Found the nightmare (reason axle is not centered)

[Ricky8227]

So just realized the previous owner cut the factory leaf mounts and slid them back lol. And the best part is they aren’t even equal distance. The right side is 1/4 inch further back than the left side. And the perches he welded on for the Chrysler 8.25 are off 1/4 inch as well. So the axle is all out of wack. So I figure the only way to fix is by cutting off brackets on the unibody, and put them back into factory position. Also will have to re weld the perches so they are actually centered. Anybody know what leaf spring mounts I can use instead of trying to re weld the factory ones back in place? What a disaster lol 

[pizzaman09]

Actually the 1/4" difference is factory if I remember reading correctly. 

[Ricky8227]

3 minutes ago, pizzaman09 said:

Actually the 1/4" difference is factory if I remember reading correctly. 

Yeah but these are not factory locations. It’s like he wanted to stretch the axle back. Don’t understand why. And the drivers rear tire is further back towards the rear than the passenger side. So the axle is crooked 

[89 MJ]

Oh my, that is crazy. At least the 8.25 is a good upgrade if its a 29 spline unit.

 

If you're after an OEM type spring hanger, you'll need to reuse yours. They look to be nice enough, so that might not be terribly difficult. If originality isn't a concern, there are numerous hangers that you could buy or build your own out of some rectangular tubing.

 

It looks like he just flipped the shock brackets on the XJ axle upside down too. It doesn't look like your shocks have enough up travel either.

 

Also, has your driveshaft been cut and lengthened in the middle? It looks like it steps up to a larger diameter.

[pizzaman09]

This thread may help a bit.

 

[Ricky8227]

Just now, 89 MJ said:

Oh my, that is crazy. At least the 8.25 is a good upgrade if its a 29 spline unit.

 

If you're after an OEM type spring hanger, you'll need to reuse yours. They look to be nice enough, so that might not be terribly difficult. If originality isn't a concern, there are numerous hangers that you could buy or build your own out of some rectangular tubing.

 

It looks like he just flipped the shock brackets on the XJ axle upside down too. It doesn't look like your shocks have enough up travel either.

 

Also, has your driveshaft been cut and lengthened in the middle? It looks like it steps up to a larger diameter.

Yes the driveshaft looks to be lengthened. I believe it has had a 4x4 swap by the looks of everything. If I put the factory mount back in its original spot, what springs should I get? I want to have a 4”ish lift in the back. Not 6”. 

[Ricky8227]

3 minutes ago, pizzaman09 said:

This thread may help a bit.

 

Expect the rear is my problem here

[89 MJ]

3 minutes ago, Ricky8227 said:

Yes the driveshaft looks to be lengthened. I believe it has had a 4x4 swap by the looks of everything. If I put the factory mount back in its original spot, what springs should I get? I want to have a 4”ish lift in the back. Not 6”. 

I believe you're pretty much going to have to use MJ leaf springs. There really will be no great way to get to 4" of lift. Do you want to keep it spring over axle or would you go with spring under axle? If you want to go back to spring under, I believe Rusty's off road makes 4.5" lift springs. Otherwise it has been reported that General Springs factory replacement springs will lift it about 3", but not in all cases. If you wanted to stick with spring over, I'd look for used MJ springs and then pull one leaf out of the spring pack.

[Ricky8227]

8 minutes ago, 89 MJ said:

I believe you're pretty much going to have to use MJ leaf springs. There really will be no great way to get to 4" of lift. Do you want to keep it spring over axle or would you go with spring under axle? If you want to go back to spring under, I believe Rusty's off road makes 4.5" lift springs. Otherwise it has been reported that General Springs factory replacement springs will lift it about 3", but not in all cases. If you wanted to stick with spring over, I'd look for used MJ springs and then pull one leaf out of the spring pack.

Thank you. What would I do about the shackles if I go the route of doing the mj springs, and removing a leaf? These things are long lol 

[89 MJ]

47 minutes ago, Ricky8227 said:

Thank you. What would I do about the shackles if I go the route of doing the mj springs, and removing a leaf? These things are long lol 

I would either try to find some MJ ones or some XJ ones, depending on the route you go. To try to keep it lower, I'd go with the XJ shackle. It might save you from needing to pull a leaf on the pack, its hard to say for sure.

[ghetdjc320]

I will say, staying spring over and removing leaves may give you a pretty good recipe for axle wrap. Base the lift around the tire size you have/want. With your wheel openings already trimmed, you could probably run a 33 with little issue on General Spring replacement 4 leaf packs and maybe a 3” front lift coil. If you want to stay SOA, you’re really not going to get less than about 5” of lift on stock springs, especially with your 8.25 axle tubes. Here is a possible route for you to go if you want to get back to a lower lift and correct geometry:

GS 4 leaf packs

3” front lift coils

Stock MJ or JKS shackles (XJ shackles can limit your spring flex if you go SUA)

New front spring hangers (something like this may work but double check your measurements: https://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/R1133.html

Also grab some new shock mounting tabs and SUA perches from ruff stuff.

 

Based on your other posts, you can grab a pair of passenger side bed repair panels if you want to restore the factory flare mounts (this will limit your tire size down to about 31’s or maybe 32’s depending on wheel offset and tire width)

 

With this setup you can run off the shelf ZJ steering, no control arm drop brackets, no dropped pitman arms, stock ball joints, stockish brakes, adjustable track bar and you’ll have a nice handling and performing rig. 
It will cost a bit but still represent a great value depending on your end goals. Just remember to start with tire size and let that dictate what you need.
 

There is a nice video from DPG off-road about trimming your wheel well openings that actually looks decent and performs well

[ghetdjc320]

One other thing I forgot to mention, if you’re going to be doing any work on the rear suspension, start dousing those spring and shackle bolts in PB blaster for the next few days. The bolt shoulders tend to get rusted to the bushing sleeves.

[Ricky8227]

5 hours ago, ghetdjc320 said:

I will say, staying spring over and removing leaves may give you a pretty good recipe for axle wrap. Base the lift around the tire size you have/want. With your wheel openings already trimmed, you could probably run a 33 with little issue on General Spring replacement 4 leaf packs and maybe a 3” front lift coil. If you want to stay SOA, you’re really not going to get less than about 5” of lift on stock springs, especially with your 8.25 axle tubes. Here is a possible route for you to go if you want to get back to a lower lift and correct geometry:

GS 4 leaf packs

3” front lift coils

Stock MJ or JKS shackles (XJ shackles can limit your spring flex if you go SUA)

New front spring hangers (something like this may work but double check your measurements: https://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/R1133.html

Also grab some new shock mounting tabs and SUA perches from ruff stuff.

 

Based on your other posts, you can grab a pair of passenger side bed repair panels if you want to restore the factory flare mounts (this will limit your tire size down to about 31’s or maybe 32’s depending on wheel offset and tire width)

 

With this setup you can run off the shelf ZJ steering, no control arm drop brackets, no dropped pitman arms, stock ball joints, stockish brakes, adjustable track bar and you’ll have a nice handling and performing rig. 
It will cost a bit but still represent a great value depending on your end goals. Just remember to start with tire size and let that dictate what you need.
 

There is a nice video from DPG off-road about trimming your wheel well openings that actually looks decent and performs well

Thank you for your reply. My goal is to not have to cut and move the front leaf hangers. If I were to just replace the shackles to xj ones will that lower the rear end? The spring packs that are on this axle are 6 leafs thick.. just seems way over kill. That’s why I was thinking about removing the bottom 2 leafs and adding xj shackles. This won’t be a wheeling rig. Just a grocery getter. 

[eaglescout526]

If you want a grocery getter truck, back to factory is the best way to do this. You’ll need an MJ axle as that XJ axle, the leaf mounts are closer to the pumpkin than the MJ ones are. MJ axles are spring under axle or SUA vs the XJ being spring over. 
 

 

[Ricky8227]

3 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said:

If you want a grocery getter truck, back to factory is the best way to do this. You’ll need an MJ axle as that XJ axle, the leaf mounts are closer to the pumpkin than the MJ ones are. MJ axles are spring under axle or SUA vs the XJ being spring over. 
 

 

The jeep drives good. Cruises at 70 mph no problem on 35s. I’m just trying to figure out if there is way to lower the rear end 1.5-2”. Without replacing the whole rear end. I’m going to try xj shackles cause the ones that are on there now seem so massive. 

[eaglescout526]

You have bigger balls than I. I would be very nervous to drive that hackery at 30mph. 

[89 MJ]

So what are your long term plans with the truck? I ask because lowering it 2" and welding in the bedside patches will probably lead to the tire hitting the bedside when the suspension compresses. You might also need to get a shorter driveshaft then too. 

[ghetdjc320]

1 hour ago, Ricky8227 said:

Thank you for your reply. My goal is to not have to cut and move the front leaf hangers. If I were to just replace the shackles to xj ones will that lower the rear end? The spring packs that are on this axle are 6 leafs thick.. just seems way over kill. That’s why I was thinking about removing the bottom 2 leafs and adding xj shackles. This won’t be a wheeling rig. Just a grocery getter. 

You could measure the springs and see if they could possibly be flipped to correct the wheelbase. As for the quantity of leaves, there are no overload springs in that pack. The design of the pack you have using multiple thin leaves is a great spring design but you’ll likely have issues if you remove a couple of springs as there aren’t really any supplementary springs in that design

[ghetdjc320]

4 hours ago, Ricky8227 said:

The jeep drives good. Cruises at 70 mph no problem on 35s. I’m just trying to figure out if there is way to lower the rear end 1.5-2”. Without replacing the whole rear end. I’m going to try xj shackles cause the ones that are on there now seem so massive. 

XJ shackles will rotate your pinion angle down toward the ground a bit. That may cause driveshaft vibes

[Ricky8227]

9 hours ago, ghetdjc320 said:

You could measure the springs and see if they could possibly be flipped to correct the wheelbase. As for the quantity of leaves, there are no overload springs in that pack. The design of the pack you have using multiple thin leaves is a great spring design but you’ll likely have issues if you remove a couple of springs as there aren’t really any supplementary springs in that design

Could I remove just one leaf? If so which one would be best to remove? 

[DesertRat1991]

On 5/1/2025 at 8:33 PM, Ricky8227 said:

The jeep drives good. Cruises at 70 mph no problem on 35s. I’m just trying to figure out if there is way to lower the rear end 1.5-2”. Without replacing the whole rear end. I’m going to try xj shackles cause the ones that are on there now seem so massive. 

 

Your entire suspension geometry is off.  That shackle angle is already very steep. If you move to shorter shackles 1) the leafs may not be long enough to reach at all or 2) you will increase your risk of shackle inversion.

 

Probably time for a personal cost/benefit analysis on this project. 

 

It'll take a lot of work, plus parts you don't have, to get anywhere near stock specs.  For a clean grocery getter, you could probably find a less modified rig to use as your base project.

 

For a trail beater, well... that's where it gets interesting.  You say it rides good on 35s. Ok then. At this point, it might be easier to recut/reshape the wheel wells with a saw so the axle LOOKS centered, then fab up some sheet metal fender flares and call it good.  Hit the trails and enjoy the build as-is. 

[ghetdjc320]

12 hours ago, DesertRat1991 said:

 

Your entire suspension geometry is off.  That shackle angle is already very steep. If you move to shorter shackles 1) the leafs may not be long enough to reach at all or 2) you will increase your risk of shackle inversion.

 

Probably time for a personal cost/benefit analysis on this project. 

 

It'll take a lot of work, plus parts you don't have, to get anywhere near stock specs.  For a clean grocery getter, you could probably find a less modified rig to use as your base project.

 

For a trail beater, well... that's where it gets interesting.  You say it rides good on 35s. Ok then. At this point, it might be easier to recut/reshape the wheel wells with a saw so the axle LOOKS centered, then fab up some sheet metal fender flares and call it good.  Hit the trails and enjoy the build as-is. 

 
You’re in a tough spot with this rig without shelling out some coin and fixing some items if you want a driver.