the pack. Sheldon Gardner has a good design for a anti-wrap bar, mounted to the pass. side of the diff, to pre-exhisting bolt holes in the 8.8. That puts it on the side it's needed most, and clears his exhaust. I'm running 4.5" RE springs with .75" spacers up front. If you need a whole parts list for the conversion, I think I have one somewhere on my computer. I've done this to mine, and one other so feel free to ask any questions. It's much more stable on and off road, but as Rich said, I do have some wheel hop. More hacking and better fitting of shocks might help that.
 
Shane, if you haven't done it by June 25th, come to the CNC truck show and talk to Scott Roberts. He's running that on 35s as a DD with a YJ based spring pack (don't remember the details, but it's a lift pack with some springs removed) and a wrap bar. My initial reaction was similar to Greg's, but he's very happy with it on and off the road.

J
 
Scott is running the same set up as me, except his springs are 2" YJ springs from RE, with some leafs removed.

Greg, my TJ used to pop wheelies trying to climb, lots of sqaut in the rear, once you lift the TJ's. Also rear steered a lot on the highway. TJ rear suspension works well, until you lift it. But I ran short arms, I have no experience with the long arms.
 
More info is needed...

Jason and Rob I think that i will wait for the CNC show to eyeball some of this stuff.

Thanks
SHane
 
Lee said:
you have that backwards, waggy leafs are closer in length to yj's, xj leafs are long
Click to expand...

I just ripped apart a waggy pack this past weekend to get the second leaf out. it fit perfect in my XJ pack. not to mention the eye to eye on the pack was damn near the same as my XJ leafs. Maybe there are differnt waggy leafs sets???? have to admit, I was surprised myself.. excited, but surprised
 
mbalbritton said:
I just ripped apart a waggy pack this past weekend to get the second leaf out. it fit perfect in my XJ pack. not to mention the eye to eye on the pack was damn near the same as my XJ leafs. Maybe there are differnt waggy leafs sets???? have to admit, I was surprised myself.. excited, but surprised
Click to expand...


Which "Waggy pack" did you use?

Maybe you got into one of the *rear* springs?

Waggy fronts are only about 1" different than a YJ.
Biggest difference being the offset centre pin.
 
Lee said:
you have that backwards, waggy leafs are closer in length to yj's, xj leafs are long
Click to expand...

Waggy rear leafs are about 5" longer then XJ rear leafs
I know this because that is what I am putting in my XJ
 
When people refer to "Waggy Springs", 95% of them mean the FRONT springs... The rears are just too long for most apps where"Waggy Springs" are discussed, like this one.
 
Dan,

That is the direction i am headed, streched that is. I might have to head up that way to check it out. Most of the stretch come from the shackle location and angle?

This is one of those things, like the $300 XJ, that I want to make sure of the proper direction first. There are more and more of these now that i ask.
 
Rich said:
Rob's running them in his TJ, I'm sure he'll chime in if he's not too busy, as are Donna & Sheldon Gardner from GoFerIt... I think he used a RE 2" YJ pack? XJ's are way long. SOA.

It'll work, but he's getting hop thanks to the required anti-wrap bar, and there isn't much room to run the shocks vertical or nearly so.
Click to expand...

We had two sets of 51" Alcans made giving us a about 4" extra wheelbase in the rear.
 
Leaf springs imho, are simple. Thats what makes them so nice on a rig. Link style suspensions can get complicated and some of the time the parts are custom and that can make for a longer down time.

I like leafs cuz theyre cheap and reliable and they dont flex too bad.
 
leafs are cool in the rear. I wouldn't do it but i'm a coil whore. waggy or Yj is the way to go.....so obviously keep it above the axle. I might say keep it under axle if it was under the front but in the back there just ain't enough weight. You'll be 3 wheeelin it every where you go. NO FLEX! stability is better then flex but you still need some. Coil will give in the front but not if there is no give in the back.
 
BIGWOODY said:
It's sorta like the guys taking a GSXR 1000 and putting a 10" swing arm on it, in one move they have ruined what engineers spent countless hours perfecting. IMHO that's what happens when you put leaf springs under a TJ, you're backing up and creating more problems than you have solved. The bracket kit for a TJ rear isn't too expensive and all your stck stuff bolts up. People complain about it having to much body roll, if that's the complaint, put a sway bar (anti-rock,etc..) back there. But switching from a link set up back to leafs never really made much sense to me, maybe someone who's done it and is completely happy with it will chime in, cause I'm curious the benefits of it myself.
Click to expand...



X2
 
Yeah, I drove Dan4jeepin's rig this weekend a bit, He just had back surgery so he can't really handle alot of the bouncing and stuff... I think it rides really well, especially compared to a short arm lift kit. He's running 4.5 RE short arm kit in the front and stock YJ's in the rear spring over, the rear is a bit taller right now, but its also not got a tailgate anymore, spare tire, etc... We still have some work to do, but when I drove it on the rocks, it was super stable, and didnt do all the crazy jacking and pitching that the short arms did. We did build a traction bar for it, and when getting on the gas, it barely has any body roll comparatively. It flexes just as good as it did before, and Im gonna do some more work on the front to get some more flex out of it... Some say its a step backwards, but for the bugdet we had and what we wanted it to do, it has worked really well. So if you wanna give it a shot, id say do it, but definitely build a traction bar, or you'll blow u=joints and driveshafts like crazy. Just a side note on the XJ's. I run them in the rear of my sammy, and had them in the front, and as soon as I can, im getting rid of them for a shorter spring that won't hang up as much. I now run YJ's in the front, with the same flex as before with the XJ's, and it sits much lower,which is what I wanted. I am gonna run a modded YJ pack in the rear or waggies, we'll see...
 
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