Losing My Lift Blocks!

B

bedheadben

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Buckley, WA
After a thorough search on Google and here on :NAXJA: I was unable to find an answer to my problem other than traction bars. I ran into a fellow Jeeper today when I had this problem again who said that he has been able to fix this issue with some sort of 2x4 solution but I couldn't quite understand what he was describing.

I have 2" lift blocks in the rear. What keeps on happening is the entire axle housing will rotate backwards when I'm wheeling and nearly shoot my lift blocks out the back. Today it rotated so far back that it snapped the straps that hold the CV joint to the yolk on the diff. I have tried tightening down the U bolts as tight as I can possibly get them to no avail.

Someone stop me from welding my U bolts straight to the axle housing so it won't be able to spin in them :helpme:
 
Stop using 2" lift blocks and lift your Jeep right. Lift Blocks increase spring wrap, which as you noticed, can mess up your u-joint straps, u-joints, yoke.

I am imagining these 2" lift blocks are made out of 2" square tubing ? ;)

Really, it is not any more expensive to build a nice "Bastard Pack" to what you need. Couple that with a shackle of the approriate lenght, and you can get rid of that whole spring wrap issue.

-Ron
 
ahhh! get rid of the blocks!! I have blocks and Im getting rid of them for better leaf springs. blocks are horrible. however if you insist on using blocks, using a block that is at least a foot long sticking out past the perch on both the front and rear of the axle with stop the axle from rotating because it will contact the leaf spring. there is a thread on here somewhere about it because I remember seeing it. I tried searching for it but no luck. Im not sure but I think User MonkeyWrench was the one that posted the thread, not sure though.
 
Thanks for the help from both of you but to clarify it's not the leaf springs twisting. The entire axle housing will twist back so much that the nose of the diff will be pointing so far up that it's maxing out the U joint. I will park and get out of the car and I can see the nose of the diff pointing way up in the air, so I have to slam it in reverse to get it to spin back down and then tighten the crap out of the U bolts. This is just fine for driving on the street but whenever I go wheeling it slips again.

I'm going to try to ditch the blocks for some proper springs, with time.
 
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ok...are the spring perches welded to the axles tubes?
anyone will tell you to ditch blocks but blocks won't do that. if those perches are not welded to the tubes then all the u-bolt tightening in the world won't stop that axles from rotating
 
the spring perch should be welded to the axle tube. a proper lift block should have a stud in the bottom of it so that it sits in the hole of the perch. the leaf spring then rests on top of the block and the stud in the leaf spring sits in the hole of the lift block. with this set up the only problem you should have the leaf spring binding from axle wrap.
 
Yes, the spring perches are welded to the axle tubes. I'm thinking that welding the U bolts to the axle tubes will keep the axle from rotating like that.
Upon further investigation, there is no bolt or anything like that holding the block in place. I bought the car setup this way.
 
OMG!
BTW:you might want to have your driveshaft length checked.
 
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Could anyone recommend an affordable solution to the blocks? I was told when I got the Jeep that it had a 4" lift. I know it has Skyjacker springs in the front and 2" blocks in the rear but I'm not sure if it has upgraded leaf springs or not. Would pics of the leafs and/or shackles help? This is my first XJ so I'm not too familiar with what I'm looking at.
 
yes pictures will help, if the blocks dont have the hole int hem for the leaf bolts, or the mini stud sticking out the bottom to go into the spring perch this will happen everytime.
 
There is a bolt going through the spring and it appears to go through the block but it got all cockeyed the first time this happened and its been bad ever since.
 
Frank Z said:
Visit the Vendor Forum and buy a new set of full leaf packs.
Click to expand...

The only thing I'm not so sure about is if my current leafs are stock or lifted, and how much if they are. So therefore I'm not sure how much of a lift of leaf springs I need to make it sit level. I'll post pics of the setup tomorrow so you gurus can help me discern if what I have is stock or not.
 
Use this link to find out how much lift you have http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=26622&highlight=Dirty+lift
Most of your questions can be answered by searching. Are your u bolts coming loose? Xj's have soft springs due to it being a light vehicle so adding blocks act as a lever and increases the Likely hood of getting axle wrap. That is why you hear every one say ditch the blocks. Also search the info is here and it can be found you can use google to search Naxja as well
 
Sounts like your spring perches are not flat anymore. Loose U-bolts will do that with lift blocks. If they are not flat, you will have to address that before you address the lift question. Certainly doesn't sound safe in it's current configuration.

Do not weld u-bolts to axle. That's not how they work. U-Bolts work in conjunction with the Spring Perch to Center (Center bolt must be tight!) the spring and hold it in place by compression. U-Bolts are not tightended to "Tight" but a torque that depends on bolt section width and thread pitch. If youare using aftermarket U-Bolts, that can be as high as 85ft/lbs,

As far as a "Cheap" spring solution to make up that 2" of lift block. I thing the simplest way, seeing as how it appears that who rear suspesion thing is suspect, is to add leaves to the existing spring pack. That will give you the chance to look at the spring perch, replace the center bolt ( be sure to get a round head, not a hex head), replace the U-Bolts, etc.
How many leaves depends on the donor spring pack or AAL you choose.
You may have to assemble/dissasemble more than once to get the combo right.

-Ron
 
If they are getting spit out, then most likely they do not have the locating pin in them. If so, they will never stay put.

That being said, THEY ARE DANGEROUS TO NOT ONLY YOU, BUT EVERYONE ON AND OFF THE ROAD AROUND YOU!!!!!!!

Enough yelling. Do it right. By now the rear sprigs are going to be shot from the extra load. Our Heep overstress the leafs by design just by being a "spring under" construction. The stock leafs are notorious for turning into pretzels just from daily driving. My 98s did. One of hte reason I got it for as cheap as I did the PO was afraid of the quote from the Dealer to replace the suspension.

Again, you are in a very dangerous position. I know, I know, you see the truck guys wandering around with, like 6"-8" blocks in claiming "no problems". They lie.... This is a legacy left over from a time when proper parts were not made. At best (?) a bandaid solution.

Search your local chapter For Sale threads as "inchitis"* strikes and suspension parts are usually available. I did around 90% of my current lift using parts obtained from my chapter members. In addition to keeping your costs down it helps the members out as well. Every part I purchased was better than it had been described, so I am beyond happy with not only the parts themselves, but the integrity of the members. Plus, it gives you something to talk about on the trail.

*inch-itis def: A medical condition similar to "footitis" that boaters suffer from. The sufferer gets an uncontrollable urge to make the suspension "just a little taller". The condition, while non-terminal, has no cure and usally continues for years.
 
big truck guys have much thicker leaf springs, its not a myth that lift blocks work for larger trucks, they do. this isnt a large truck, and has relatively thin leaf's.
 
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