tisker Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 been teaching myself about trucks with my comanche. I'm at a loss on suspension. I'm not trying to build a crawler. i wanna build a daily driver that can get to some good camping spots. I'm always on the road, so I'm constantly set up in the jeep. recently found a shell, and have loaded her down with gear for a long trip. noticed a sag from being weighted and decided a suspension upgrade was needed. id like to keep it cost efficient, maybe even piece together what would help now and upgrade in the future. ive been thinking about doing a leaf upgrade from rustys offroad. any tips would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftpiercecracker1 Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 What is your budget? I would recommend some heavy duty (metric ton) leaf springs from Hell Creek suspensions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggcnash Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 What is your budget? I would recommend some heavy duty (metric ton) leaf springs from Hell Creek suspensions.Second that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJTIM Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 General Spring KC, MO http://www.generalspringkc.com/Leaf_Springs_Jeep_Comanche_s/1954.htm They offered CC discount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinkrun Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 If you can't afford new springs at this time good overload springs will help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParadiseMJ Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Or less weight. How much "gear" is back there If your springs are sagging that much, you need new leafs. Even stock leafs would be an improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tisker Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 as of right now i can swing prob 200-400. was eyeballing some leaf upgrades for 62$ till i can overhaul the whole setup. or a whole new leaf setup for like 250$the back is converted to living quarters with bed and storage, nothing i can get rid off. since I'm a traveling artist, i have my entire art studio back there, plus a bed and kitchen supplies. as for overload springs, something like this?http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1324 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankTheDog Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 If you can't afford the metric tons find yourself a set of Cherokee 3.5" leaf packs and cut the eyes off and remove all the leaves between the main and the bottom spring on the Comanche spring pack and slip the 3.5" leaf pack in. With that and a set of Chevy drop shackles you'll have much better carrying capacity and 2.5" or so of lift. You'll also need longer shocks. I've been running that setup for three years now and it doubled my carrying capacity. Also put a set of ZJ springs in the front and it has enough clearance for 31's easily. If you put an Aussie locker in the rear it'll help a lot off road and shouldn't hurt your drivability to much with a long bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftpiercecracker1 Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Something tells me OP will probably not have the tools/funds to much if any of those things. If you can't afford the metric tons find yourself a set of Cherokee 3.5" leaf packs and cut the eyes off and remove all the leaves between the main and the bottom spring on the Comanche spring pack and slip the 3.5" leaf pack in.With that and a set of Chevy drop shackles you'll have much better carrying capacity and 2.5" or so of lift. You'll also need longer shocks.I've been running that setup for three years now and it doubled my carrying capacity. Also put a set of ZJ springs in the front and it has enough clearance for 31's easily.If you put an Aussie locker in the rear it'll help a lot off road and shouldn't hurt your drivability to much with a long bed. as of right now i can swing prob 200-400. was eyeballing some leaf upgrades for 62$ till i can overhaul the whole setup. or a whole new leaf setup for like 250$the back is converted to living quarters with bed and storage, nothing i can get rid off. since I'm a traveling artist, i have my entire art studio back there, plus a bed and kitchen supplies. as for overload springs, something like this?http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1324 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeep Driver Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 http://www.generalspringkc.com/Leaf_Springs_Jeep_Comanche_s/1954.htm I recommend that you save a few more dollars somehow and replace the full spring. New bolts will run you about $45 Find a good shop, a small mom and pop shop, to swap your springs out. If you walk up with all your parts.....you might get by for about $150 labor. That will put you at about $600........then put it behind you and forget about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave92cherokee Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 On a side note are those 2x4's between the shell and bedrails? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Rancho lists a "full-length" add-a-leaf kit for the XJ (Cherokee) and MJ (Comanche). Of course, it won't be full-length in a Comanche, but it will be "long" rather than "short." The Rancho catalog says it generates 2-1/2" of lift, but that's the XJ spec. In the MJ it's more like 1-1/2". I used a set on a '78 full-size Cherokee that was badly sagged in the rear, and it brought things back to a bit higher than stock height -- which allowed me to get 31x10.50s onto the drums without having to jack the body away from the axle. Should run about $80 at today's prices, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 http://www.generalspringkc.com/Leaf_Springs_Jeep_Comanche_s/1954.htm I recommend that you save a few more dollars somehow and replace the full spring. New bolts will run you about $45 Find a good shop, a small mom and pop shop, to swap your springs out. If you walk up with all your parts.....you might get by for about $150 labor. That will put you at about $600........then put it behind you and forget about it. Are they really that much off the shelf? I always have mine made while I wait at a local rural shop that specializes in suspension and semi truck brakes for a bit over $25 including washers and tall nuts. Any thickness, any length, any axle housing or spring diameter, either round or square. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 as of right now i can swing prob 200-400. was eyeballing some leaf upgrades for 62$ till i can overhaul the whole setup. or a whole new leaf setup for like 250$ the back is converted to living quarters with bed and storage, nothing i can get rid off. since I'm a traveling artist, i have my entire art studio back there, plus a bed and kitchen supplies. as for overload springs, something like this? http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1324 Autozone has them on the shelf in the trailer towing section for less than that. I imagine Pep Boys, O Reilly's and Advance also have them for a lower price as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tisker Posted October 20, 2014 Author Share Posted October 20, 2014 prob gonna go the route of just replacing the leaf springs. possibly grab the ones from general spring, since theyve been brought up twice, and the price doesnt seem like a break bank scenario. I'm on the road now, so ill end up swinging by auto zone and getting an overload spring set till i can get the new ones, and get to a place to work. though the add a leaf seems like the cheaper route. only reason I'm thinking of the full swap is that the truck sat for YEARS before i started working on it. last trip i told myself that ima have to start figuring out a suspension overhaul. @dave yes thats pressure treated wood. ripped it down, and used it as a spacer for a little extra head room (I'm 6'2'') and to help bring the cab lines together. sorry for the delayed response, ive been all over the place these past few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasbulliwagen Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 For those of us here who appreciate it, what kind of art do you do. We would love to see some pictures. And I also reccomend new full spring packs when you are able to. And new U-bolts are mandatory, not optional. Just FYI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tisker Posted October 20, 2014 Author Share Posted October 20, 2014 ya ima start the saving and researching for a overhaul on the suspension. just threw on the overload springs. brought her back up to about stock height.(~3/4 of an inch) much better(though there still is a slight sag). still would like to get a little bit more clearance when i do the full upgrade on the suspension though.as for my art, i tend to lean more toward geometric patterns and mandalas. here's one of my more recent pieces.anyone interested can check me out on facebook or instagramhttps://www.facebook.com/TiskONERhttp://instagram.com/tisk_onerthanks for the help thus far guys. now to start plotting what to do suspension wise, and get a general price in my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Looks like your leaf spring and/or shackle bushings are rotten. The wheel isn't centered in the wheel well. That's how my longbed looked like when I first bought it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tisker Posted October 21, 2014 Author Share Posted October 21, 2014 ya i noticed they were beat when i was intstalling the overhaul springs. definitely on my list of things to replace with this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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