I've had the 3.5" Max Travel kit on for some time and love the ride. My only complaint is when I load it up (JKU) with the whole fam damily and camping gear, etc. it's quick to sag in the rear so much so that it bottoms easily and steering gets real light.

The old springs were progressive up front and linear in the back.

SO, my question is would changing out those rear springs with the new triple rates rears help to combat that sagging issue when loaded up with gear? I called RK and spoke to a guy that let me know the ride was much improved (which I like already anyway) but really couldn't promise I'd see any improvement on my scenario as load increased.

I know between the linear and progressive design it SHOULD add the extra support, but has anyone made that kind of move yet/loaded up like I described and noticed an improvement?

Thanks

 

I have similar questions.

 

So you want a coil spring that does not compress when you put a heavy load on it?

 

Plagiarized for brevity, but springs 101:

A linear spring has a straight compression rating, for instance 300 lbs of force to compress the spring every inch throughout it's total travel. Say the car weighs 300 lbs at one corner, well the spring at that corner would be compressed one inch once installed. For each additional 300 lbs of pressure put on the spring, it would compress an aditional inch until it reaches minimum height. If the spring is termed progressive rate however, this rate changes as the spring is compressed. Many springs are progressive rate because it allows the suspension to be softer initially (making ride quality better) but stiffening up as the amount the spring is compressed increases. This allows you to make the spring fairly soft at smaller compression while making it stiff enough at bigger compression amounts to accurately control wheel & suspension movement when you are hauling shit.

 

I doubt you are going to find what you are looking for with a conventional spring as there are too many variable for a manufacturer to satisfy everybody. Ride height, vehicle weights, and total desired suspension travel would all need to be know by the manufacture to build the coil.What you are talking about is going from around a 175-200 pound rate to a 500 pound rate right now and still offer a decent ride and an effective articulation range. If you make the coil that heavy to handle that much weight at ride height it is not likely going to fully compress during wheel up travel and will reduce the available articulation and increase the chances of a roll over in off camber situations. If you run a shorter stiff rate then it may not extend enough and would require coil retainers so you didn't loose a coil at full droop.

There are 4 ways to get what you are asking and all of them would require adjustment by you before and after your heavy wheeling trips.
They would be the JKS ACOS another would be air bags. Both of these could be used with your current coils. The other two ways are dual rate coil overs and ORI struts. All these products would allow you to increase the lift height to compensate for the extra weight while on your trips.

 

Thanks for the input and I agree on all points. The ACOS system adds 2" right off the bat which I can't use and I've considered the airbag route but thought I'd get some input from those that switched before I considered those too seriously.

Seems no one has though....

 

Project JK has a write up on air bags

Project-JK.com - Jeep JK Wrangler Resource » AIR LIFT 1000 Air Springs Installation Write-Up

 

Thanks for the link