YJ - Sagging and Weak Springs

[BillX4]

So this should be an easy one for everyone on this board since many of you owned YJ's... My 95 YJ is riding on that sweet old factory suspension and has 90K miles under its belt. I have seen alot of internet pages say to "Watch out for sagging springs" like implying that the springs wear out over time which I'm sure is true. So my question is this:

How can I tell if my springs are weak/saggy/whatever so that I can justify a lift to the wife, ha? Is there a measurement I could take from something on the jeep to the ground to see if it is really not the right height or anything?:confused:

I think it would look nice with some 33" tires but it is a 2.5L Low Output 4-Banger with an Auto Trans and will probably just shoot shrapnel :eek!: out of the trans so I will probably just get some 31"s does anyone think the auto trans / 2.5L is a bad Idea for even 31's (Most of it's life is spent on my commute to work but it would like a little offroad time too :) )

Thanks alot everyone!:thumbsup:

[Piginajeep]

if they are flat,,, they needed replaced, look at the arc...
If they are not completely flat,, go spring over and throw some 35's on it!

it'll do fine with 31's, I'm guessing you have 4:10's.

It would be ok with 33"s but it wont win races. and you wont be able to maintain highway speeds up hill.

I run 33's with my TJ its a 2.5, it does great offroad. I just have to gas it more than the guys with the 4.0's. No big deal for me.

[BillX4]

Excellent, thanks for the great info, so if there as flat as a pancake, which they are then that would explain why speed bumps suck so much... good, as far as a SOA, I guess that I should buy a lift kit and was looking at Rubicon Express and a few others on quadratec.com.... any insight on a "cheap" lift kit? I'm no rock crawler... just need something that works! thanks!

[Piginajeep]

Excellent, thanks for the great info, so if there as flat as a pancake, which they are then that would explain why speed bumps suck so much... good, as far as a SOA, I guess that I should buy a lift kit and was looking at Rubicon Express and a few others on quadratec.com.... any insight on a "cheap" lift kit? I'm no rock crawler... just need something that works! thanks!

I'm very bias towards 4wd hardware, But my brother installed the 4wdh 2" kit on his YJ. It rides smooth. I was very impressed... Its also cheap

Ive heard very good things about Rubicon Express lifts, Ive never run one personally but they seem to be very good.

[Dutch]

Excellent, thanks for the great info, so if there as flat as a pancake, which they are then that would explain why speed bumps suck so much... good, as far as a SOA, I guess that I should buy a lift kit and was looking at Rubicon Express and a few others on quadratec.com.... any insight on a "cheap" lift kit? I'm no rock crawler... just need something that works! thanks!

In 1994 I bought a new 94yj. I drove that jeep for twelve years as my daily ride. Some four years ago I had a single leafe spring added to the four leafs so I could put some slightly bigger tires on them. I never had any problems much less go flat. There at the end I had 220,000 miles on that jeep.

[BeerMonkey]

i ran a rubicon express lift on my 87 and it held up great did nt show any sag for almost 6 years of off-road abuse

[CJ2a]

I had a Trail Master set of leafs on my '89 YJ, but I ended up reworking them. I took all 4 springs off and down to a local spring shop. They removed the really short leaves and added a thicker full length leaf to each pack. The pack was then recurved so that they were all the right height. Back in the early 90's it cost me like $40 a spring for the rebuild plus the cost of new U-bolts. I also installed new bushings.

Had I thought about it, Ishould have just taken my factory springs in and had those redone in the first place.

Look around, you might find a shop near you that can do the job. Have them quote you the cost if you just bring in the springs.

[Solarveil]

When I had my 95 I had stock suspesion and fit 30 x 10.50 with no rub and they were awesome. I had the 2.5 and the stick on stock rims and that thing was a turtle on the highway. I went everywhere I wanted to with no problem off road and on, I just got there slower.

[griffm3]

Do a spring over axle lift and you will get 5.5" of lift and can run 35's easily...thats what I ddi on my old 87 YJ and it looked really good and did very well offroad...

[quadratec]

I'm very bias towards 4wd hardware, But my brother installed the 4wdh 2" kit on his YJ. It rides smooth. I was very impressed... Its also cheap

Ive heard very good things about Rubicon Express lifts, Ive never run one personally but they seem to be very good.

They have sinced replaced that kit with the ProComp kit.

[Piginajeep]

They have sinced replaced that kit with the ProComp kit.


its still a 4wd hardware kit... just made by procomp..

i have'nt heard of any complaints on the new set up so it must be decent