XJ leaf spring rebuild

[mbryson]

Needing to low buck the Jeep for this EJS. I ran across a set of RE 4.5" XJ leaf springs (I set my YJ frame up with XJ springs 12ish years ago and still have them for the rear suspension) and thought I'd give those a shot. My Old Man Emu springs haven't been all that great but I run the XJ springs reversed and who knows what that does to the spring engineering? Anyway, I tend to kill the main leaf in the rear spring over config even with a traction bar after a few years. I meant to take care of this before I moved out of my house but I checked the drivers side spring and thought I was good to go for this years EJS. I moved and happened to look at the passenger side and it's really not ready for 4-5 days of trail runs. Pretty whacked to be honest.

I tried the RE springs last night and got about 2.5" of lift more than the whacked OME springs. That's a little much for my taste, shocks and rear driveline angles so it needs some correction.

My plan: (unless folks can convince me differently) I plan to use the main leaf of the RE, and kind of bastard pack the OME back into it. I measured my drivers side corner armor height at 49" yesterday before pulling the whacked OME spring out. I think I want to settle at about 50-50 1/2"? I intend this EJS to be the last fling with leaf springs (or at least one of the last? ---I have some link parts but still lack a few essentials)

Question/query: Before I dismantle some relatively new RE 4.5" leafs, does anyone have some good condition 3" XJ leafs kicking around and want to swap? (maybe there are no XJ folks left on the board?)

 

[DaveB]

My son has a nearly brand new set of 3-4 inch springs for an XJ, not sure on the brand.

 

[N-Smooth]

before I switched to YJ springs last year I had a stock XJ spring bastard pack with like 7 leafs in it. I'd recommend you cut the eyes off a main leaf and run that under the new main. if you have another main kicking around you can cut that one just a couple inches shorter and run that too. it's really about supporting the new main leaf, especially since you're running them backwards. also, make sure to use a few leaf spring clamps per side! I've always used them and they really help springs survive.

 

[jedi]

You have a write up on the YJ spring swap?

 

[N-Smooth]

You have a write up on the YJ spring swap?

Well my Jeep isn’t exactly your typically XJ as it’s tubed out in the rear but the center pin in the XJ spring and YJ spring is the same distance from the front so all it requires is new rear mounts and it helps the departure angle a TON.
Picture for reference.

 

[jedi]

Oh of course, I’ve seen your Jeep.