My "Hero" Blog

[Jeep450r]

National or deaver or build a bastard pack

Jon does Deaver make a worthwhile non-race pack?


Aaron let's try to find that chart tonight

 

[knucklehead 61]

deavers are big $
i killed my deavers main leaf on the first run after installing them.
they did sell me just the replacement main which was cool.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

General spring will make you what you want, and a a reasonable price. A decent mount of MJ guys go through them for leaf packs.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

try general and a traction bar.

deavers seem stiff for what you want

 

[XJ_Rudolph]

I think hes going to be doing a partial traction ladder, should be pretty badass

 

[cencal96xj]

Deaver only makes the race pack for our jeeps, just fyi. And they are 4.5" of lift so that would be too high for you. Im actually pretty impressed with the rusty's leafs that were on my jeep when I bought it...time will tell how they hold up. Only have a couple wheeling trips on them. This last one though in had them maxed out a few times

 

[blondejoncherokee]

I have some old rustys packs that I added some main leafs to that I was planning on selling. I wheeled those packs for years... still seem to hold up good.

 

[Jeep450r]

I'd really like to buy new, with a good warranty. I've honestly never been a fan of rustys products. After his days of selling track bars that would snap on the road, I lost all respect lol. But that's besides the point.

Deaver is just out of the budget. And they don't have the right pack for me anyway. I'll try national, but they will likely be similar to Deaver in many ways.

I'm thinking heavily about BDS springs. I hear they make great Mil-wrapped springs, plus they have a lifetime no questions asked warranty. I like the sound of that.

But all this raises another concern... Let's look at the price. $400 for springs. $100 for no lift relocaters. $200 for a traction bar kit... That's a solid $700.... I can easily 4-link the rear of the jeep for $700. Im still leaning towards leaf springs, but the similarity in price between the two really is getting to me.

Just talking out loud, I guess. But damn that gets the wheels turning

 

[XJ_Rudolph]

Looks like we are cading up some 4link next week during wrench time! I will text ya this link as well as post it here for everyone, great article on 4linking: http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/suspension-brakes/131-0307-four-link-suspension-part-2/

 

[#S194]

Kevin, I'm running BDS leafs, 5" packs. I really like the quality and the stiffer spring rate. They flex well and seem to be holding up great, even with a full load of camping gear and tools. I like the price too.

 

[goodwilljeeper]

I love the sound of four linking, but you won't so why even bother....

And why don't u just look into sliding shackles? U can build em for like $150

 

[Mike1331]

Id go straight to links, you'll never look back. I might have a cheap- ish option for you:
There's some 2.5" x 10" travel fox coilovers with springs FS on c-list in sac for $400. Put those at an angle through the floor so you can get some travel out of them.
I have some lower links I'll sell you for $180. Ready to be cut to length, then burn in the tube bugs.
They're 2" 1/4wall dom that are 38" from bolt hole to tube end. Joints have poly w/ dom sleeves and are a 1.25" shank × 5"long threads (longest threaded johnny joint shank out there) I have extra bushings that'll slide into some 1.5" .120 wall and I'll throw in some extra dom of that flavor for cheap for the upper arms.

I was gonna use all this to link my crawler while making it comfy enough to drive on the street but I'm more interested in dialing in my prerunner and race truck so I can get into racing asap.

 

[XJ_Rudolph]

I love the sound of four linking, but you won't so why even bother....

And why don't u just look into sliding shackles? U can build em for like $150

I second the sliding shackles, i looked into them at one point, do you guys think they would work well for our rigs?

 

[831_xj]

Price wise I totally agree!

That just seems like a tona work if you were to stay on 33s and the rear u have

 

[Jeep450r]

Kevin, I'm running BDS leafs, 5" packs. I really like the quality and the stiffer spring rate. They flex well and seem to be holding up great, even with a full load of camping gear and tools. I like the price too.

Awesome. Where did you buy the springs through?

Id go straight to links, you'll never look back. I might have a cheap- ish option for you:
There's some 2.5" x 10" travel fox coilovers with springs FS on c-list in sac for $400. Put those at an angle through the floor so you can get some travel out of them.
I have some lower links I'll sell you for $180. Ready to be cut to length, then burn in the tube bugs.
They're 2" 1/4wall dom that are 38" from bolt hole to tube end. Joints have poly w/ dom sleeves and are a 1.25" shank × 5"long threads (longest threaded johnny joint shank out there) I have extra bushings that'll slide into some 1.5" .120 wall and I'll throw in some extra dom of that flavor for cheap for the upper arms.

I was gonna use all this to link my crawler while making it comfy enough to drive on the street but I'm more interested in dialing in my prerunner and race truck so I can get into racing asap.

Not a bad deal bud. I'll look into it more and I'll let you know. Don't hold your breath though!

Price wise I totally agree!

That just seems like a tona work if you were to stay on 33s and the rear u have

Yeah that's one of my concerns - why bother linking it with the stock rear end? But when it's all said and done, I can always just cut the mounts and slap the links onto another axle at any point down the road.


I mean, leafs are probably all I'll ever need and they're really all I need right now- no need for tweaking and tuning, they bolt up, less time and labor intensive, etc. But I'm just afraid that shortly down the road I'll be kicking myself for not taking that next step (links) in the first place, and I'll end up spending twice the money by doing it all twice.

It's mostly the monetary issue because they would cost about the same. I don't need links, but they sure would pair nicely with the front 3-link and king coilovers... :shhh:

 

[GordoSmasho]

A lot more than money for parts goes into linking the rear. Tons of fab. Leafs will get it done imo and requires almost no fab. Done deal. Ill be interested in what you go with kev. Im in the same boat right now shopping for 3.5" leafs. Im looking at iro and bds. I think they both have lifetime warranties.

 

[#S194]

I went through BDS directly. They are a vendor. Free shipping since they shipped them to a BDS dealer about five minutes from my house.

 

[XJ_Rudolph]

Ok I will chime in about the leafs. I am running the IRO 3.5in leafs with a shackle lift on my 5.5in lift. They are super harsh for the first few hundred miles, but thats to be expected with any new suspension. Now, they are fine, but deffenelty not like a benz ride quality. Part of my issue is I think I put my shackles on backwards, so they are pointing towards the center of the jeep and not away. They flex well, I will take a pic today of the pack to see how flat they are and post it. I know this is a big concern of kevins. Also someone said they have lifetime warrantees? Another thing that kevin is really concerned about. These things flex well and I am running just stock bump stops and i can stuff tire up into the fender well. Here is a link to them: http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/10437.html
IRO also has some discounts for us members.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

cheap leaves aren't good and good leaves aren't cheap.

Bust out the credit card.

 

[XJ_Rudolph]

I think the IRO leafs are 320