ghetdjc320

In doing a little more diggin it appears that Dayton spring is also a carrier of the same part number 97-571. They are also a manufacturer so not sure who actually makes these springs

You may be right. I double checked my order placed on 06/2019 and turns out they were shipped out from General Spring. The total for both springs was under $200 for the 4 leaf with shipping. Same part number though as the sd truck springs plus they will beat any price you find online. Maybe I price matched??? It’s been a while ago

The GS are sold each. SD sells the pair

What year is your Dana 35? Most will say it’s not an axle worth sinking any money into. If your not planning on any heavy wheeling though and stick to 33’s or smaller, it can be made to last.

From what I recall, it’s the same part number (571). I don’t believe General Spring sells a non military wrapped 5 leaf pack for the MJ though I may be wrong. There is a bit of confusion here I suppose. The only thing I can comment on is that SD truck springs is where I bought my springs from and they were the same model/sku as the general spring ones. Even the same stock pictures used. They are from some other company though. Searching that sku on SD spring reveals multiple vendors with the same product so there should be some in-stock options unless they are all drop-shipping. I’m almost positive there is a sole manufacturer with various suppliers private labeling the same spring as has been suggested. I believe they are either made in Mexico or Canada. The 4 leaf pack netted me 2.5” without a spare or any weight on my short bed. That’s 2.5” over a decent original 4 leaf 4wd pack. I ran them for about 9 months but they never settled down further. They ran great but I was SOA so the lift was far too tall and the rake was not nice. Sua though would make these a really nice mild lift spring that fills in the much needed gap between stock sua, add a leaf and soa. If I were to venture a guess I’d say the 4 leaf pack is good for a solid 2” once settled on most rigs. The 5 leaf probably 3” but mostly due to load capacity. 1700lb spring capacity is pretty high on a truck the size of an MJ. Then again, it’s great to have such an option. I would venture a speculative guess that the hells creek springs are not actually made solely for the MJ. That would explain the different bushing sizes. There are many forger leaf springs that are similar in size to an MJ pack. Perhaps a cross-reference showed that their product happened to fit an MJ??? Not sure

Hood finished up. Will cut and polish the whole truck in another week after the clear cures further.

@Rubikahn https://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=20914&zenid=fe33951a046bdaa2f37c2e613d256012 Looks like they are on sale too. That’s who I ordered mine through. Demand was super high as everyone had some extra cash and time on their hands. Here at least that cycle has reversed. Oversupplied with less consumer buying power. Took some time though. Now there are pallets upon pallets of product at Home Depot they can’t stock on the shelves yet since they are full. Hopefully that happens stateside eventually.

Normally what we do is bolt up the axle and center it on the truck with the perches unwelded. Make sure to set the truck down so the weight will be close to the unloaded running weight. The u bolts will hold everything in place then you can rotate the axle until you get your ideal pinion angle. Then tack weld in place. Pull the axle back out and weld up the brackets. The shock mounts can be done at the same time or later.

I agree. Resale is always a bit hard though when you have a branded title.

Sweet!

No worries! I just happened to be in a position to reply but there is a wealth of knowledge here from all users. For your pinion angle, it does depend on the style of driveshaft you have. Here is an example and explanation: https://4xshaft.com/blogs/general-tech-info-articles/driveshaft-angles In summary, if you have a stock driveshaft, you pinion angle should be parallel to the transfer case output shaft or 1-3 degrees above that. The reason for the 1-3 degrees above parallel is to compensate for axle rotation and/or weight in the bed. This helps maintain that parallel angle as the pinion moves.

Those are super nice. I’ve seen them on JeepSpeed rigs running season after season. Any ballpark idea what the pricing is on a custom set?

It’s a reprogramming kit that adjusts shift points as well as provides for a true 1st gear hood when in 1-2. Downshifts much quicker and doesn’t hunt through gears as much. The single kit comes with a couple of different installation options depending on how agressive or smooth you want your shifts to be. NAXJA also has some good write ups on the kit.

The 4 leaf pack netted me about 2.5” of lift compared to original 4 leaf 4x4 springs that were still in pretty decent shape. Keep in mind that the factory rake was about 1.75” on most MJ’s. There is a bit of room for “leveling” a little if you want to go that route. You could run a 3-3.5” front spring and the 4 leaf General Spring rears and always play around with longer shackles and or coil spacers to get the stance you like.

That’s a good start. Unfortunately, there isn’t just a “kit” that will accomplish everything your looking for but here are some of the pieces if you would like to go this route. I’ll post some links that may be helpful: Steering brace setup; https://ironman4x4fab.com/collections/on-sale/products/xj-steering-box-brace Note: you will need the sway bar drop brackets if your running an original style sway bar. You can also get the spacer if you like to reinforce the stock mounting points. Track bar setup: https://ironman4x4fab.com/collections/comanche-mj/products/xj-track-bar-system Note: just get the regular style bracket if you staying with 3-4.5” lift 28mm oem sway bar: https://teamcherokee.com/front-sway-bar-assembly-oem-jeep-cherokee-xj-1994-2001/ Note: make sure your current setup isn’t already the 28mm bar. Also, you will need the 28mm bushings as well. Available at any auto parts store. Just search for a 94 XJ and ask for the 28mm ones. This link is for a NOS original Mopar sway bar. The price is unbeatable. Rear axle bracketry for spring under: https://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/DEAV-WIYP.html Note: this is for a 3” axle tube so about 5/32” of welding to fill the gap on each side will be required. You will also need some shock tabs: https://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/SBRKT-CUR.html These are what I’ve been running on multiple Jeeps now and they are nice. Optional 4 link: https://ironman4x4fab.com/collections/suspension/products/xj-front-4-link-system Note: there are plenty of other options out there but few with this level of build quality for any less. This will replace all the mounting points from your existing 4 link setup. Youll need to source a regular pitman arm from an XJ or MJ. Here are some springs that will net you about 3” of lift in the rear: https://www.generalspringkc.com/1986-1992-jeep-comanche-rear-leaf-spring-5-3-2-leaf-1700-lbs-capacity/ Note that the lead time on these is out a few months right now. Other options include, hells creek: http://www.hellcreeksuspensions.com/springs/Springs.aspx in addition to custom springs from Alcan and National (approx 600-800/pr last I checked but these are custom built for you). Finally, you could just get a hood used set and add a leaf into the pack. Some have great results with this setup. Unfortunately the aftermarket hasn’t really jumped into producing rear lift springs for an MJ.

Good to factor in the parasitic loss in the auto tranny also as well as the increased rolling mass of those 32’s. I still hunt for gears with a pepped up 4.0 and 4.56’s on 33’s with the aw4. But that’s what the transgo shift kit is for

If your asking for the best booster out there, hydroboost hands down. As for vacuum boosters, first make sure you have good vacuum at engine idle (min 18hg). A dual diaphragm booster with (2) 8” is similar sized booster plates will work decently. A lot of you braking also comes from your rotor condition, pad material and prop valve setup if your tuning disks. You master cylinder bore to caliper piston area is also crucial. For stock calipers and ZJ rear calipers, 15/16” bore is great. You can find those on later mode XJ’s. I’m running a 01 XJ booster and MC on my 91 along with a Wilwood prop valve ZJ rear disks and black magic pads with centric rotors all around. After a good pad break in, they work very very well for a rig of this size and weight.

Interesting. Several things jumó out from the pics. First, there are only 3 leaves in that spring pack. I’m guessing somebody swapped to spring over axle but thought it sat too high and removed a leaf. Your load capacity will be reduced with just 3 leaves as will your axle wrap prevention. Such a low spring rate in back will probably be very soft around the corners and will affect steering. In front, the pitman arm is definitely a dropped unit. This can put undue stress on the steering box which already has a pretty flimsy mount from the factory. The pitman arm and track bar setup are both aftermarket but it’s hard to say if they are maintaining parallel angles from the pictures themselves. If you were to take a straight edge across the track bar mounting points and another on the drag link mounting points, the two lines should be as close to parallel as possible to prevent “bump steer.” Furthermore, although some may differ on this point, I am not much of a fan of the radius arm style long arm kit. When you have only two links going to the front axle with two shorter arms coming from the long arms, you cannot maintain proper caster angle when going over bumpy roads or “swoops” on a paved road. They are also not as safe in my opinion since you have only 2 points of contact to the truck vs the original 4. A full 4 link kit would be ideal. Also looks like your original lower control arm brackets were removed. As for the Zone kit, they do have some decent quality but are meant for a stock rig. You will need to change some of your existing parts to use the zone kit and achieve the lift your looking for. in regards to steering also, I am 90% positive that is the stock MJ/XJ tie rod. It’s a thin walled hollow tube that will pretzel up on you if you look at it the wrong way on 33’s. If you want to get 3-4.5” of lift I’d recommend something like this: Switch back to spring under and get some good new brackets in place with proper shock mounts. Ballistic or Ruff stuff specialties have some great quality brackets. You’ll have to stay long arm up front unless you replace the factory brackets. TNT, Clayton and Iron Man 4x4 (personal favorite) all make excellent genuine 4 link long arm kits. Or you could always keep what you have if your comfortable running that. Most of those companies can provide springs as well but there are so many spring options for the front. Zone and BDS are good as are metalcloak, Old man emu and others. Rubicon express is also ok. Rough country, skyjacker etc are at the bottom of the barrel. Good marketing and a few of their products are decent but in general they have a bad rep. Currie steering setup (CE-9701) Ironman 4x4 track bar and steering brace system would be best. You can do without a drop pitman at 3-4” of lift with the Currie linkage.

Are you referring to that thin little spacer plate that goes between the bellhousing and the block?

Still out in the ocean for now

The Cherokee bumper does not fit. Unfortunately rear MJ bumpers are hard to come by and are one of those one-off items that are hard to source like taillights. There are a few aftermarket options though if your interested in going that route.

I’m assuming it’s an add a leaf rear?

I’ve decided to set aside my stand alone project for the time being and will be listing the system for sale if anyone is interested. I’ll be moving in the near future and don’t have time to work on this at the moment. In the mean time, hood has been completely refinished with a lot of custom work for a much sleeker design. Have all the hardware degreased and now soaking in rust remover. Will install tomorrow.

4.56 for sure if your getting new gears. The auto tranny is a power hog. An ax15 might be fine with 4.10

Should be warmer outside by then lol