HellCreek

"Road Force" balancing is done on a machine that applies pressure to the tread as the tire is being balanced. It is much better than regular spin balancing. Your expensive tires will last longer, too. I also highly recommend inflating with Nitrogen instead of air. Again, your tires will run cooler and last longer. These two things cost a little more initially, but are well worth it in the long run. :thumbsup:

Yes, JB, but he already replaced his track bar (see picture above), so he eliminated that cause. The only thing left to do is balancing, as far as I can see. :cheers: -Tom

Have your wheels "Road Force" balanced. It will make a world of difference. If you have replaced all of the front end components, and your alignment is on spec, that should fix your problem. :thumbsup: -Tom

Hi, Eagle, Yes, MJ center bolts are 3/8", but they have a 12 mm diameter head. 3/8" socket head cap screws have a 9/16" diameter head, so you would have to reduce the diameter of the bolt head or enlarge the hole in the axle saddle in order to use them. You can drill spring steel, but you would have to use a cobalt or carbide drill bit at a low rpm and with plenty of cutting fluid as Pete said. -Tom

:hijack: I have a full gauge cluster that I swapped into my '89. It has the red numbers. I know that some clusters have blue numbers. What years did this change, and is there a difference in the gauges other than the color? Thanks, Tom

Yes, I did say that BLHTAZ was running 3 leaf springs instead of 4 leaf, but those were made as 3 leaf springs. They were the prototypes of our 3" lift springs, and I had run them on my Comanche for about 4 months before he got them, so they were already broken in. I did notice on your build thread that you said the back of your truck sat level, so the rear springs may not be the problem. I just threw that out there as a possibility. I assume that you bought your Comanche used (pre-owned). Did you check it for level before you started? Another possibility could be that your truck was not level to begin with -- again, just throwing that out as a possibility. Measure from the center of each hub to the crease in the fenders directly above, and let me know what you come up with. Don't measure to the wheel well, because that could be off a little, and don't measure to the ground, since that may not be perfectly level, either. The crease that I'm referring to is the one where a paint stripe would normally go down the length of your truck.

I assume the lean appeared after you removed the #4 leaves from the spring packs. That is another possible disadvantage to removing leaves from springs, other than reducing ride height and losing carrying capacity. Our leaf springs are hand fitted and the arch is corrected at the assembly line, so removing leaves can have adverse effects. Since Comanches have the gas tank on the driver's side, they tend to lean a little that way anyways. You could switch sides, or just reinstall the missing leaves. You will need to install the #4 leaves on the springs that they were removed from, though.

We have new center bolts, if you need them. You can also use a socket head cap screw (some folks call them "Allen bolts"). The hole in the axle saddle, however, is 12 mm and the head of the standard 3/8" socket head cap screw is 9/16", so you would have to either turn the head of the bolt on a lathe or enlarge the hole in the axle saddle in order to use them. Any aftermarket shackle designed for our trucks will work. I have never really seen the value in "boomerang" shackles, except that they would allow more flex toward the bumper, since they are "bent" that way, offering more clearance before hitting an obstruction, like the bumper. This helps on vehicles with the shackles mounted directly beneath the bumper, like CJs, Samurais and Land Cruisers but not so much on our trucks. When you look at them, though, the spring shackle eye and the frame shackle eye are still in a straight line. It's that "shortest distance between two points is a straight line" thing. -Tom

It appears that you have the 1440 lb. capacity springs, since all of the others, with the exception of the Metric Tonne 3+2 packs, have 3 leaves plus the 2nd stage overload leaf. However, since there is no space between the clip spacer and the main leaf, you could have a standard leaf pack with an add-a-leaf. -Tom

Wahoo, Don is correct. Our lift springs, both 3" and 4.5", are basically the 1440 lb. capacity 4+1 springs with extra arch and slightly longer main leaves to compensate for the arch. We really don't consider these springs to be actual Metric Tonne springs, since the MT springs have a capacity of 1700 lbs., but they will carry more load initially, since the main spring pack on the 1440 lb. springs is 1.164" total thickness, and the MT main spring pack is 0.937" total thickness. The extra capacity of the MT springs comes from the double 2nd stage overload leaves. Anyone can soften the ride on our lift springs by removing the 4th leaf in the spring pack. The only drawbacks are that you would lose capacity and a little lift (probably about 3/4 to 1 inch). This would also allow for a more level looking truck. As I said earlier BLHTAZ is running this setup on his truck. -Tom

I have a '91 Cherokee that was doing pretty much the same thing. The pump would run and some gas was making its way to the fuel pump, but the engine would not run. I decided to replace the fuel pump. When I removed the old pump, I discovered that the hose from the pump body to the metal tube leading out of the tank was soft and gooey and leaking. Like you said, NC-MJ, there was delivery but no pressure. This might be your problem. :dunno: -Tom

Yes, a softer spring gives better flex, but, as a trade-off, you lose carrying capacity. Kevin, In your pictures I don't see any evidence of the spring leaves rubbing the spring clips (no shiny spots). Could the squeaking be coming from the shackles or the anchor bushing? :dunno: -Tom

What do you mean about the clinch-type spring clips? Could you show me a picture? The leaves creek a lot when taking off at any speed because the springs have about an inch before contacting the bolt and clamp. Is this what you are referring to? If so how can I eliminate this creeking? This seems like it would contribute to a ton of axle wrap if any power is put to the ground and thus straining the U-joints due to pinion angle, can this be remided? Hi, Kevin, Bolt-type clips are a plus -- not a bad thing. They allow more flex and movement in the spring, and thus a softer ride. If you believe that the noise is coming from the spring leaves rubbing against the clips, then a good grease applied to the inside surfaces of the clip should solve the problem. I'm sure most of the guys on here would prefer bolt-type clips to wrap (clinch) type clips. -Tom

Hi, Kevin, First off, Nice Truck ! :thumbsup: I wish mine looked that good. Secondly, yes, you can remove the last leaf in the main spring pack to soften the ride. That will reduce the load capacity from 1440 lbs. to 980 lbs. and also lower the rear about an inch. Brent (BLHTAZ) has a setup like this. He has our first 3" lift springs with RE front coils. His springs were made with 3 leaves plus the bottom 2nd stage overload leaf. I am running our first 4.5" springs with 4 +1 leaves, just like yours. I am happy with my ride and I have the original clinch-type spring clips, instead of the bolt-type that we used on all of our production springs. My truck is a SWB Sport truck, and I usually have it empty. Thanks, Tom

A quick check would be to pull the connector off the resistor, disabling it and the fan motor. Then warm up the engine and turn on the heater. If it still smells, then it's not something burning against the resistor. You could also remove the resistor and feel around in the hole with your finger to see if anything is touching it. A hot water / antifreeze mix will smell skunky and moldy, and, as JACKED88 said, you will see steam coming from the vents or defrost. -Tom

My Bronco did this once, and it was a small leak in the heater core under the dash. I hope that is not your problem, because in the Comanche it is a major undertaking to replace the heater core. -Tom

That is exactly what they are designed to do. They are not meant to give you any lift - at least not much. They are designed to give you more load capacity. We made them so that the folks who were cutting the eyes off of XJ springs wouldn't have to do that. -Tom

Re-drilling a main leaf within one (1) inch of the current center bolt hole is o.k., since it is still within the clamped axle seat area, but drilling close to the edge of that area or outside of that area is a very bad idea. Your main leaf would break at the old hole almost certainly. We could and would be able to make you a set of MJ springs with a different center bolt location, if we were running the factory. Business has been so slow this past month because of this horrid economy, that we haven't been able to light the heat treating furnaces. It seems that people would rather buy cheap foreign products than quality American ones, but don't get me started. :headpop: -Tom

Hi, Don, According to the prints that I have, standard MJ springs have a rate of 108. The Metric Tonnes have a rate of 130. Standard FSJ (Wagoneers and Cherokees) have a rate of 165, and the HD spring that we have a print of is 575. I'm sure there are FSJ springs with rates between 165 and 575, but we don't have the prints, so I don't know what those rates would be. -Tom

3/4 Ton and 1 Ton Chevys used a 56 inch rear springs. The division on them was 26" on the front and 30" on the rear. Pretty close to our 57" rear springs, but not an exact match. 1976-91 FSJ (Full-Size Jeep) rear springs are an exact match, but they have a higher load rate to accommodate the heavier vehicles. Chevy S-10 rear springs measure 26" x 28". 1966-81 Scout II rear springs are 28 x 28, but they are only 2" wide. Some Dodge and GMC motor homes used 285 x 28 inch rear springs and were also 2-1/2" wide. Other than these, I wouldn't have the slightest idea where to find what you are looking for, shelbyluvv. -Tom

a 5/16" hole is only 1/16" larger in diameter, meaning it is only 1/32" (0.03125") larger in radius, so it would only remove 0.03125" from the walls of the hole. From the pictures, you could easily drill a 3/8" hole without affecting the wall integrity appreciably. -Tom

Hi, Jim, With 1/4-20 screws into aluminum, I wouldn't torque much more than 10-12 ft.lbs. As for locking them, if you don't want to use Loc-tite, then you might try "shake proof" washers. I'm sure you know what these are, but in case you don't, they are thin steel washers with locking "teeth" either on the inside diameter or the outside diameter. They will hold without doing as much damage as a spring washer. While I was drilling and tapping, I personally would have gone to 5/16-18 bolts. -Tom

That's the key. I used to haul 5000 lbs. of springs, plus the heavy 16 ft. trailer behind my '86 Bronco from New Albany, MS to Dyersburg, TN, (about 3 hrs. one way) every week. I can tell you from that experience that it's not the towing that is the problem - it is the stopping, and my trailer is equipped with electric brakes. Just make sure you keep a lot of distance between you and the vehicles in front, and be extra careful of the idiots that pull out in front of you.

Thanks, Jeff. I'll try that in the morning. It probably wouldn't hurt to replace the fuel filter anyway. Thanks, Tom

Hi, Jeff, Yes, that is exactly what I have to do in the morning. Is it normal to have to cycle the pump several times to get it to start? I don't remember having to do this after I first rebuilt the engine. This seems to be a recent development. Thanks, Tom