Ride with New leaf springs; Standard or Metric Ton?

[johnj92131]

The rear spring packs on my 86 Comanche TDI are shot. 

 

My question is:  For ride comfort, which spring pack to go with?  Standard 3/1 pack with a 1280 lb rating or the Metric Ton 3/2 pack with a 1700 lb rating?

 

Know "ride comfort" is a bit subjective.  But have any of you tried each spring pack?

 

My 91 has the Metric Ton springs PLUS 2 overload springs on each side added by the previous owner.  Needles to say, it rides like a truck and does not bottom out even with 3100 lbs in the bed.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Jeep Driver]

I'll tell you what works for me.

 

You mentioned you have NOS springs for the front...........don't know what you did there...........

 

I had the standard springs on the rear, new from GS, ride was harsh. When the military wrap became available, I swapped. 

 

MW springs in the rear are a perfect match to the OME 930 springs in the front, the perfect combination, in my opinion. 

 

 

If you want an even (aft to fore) ride that is FIRM but not harsh.......that is the combination to go with. 

 

Of course, those are combined with 5100s.........very happy now. 

 

 

Any thing you do will change height, considerably, plan well.

[johnj92131]

Kept the original 4 cylinder coil springs.  Here is what was done to the front end, Quoting what Whitbread emailed me:

 

1 3/4 inch poly Coil spacers are in. I removed the factory 5/8" thick rubber spring pads since the poly takes the place of them, so the overall front end increase is only ~1 1/4", hardly noticeable but gets us my preferred clearance amounts. I also added a 1" spacer to where the bump stop contacts so overall travel of oem suspension is the same. When the coils were out I pushed the axle tube all the way up and the tube contacted the oil pan and 4 link bracket to ac compressor at same time bump stops touched. So the 1" spacer will let the bump stops compress and no danger of contact anywhere. But to even get that level of compression in the first place, you'd need to take a dukes of Hazzard jump. 

 

Your rear leaf packs are in sad shape and really should be replaced. Once they are replaced and crap is out of the bed, the truck should be level.

[rokinn]

I'll tell you what works for me.

 

You mentioned you have NOS springs for the front...........don't know what you did there...........

 

I had the standard springs on the rear, new from GS, ride was harsh. When the military wrap became available, I swapped. 

 

MW springs in the rear are a perfect match to the OME 930 springs in the front, the perfect combination, in my opinion. 

 

 

If you want an even (aft to fore) ride that is FIRM but not harsh.......that is the combination to go with. 

 

Of course, those are combined with 5100s.........very happy now. 

 

 

Any thing you do will change height, considerably, plan well.

By standard springs do you mean the MT ones or the just the 3/1 stock springs?  Do you know how much ride height was added with your current set up from what would be factory height?  Mine is currently 7&1/8" in front and 8" in the rear.  I'm looking at the MW MT from GS and the OME 930's to beef up the suspension for towing.  My tires are 215/75/15 Firestone AT's.  They are going to be there for awhile as they have less than 5K on them so I don't want it to look too goofy with the added lift.  I think less than 2" would be fine, more, not so much.  I'm going to install a Dana 44 in the next month so a little lift will help with the drive shaft mating to the new axle issue, I'm hoping.  Chime in on gearing also, I haven't decided on 3.55 or 3.73 yet.  I'm leaning toward 3.73.  thx.

[johnj92131]

Standard Springs = 3/1

 

My 91 Comanche has factory BigTon/MetricTon plus 2 overload spring on each side. No bottoming issues at all. But rides like a truck.

 

Actually want to try for a softer ride with the diesel. But, if things work out well, the diesel will replace the 91 Comanche.

 

The TDI engine will produce the torque to replace even a Stroker for towing or anything else.

 

My current issue is how to get a "soft ride" most of the time and still get the load capacity of the metric ton suspension.

 

My current options:

 

1. Air Shocks. They require some air pressure all the time, so should impact ride?? Also, "only" 500 lbs extra load capacity.

 

2. AirBags. Prehaps same issues as air Shocks but more load capacity. Rated at 2000 pounds extra load capacity.

 

3. Areon rubber springs as sold by Timbor? These don't change the rear springs till they are very close to bottoming out, then the rubber springs take up the excess load. As a bonus, their capacity rating is 3000 lbs. Sounds like an interesting opportunity, no?

[johnj92131]

About gearing and ride height. Think it best to see how the current set up works on my 2500 mile trip home.

 

Whatever tires/wheels I settle on will be close to stock 225/75x15. Maybe I can find 16 inch wheels

[rokinn]

The Areons by Timbor look interesting.  As usual, the more I enquire the more unsure I become.  Then it's just make a choice and live with it.  thx for the info.

[8valvehero]

For 3 years I used air shocks for towing and carrying a camper. They're fine until the damper blows: then it turns into a pogo-stick, but only on one side of the axle. Scary!

A friend of mine is using bags from SD http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=6919. His truck rides great and carries the load beautifully. Plus, it doesnt require replacement every time your shock dies. They are in the plan for my '91.

 

:thumbsup:

[rokinn]

For 3 years I used air shocks for towing and carrying a camper. They're fine until the damper blows: then it turns into a pogo-stick, but only on one side of the axle. Scary!

 

A friend of mine is using bags from SD http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=6919. His truck rides great and carries the load beautifully. Plus, it doesnt require replacement every time your shock dies. They are in the plan for my '91.

 

:thumbsup:

This looks like a good alternative also.  From the installation instructions it looks like one needs to do a load sensing valve delete or braking complications will arise.  As usual, one thing leads to another.  Not sure I can put this together time wise before mid September when I want to do a road trip.  Something to keep in mind though.  thx

[Eagle]

This looks like a good alternative also.  From the installation instructions it looks like one needs to do a load sensing valve delete or braking complications will arise.  As usual, one thing leads to another.  Not sure I can put this together time wise before mid September when I want to do a road trip.  Something to keep in mind though.  thx

 

 

 

Correct. The rear load sensing proportioning valve actually doesn't have any idea how much load you have, it adjusts based on the change in ride height. This is why Monroe doesn't list a Load-Leveler (coil-over) shock for the rear of the MJ. They have some that will fit, but the added load capacity of the coil-over shock reduces how much the bed drops, which means the height sensing valve won't increase the rear braking enough to compensate for the added load. The same applies to helper springs, air shocks, air bags, etc.