Which leaf?

4 SALE

Member
Location
West Jordan
The front end of my crawler is going to end up sitting about 2" higher than I would like. Should I pull the 3rd or the 4th leaf. Theres 5 but the 5th is only about 10" long.

Will one make a bigger difference or work better? I was thinking I should just pull the 4th and see what it does. Any advice?
 

LT.

Well-Known Member
The front end of my crawler is going to end up sitting about 2" higher than I would like. Should I pull the 3rd or the 4th leaf. Theres 5 but the 5th is only about 10" long.

Will one make a bigger difference or work better? I was thinking I should just pull the 4th and see what it does. Any advice?

I am not real experienced with this but, I would think to pull the shorter of the leaves out. The reason I would do that is due to spring wrap. The shorter leaf really won't do much to help eliminate spring wrap.

LT.
 

lewis

Fight Till You Die
Location
Hairyman
I did this when I built mine. The down side is pulling out a leaf will max out your springs and put your shackle angle off. The only way to correct it is to get less lift springs which is what I had to do after trying to mess with removing a leaf. On another note, depending on what springs you have, if you want to sell the leaf you pull out let me know.
 

4 SALE

Member
Location
West Jordan
Ok that makes sense with the shackle, I think the shackle could use to be pushed back a little anyway so maybe it will help that too.

I was gonna try to put the leaf on the front of my 4runner but I don't know if it will work or not, if not I'll let ya know. Thanks a lot.

I did this when I built mine. The down side is pulling out a leaf will max out your springs and put your shackle angle off. The only way to correct it is to get less lift springs which is what I had to do after trying to mess with removing a leaf. On another note, depending on what springs you have, if you want to sell the leaf you pull out let me know.
 

lewis

Fight Till You Die
Location
Hairyman
Just a suggestion, which I usually forget, is that you can only move your shackle back so far. If you move it too far back then the shackle will invert when the spring is fully extended and a load put back on it. So with no weight on the springs the shackle should be close to vertical as possible with maybe a slight degree of the top lean towards the back. If you do end up doing it you can always add a limiting strap so that it will prevent the inverting, only problem is your then limiting the amount of flex. After trying to mess with it and not coming up with a happy medium I sold the 5" ones and bought 3".
 

leorn

reset
Location
Roy
Personally I would get a set of rears and mix 1 or 2 (maybe 3) all-pro leaves in, cut one in half for an antiwrap and it will work better than that pack ever dreamed.

Problem is you open the can of worms of driveshaft extension/additional slip, possibly moving the steering box etc.

Otherwise start pulling the bottom leaves.

I am a huge fan of RUF.
 

4 SALE

Member
Location
West Jordan
Personally I would get a set of rears and mix 1 or 2 (maybe 3) all-pro leaves in, cut one in half for an antiwrap and it will work better than that pack ever dreamed.

Problem is you open the can of worms of driveshaft extension/additional slip, possibly moving the steering box etc.

Otherwise start pulling the bottom leaves.

I am a huge fan of RUF.

How much longer are the rears? I really don't want to mess with the shackles if I can avoid it. and I have hydraulic steering and I haven't made my front driveline yet so theres a couple worries gone.

Here's the shackle as it sits, I think it could stand to angle back a little more, I dunno, I guess I'll just try it a see.
 

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lewis

Fight Till You Die
Location
Hairyman
How much longer are the rears? I really don't want to mess with the shackles if I can avoid it. and I have hydraulic steering and I haven't made my front driveline yet so theres a couple worries gone.

Here's the shackle as it sits, I think it could stand to angle back a little more, I dunno, I guess I'll just try it a see.

The angle could set back a little more. They probably will once the springs settle. What do they look like with no weight on them?
 

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
Just pull the bottom leaf, you won't lose a ton of lift that way, but it will help the pack break in faster without that extra support. Then, once they've sagged to the level you want them, put the bottom leaf back in.

That worked wonders on Vonski's old SAS Toy. It ended up around 3.5" lift after appropriately jumping it. :)
 

leorn

reset
Location
Roy
How much longer are the rears?

They are 48" if I remember. You can't use the stock shackles either. Shackles are the cheap/easy part. The expensive part comes in because it also moves your front axle 2 in. forward which causes all of the other headaches.

Do what's free first and pull the bottom leaf--you can always do the rears later.
 

iamsparticus

Take your Rig to the Edge
Location
Ogden,Ut
I would pull the bottom one first, it will lower the leafs a little but it also makes the pack softer and allows more flex, and additional sag so it will level out, plus looking at your shackle angle it could stand to go back a little, you can always put it back in if the springs settle to much, what engine does it have in it, that makes a big weight difference
 

4 SALE

Member
Location
West Jordan
It's got the TBI 4.3 so it is heavier than the old 22re they used to hold up.

I would pull the bottom one first, it will lower the leafs a little but it also makes the pack softer and allows more flex, and additional sag so it will level out, plus looking at your shackle angle it could stand to go back a little, you can always put it back in if the springs settle to much, what engine does it have in it, that makes a big weight difference
 

Panos

12Volt Specialist
Location
Salt lake City
i have TG 3" up front and i pulled the bottom two. I replaced the second from bottom leaf on top of the pack, drilled a new hole and slid it towards the rear on the pack. it fit perfectly under the pack retainer. It is supposed to act as a aid in axle wrap and it actually works i am pretty happy. although i can tell i will probably have to be buying a new pair eventually. with the two bottoms gone it flexes alot more and wears out alot faster.
 
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