Add a leaf?

[kyleag89]

I am new to this... How exactly does an add a leaf work on a MJ? I can only see it pushing the axle further up towards the truck....

[Pete M]

an AAL pushes the truck up, away from the axle. :thumbsup: It generally had more arch than the rest of the pack and pushes up the ends of the leafpacks.

[pilotblake]

If I understand the question, it will stiffen up your suspension but not change ride height on a SUA (spring under axle) On a SOA(spring over axle) it will stiffen as well as add lift to the truck. Also you will lose or lessen some articulation, but improve the negative effects of axle wrap.

[Geonovast]

You won't lose any height with the thickness of the leaf from an AAL when you're SOA, since the axle's still sitting on top of the main leaf.

 

Yes I just made this, cause I'm bored and I felt creative: edit for better pic. The numbers are number of pixels from the axle center to the frame. I know not a worthwhile system of measurement, but it's all I got.

[mvusse]

An add-a-leaf makes the spring pack stiffer, so it won't settle as much from the weight of the truck. It also has more arch than the stock leafs, forcing the whole pack into a bit steeper arch. This will give you some lift.

 

With a SOA set up, you will gain the thickness of the leaf in addition to the above.

[Eagle]

Even an AAL that has the same arch as the other leaves gives some lift. For example, a popular home-brewed AAL for the XJ is to cut the eyes off a second pair of XJ main leaves and use them as AALs. In a newer vehicle with newer "donor" main leaves, this generally results in about 1-1/2" of lift ... 1-1/4" plus a quarter for the thickness of the extra leaf. And the new leaf has the exact same arch as the original main leaf.

 

I did the same thing on an older XJ (an '88), using main leaves out of a wrecked 89 or 90. The rear had sagged about half an inch below the accepted norm of 17" from axle centerline to bottom of flare. After the AAL, it sat at 17-3/4", so the AAL grossed 1-1/4" of lift and after correcting the sag left me with a net lift of 3/4". This XJ was for an ex-GF to use as a daily driver in Montana so that was all that was needed. I just wanted to get it back up where it should be, and reinforce the tired springs a bit.

[johnnybebad]

as Eagle said, cutting a pair of old leafs and adding them does help. I did this with my XJ, and also added the bottom helper spring from an older model Dodge Dakota and the lift was quite noticeable. MJ`s have longer leafs than XJ`s , but you could still use cut off main leafs from an XJ.

[Lenard]

when i bought my truck it had a 3" coil spacer on the front and AAL in the rear, makes sit real level, and looks good, but it does stiffen it quite a bit.

[Eagle]

A SHORT AAL does make the ride stiff. That's one of the reasons to go with a long AAL. The XJ that I did using cut-off XJ main leaves rode VERY nicely after the "lift" (if you call 3/4" net increase a "lift"). I'm in Connecticut and the ex-GF I built it for is in Montana, so I drove it 2400 miles (or so) to deliver it. I think I was on the road three days, and there was definitely no harshness to the ride.

 

By contrast, the short AAL that was under my '88 MJ when I bought it was pure torture.

 

Much of the key is keeping the arch basically the same. When you stuff in a short leaf and use that to generate 3" or 4" of lift, that one leaf has to do a LOT of work, so it has to be thick, heavy, and stiff.