Stock XJ rear sag

[McClare]

Hey guys I just bought a 2001 XJ as a daily driver. I'm going to keep it stock for now but I'd like to get rid of the sag in the rear. My idea was either to bring the leaves into a spring shop and get them to re-arc them or buy new ones and arc them an inch or so higher than stock. I'd like to try to keep the ride quality on it as smooth as possible if I can. Maybe air shocks with it? I'm not sure. I've had everyone tell me something different so far on other sites. They're likely to sag in the future anyway so would putting an extra leaf make it ride a whole lot worse or would it be very noticeable?

 

Thanks

[Pete M]

I added an extra main leaf (with the eyes cut off) to my MJ packs and got a small bit of lift (about an inch) and didn't notice any change in ride quality.

[exjay33]

McClare I have a new set of 3" rear springs , I mean never been under an xj bought them for a different project which I sold . I also have new set of 3.5 " coils I will part with them for a good price if your interested let me know . Like you said though if you have yours rearched they will just return to normal shortly , airshocks ok but rough on lower mounts .

[Eagle]

First, how much sag is there, and how are you measuring it?

 

Best approach if you really have sag is to get another set of XJ springs, cut the eyes off the main leaves, and use them as add-a-leaves. I did that on an '88 XJ I was refurbishing for an ex-GF. The rear had sagged a half inch (measured from axle centerline to flares). The addition of a pair of cut-off main leaves gave me a gross lift of 1-1/4". Because I had started out a half inch low, the net gain was a 3/4" lift over stock height -- which is less than the factory Up Country option.

 

The ride was very good. Short AALs that try for a lot of lift are very choppy and harsh, but I've met several people who have used cut-off main leaves as an AAL and all agreed that the resulting ride was very comfortable.

[FxRacing282]

re-arch... :wall: total waste of money. new leaves or what Pete & Eagle said.

[Motion Offroad]

If you want cheap we've got a set of 2" XJ AAL's laying around that I'm tired of looking at. Brand spankn' new. They are yours for $30 plus shipping. PM me if your interested.

[novawingnut]

I had the identical problem on my 2001 XJ...I bought it used at 80k, and the previous owner did a bit of towing with it, and it sagged significantly. I had been warned away from AAL's in the past, so I picked up a set of heavy-duty leaf springs from Quadratec (#56010.11 $75/ea) and installed them with poly bushings. I am very happy with the result...I also had a set of 15x8 Cragars w. Cooper 235's that didn't look right with the sagging rear, and they look superb with the new leafs.

I tow with my truck on occasion which is one of the reasons I got the heavy duty springs, and I should raise the front with 1" coil spacers to even out the lift in the back so I'd suggest the medium duty (#56010.10 $65/ea) or stock leafs (#56010.12 $60/ea). Only other suggestion would be to use the stock rubber bushings...I have non-greasable poly bushings and they "sing" a little :shake:

Happy to send you pics - shoot me a PM if I can help.

[The_Slow_Norris]

Are you going to lift in the future? If so and a 2"-3" is good enough, just buy the lift w/ new leaf packs... and an adjustable trackbar...

 

You won't need anything else and you'll have a mild lift. Maybe cheaper to grab some of those AALs off of one of the dudes here though. (Have a grinder handy)