Talked to Alex at PORC, his recommendations for my XJ...your opinions?

[Goatslayer]

I have the LOA conversion, D30 front axle, 8.8" Ford rear, CJ springs all the way around, and 2 or 2.5" blocks welded onto the rear axle, all on an 88 XJ.

Bang for the buck, he's recommending Rough Country leaf springs, 2.5" front and 4" rear. The deal with the 4" rear is that we're going to have to grind the blocks off the axle but I have no problem doing that (yes, I'll be very careful with the grinder). Plus if I can rid myself of the rear blocks I can help eliminate possible axle wrap.

He said my current rear springs are factory CJ with an add-a-POS-leaf + the blocks, which is what's giving me about 4" back there. Plus there are shackles as well.

Even though the LOA conversion can give 4" of lift, he's still recommending I go with 2.5" up front. He said that I may be able to eliminate the front shackles if it's too high or just go with shorter shackles if it's too low without them. He did say it looks like factory CJ springs up front but 1 pack has an add-a-POS-leaf and 1 pack doesn't Talk about retardedness.


We discussed other manufacturers. He said bang for the buck, quality, and warranty wise, Rough Country is going to be my best option. The reason he isn't recommending RE is that I'd have to convert the front to a 2.5" wide spring and my front is set up for a 2" wide spring.

Shocks will be dealt with once the springs are installed and measurements are taken.


Opinions?

 

[steelmen]

pics?

why did you decide to go for 2" wide spring up front?

 

[Goatslayer]

pics?

Of? XJ itself or suspension parts? I've got tons.


Here's the XJ the day I bought it -

 

[Goatslayer]

pics?

why did you decide to go for 2" wide spring up front?

I bought it set up like this so to keep myself from many more troubles we're going to stick with 2" wide CJ springs up front and 2.5" wide in the rear. There'd be cutting and grinding and rewelding and etc to change over to 2.5" up front. While I have a good friend that's dedicated to helping me make this thing road and trail worthy, he won't be happy if we have to do all that.

 

[steelmen]

looks good


how does it run on / off road?

 

[ipkyss]

Thats a lot more than a 4" lift?

 

[MGrobe]

From purely a warranty perspective, BDS has a lifetime warranty on their springs. No matter whose you buy, they are going to wear with time, especially if it does go offroad. I have seen a few positive posts about their no questions asked warranty.

 

[Goatslayer]

looks good


how does it run on / off road?

Death wobble went away when I took the tires down to 28psi.

Little bump steer on the road, it's not too bad on the road though. The 4.88 gears help out quite a bit too. My mechanic buddy went for a spin with me and I planted it to the floor. He was impressed with how well it took off.

Offroad...havn't really played. Went out once really and broke a shock mount. Had fun though. I got it into 3 feet of mud and water and managed to pull out in 4-low. For the record I didn't know it was that deep until it was too late.

 

[Goatslayer]

Thats a lot more than a 4" lift?

It was suggested to me that the spring rate for CJ springs might be a lot higher than that for XJ springs, thus they take it up much further than the equivelant lift if you used XJ springs. He identified the rear springs as stock CJ with an add-a-leaf and the 2-2.5" blocks. The front LOA adds height and again, stock CJ springs.

I don't konw the spring rates, I'm just going on what I was told :dunno:

We'll see what happens once I get the springs installed.

 

[shortxjdoug]

Death wobble went away when I took the tires down to 28psi.

run your tires back up to pressure and rotate them, it sounds like they are cupping in the front, run your hand across the tread blocks and see if they are even with each other if not then rotate them that may have something to do with the wobble

 

[Goatslayer]

run your tires back up to pressure and rotate them, it sounds like they are cupping in the front, run your hand across the tread blocks and see if they are even with each other if not then rotate them that may have something to do with the wobble

They need replaced soon anyway. The previous owner was running them at 35psi for some reason. 28psi got the full tread on the road.