Is this an old suspension lift?

[emosun]

The front coil springs used to be red. The shocks were white/red and said Rod Hall on them making me think they were Rancho rod hall edition shocks. How do I tell if the truck was lifted or not?

Also sorry for the terrible photos my phone is broken so these come courtesy of a 2013 samsung galaxy.

one thing i will say , this is a squishyest most comfy thing i've driven in a while. the shock still work really well for being maybe 30-40 years old.

 

[eaglescout526]

Still looks like factory suspension. Metric ton springs out back. Could be just old replacement rancho

shocks. 

[fiatslug87]

 

[Pete M]

there's an AAL snuck in there below the main leaf   

[emosun]

3 hours ago, fiatslug87 said:

 

Ok is there maybe a different measurement for a 4 wheel drive and thats maybe the 2 wheel drive?

I measured from the tops of the tubes to the frame and it's 9 1/2" up front and 10" in the rear

[Eagle_SX4]

42 minutes ago, emosun said:

I measured from the tops of the tubes to the frame and it's 9 1/2" up front and 10" in the rear

Sounds like you are at 1 inch of lift front and rear.

[emosun]

1 hour ago, Eagle_SX4 said:

Sounds like you are at 1 inch of lift front and rear.

hmm... well i suppose it technically is an old lift kit.

supposedly rancho made lift kits that included red springs back in the day (according to Ai). With how rusty the kit is i wouldn't be surprised if it was installed pretty early on at some point in it's life.

my dad have a nissan pickup with 300k on it that has all it's original suspension on it still so i think it's possible

[ThatJeepGuy]

9 hours ago, Pete M said:

there's an AAL snuck in there below the main leaf   

This... and those secondary spring clamps... the end of that AAL doesnt look very tapered like most ive seen, also doesnt space out like it maybe should. Id be curious if the AAL itself is a cut down leaf from another pack?

[Pete M]

also, also, that main leaf is INCREDIBLY tired.  note that it doesn't follow the AAL's curve at all.  

[fiatslug87]

Are those spring clamp bolts going between the top two leave or is just the picture angle?

[emosun]

2 hours ago, fiatslug87 said:

Are those spring clamp bolts going between the top two leave or is just the picture angle?

yes it appears so

[emosun]

6 hours ago, Pete M said:

also, also, that main leaf is INCREDIBLY tired.  note that it doesn't follow the AAL's curve at all.  

Yeah.. now that I know a bit more about how rear springs are supposed to look.... these spring are VERY worn out.

which leads me to believe these are probably it's original springs and shocks lol

[eaglescout526]

Those look like factory leafs. If I had to say, I think someone removed those retainer bolts to give the springs a new shot at life without being so compressed together. 

[emosun]

5 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said:

Those look like factory leafs. If I had to say, I think someone removed those retainer bolts to give the springs a new shot at life without being so compressed together. 

was a 4/1 pack even an option? I thought it could only be 3/1 or 3/2?

[eaglescout526]

27 minutes ago, emosun said:

was a 4/1 pack even an option? I thought it could only be 3/1 or 3/2?

I think early MTs were 4/1. Course they could be swapped in at any point since I see there’s a 35 on your MJ. Or even a towing package could’ve had those leafs without having the metric ton payload. 

[emosun]

9 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said:

I think early MTs were 4/1. Course they could be swapped in at any point since I see there’s a 35 on your MJ. Or even a towing package could’ve had those leafs without having the metric ton payload. 

ah ok this doesn't have a towing package and is an 87 short bed. I think maybe someone got one of these kits at one point in the past. I don't think they'd take the time to install the front springs and all the shocks and just so happened to have an extra leaf already installed.

that being said it all kinda needs fixing anyway so mystery somewhat solved for now. lol

 

[llhat]

clarification please    AAL  =  Added Additional Leaf ??

 

would he unbolted spring clamp result in a smoother ride?  letting the leaves function on their own?

 

would it be advised to clamp the leaves back together to 'help' that relaxed main leaf ??

[Pete M]

3 hours ago, eaglescout526 said:

Those look like factory leafs. If I had to say, I think someone removed those retainer bolts to give the springs a new shot at life without being so compressed together. 

 

those are factory with an AAL. 

 

 

theoretically you can clamp them back together. but it's a temporary thing at best.