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Budget rear leaf spring options?


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I'm going to swap in some Rusty's 3.5" XJ coils and some RC lower tube control arms onto my currently stock XJ.

 

What is the best way to approximatly match this lift in the rear? Its a 2wd shortbed with the 4.0 and AW4 trans.

 

It already sits higher in the rear as of right now, I was thinking a 2" XJ lift shackle would be enough for now?

 

I will be converting it to 4x4 sometime in the neer future also. I will be going SOA (when I swap in a 88) with the stock springs and shackles so I don't want to waste money buying any lift springs.

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some chevy drop shackles form the parts store should do what you want. IIRC MJ springs are wider that XJ springs so the XJ shackle would not work

Close but no cigar.

 

The MJ shackles are longer than the XJ shackles. You can replace the stock MJ shackles with XJ lift shackles but you will net zero to very little lift.

 

Chevy drop shackles will net you about 2" of lift. Oftentimes they have multiple holes drilled to mount the spring so you can fine tune how much lift they will give you.

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some chevy drop shackles form the parts store should do what you want. IIRC MJ springs are wider that XJ springs so the XJ shackle would not work

Close but no cigar.

 

The MJ shackles are longer than the XJ shackles. You can replace the stock MJ shackles with XJ lift shackles but you will net zero to very little lift.

 

Chevy drop shackles will net you about 2" of lift. Oftentimes they have multiple holes drilled to mount the spring so you can fine tune how much lift they will give you.

 

i knew there was something i forgot about the xj shackles

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Some XJ guys use MJ shackles to gain a little extra lift, going to xj shackles isnt going to give you anything. I would either find an xj spring pack and add a couple leafs to your pack and buy a cheap pair of shackles (ie rough country) for a 2" or budget boost, that would beleast expensive.

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Does anyone know the length of stock MJ shackles? and what length equals how much lift?

 

For instance stock YJ shackles are 4" bolt to bolt. After that for every inch you gain 1/2" lift. So a 6" shackle is 1" lift for a YJ.

 

It would be great to figure out this rule of thumb for MJ shackles.

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If the axle was centered front-to-rear, you would need a shackle 2" longer to get 1" of lift. This doesn't calculate out exactly when the axle isn't centered, but it's probably close enough for approximating.

 

2:1 -- so if you want 3 inches of lift, you need shackles 6 inches longer than factory. (Not a good idea.)

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If the axle was centered front-to-rear, you would need a shackle 2" longer to get 1" of lift. This doesn't calculate out exactly when the axle isn't centered, but it's probably close enough for approximating.

 

2:1 -- so if you want 3 inches of lift, you need shackles 6 inches longer than factory. (Not a good idea.)

 

Yeah I don't really like any lift shackle for any truck over 2" longer than factory. I was just exploring this option to see what I could do. I am new to the MJ's so its a good thing I asked and didnt just order up a set of XJ" lift shackles.

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You could go with a new set of springs from hellscreek.

 

Brandon

 

The whole point was keeping it cheap untill I go SOA but I'm waiting to get a 8.8 for that and I also have to wait for my friend to pull his longarms and 5.5" coils so he can sell them to me.

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If you can lay your hands on another set of MJ rear springs, or a set from an older Dakota (one with springs under the axle) or (I think) a Ford Explorer (???), cut the eyes off the main leaves and use those plus the second leaves as AALs. Just the mains should give you about 1-1/2" to 2" -- using two additional leaves should get you to where you want to be.

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