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View Full Version : AK... why are leafs better than 4 link?



DeathWobbleZJ
07-01-2004, 05:37 PM
i want to hear your opinion this is from NAGCA continuation.... :P

Cody
07-01-2004, 06:13 PM
I wouldn't say they are better. Easier maybe, simpler probably, but not better. A well setup leaf suspension can do as much as a link suspension, but it's just as hard to get things right for leafs as it is for links IMO.

I like the waterbed like ride of my ZJ at 75 mph on dirt roads. Leafs just wouldnt' cut it.

Cody

Alaska ZJ
07-01-2004, 06:19 PM
Well I am not so much sure they are "better" but they do have some advantages that I have discovered from wheeling with my XJ buddies.

Advantages-

Simplicity- Everyone knows leaf springs. There are a thousand different suppliers for parts and pieces. You snap a custom control arm in half on Saturday of Labor day weekend and you could be waiting for 3 days until you can get the pieces to fix it. Not always the case but it is an advantage.

They are also simple to mount. Shackle-hanger. Done. No figuring vertical seperation, blah blah blah...

Coolness- ZJ's don't have Leaf springs. You would stand out in a crowd of ZJ guys that is for sure.

Space saver- In certian situations they make mounting shocks and brake lines a breeze in the rear. Axles get full really fast with Truss's, Coils and perches, shocks, control arms etc etc.

And probably the largest benefit is the inherent offcamber stability of the leaf design. Wheel with a long armed XJ one time and you will see how that SOB makes sidehilling look like a normal drive, while your ass is sucking cushion so hard it is tickling your throat.

Negatives-

Some say flex, I say bullshit to that. I have seen some leaf springs have more than enough usable articulation.

Pinion Control- Without a traction bar of some sort it will happen. Especially if you want any sort of flex.

That is about all.

So I think it would be cool as hell to see you with a set of wel done leaf springs in the rear.

Now if you put them in the front.....I would think differntly. I like Linked fronts.

GetoZJ
07-01-2004, 07:30 PM
Well, its crunch time, and I need to see a good argument on what way I should go. I got the XJ leafs laying around, and it wouldn't be hard at all to do, hellofalot easier then a fucking 4 link.....


Thanks for the advice alaska....anyone else want to chime in?


Kelly

Kraqa
07-02-2004, 02:23 PM
i really didn't find the 4link that hard to do. i'm quite mechanicaly inclinded, but a little reading. a pad of graph paper. and some beer/doobies and your set man.

GetoZJ
07-02-2004, 04:48 PM
i really didn't find the 4link that hard to do. i'm quite mechanicaly inclinded, but a little reading. a pad of graph paper. and some beer/doobies and your set man.


Good point....

haha, Canadians and their "doobies"

Kraqa
07-02-2004, 04:53 PM
ya well. we all have our poison. some leed to good things some leed to my boat anchor ford 9".


....knock, knock........who is it........man its dave..........no daves not here man........no man its dave open up.........daves not here man..........no man its dave open the door..........daves not here man come back later.


man i love cheech and chong.

GetoZJ
07-02-2004, 04:59 PM
ya well. we all have our poison. some leed to good things some leed to my boat anchor ford 9".


....knock, knock........who is it........man its dave..........no daves not here man........no man its dave open up.........daves not here man..........no man its dave open the door..........daves not here man come back later.


man i love cheech and chong.


HAHA, actually, I'm from the Island...I was born in Sidney. My mom is from seattle, and when they divorced, I moved down here with her.

So I'm half knucker, half yankee

Kraqa
07-02-2004, 05:00 PM
niceeee

DeathWobbleZJ
07-05-2004, 09:48 PM
hmm good info. thanks..... :idea: lets get some write up ona 4 link, cuz id like to build a subframe. i have holes in my unibody ..... for no good reason....

Alaska ZJ
07-05-2004, 10:16 PM
Like this?

http://www.akextreme4x4.com/tech/rearlongarm/rearlongarm.htm

DeathWobbleZJ
07-06-2004, 02:38 AM
nice.... thanks just what i was thinking of doing... :oops: :D

gearhead313
07-06-2004, 11:07 AM
Like this?

http://www.akextreme4x4.com/tech/rearlongarm/rearlongarm.htm


interesting angle on the upper tri' who's is it?

Alaska ZJ
07-06-2004, 12:13 PM
That is mine.

Kraqa
07-07-2004, 12:31 AM
hmm good info. thanks..... :idea: lets get some write up ona 4 link, cuz id like to build a subframe. i have holes in my unibody ..... for no good reason....

check my thread. its not a write up but it has some pics.

robselina
07-13-2004, 10:40 PM
And probably the largest benefit is the inherent offcamber stability of the leaf design. Wheel with a long armed XJ one time and you will see how that SOB makes sidehilling look like a normal drive, while your ass is sucking cushion so hard it is tickling your throat.

Negatives-

Some say flex, I say bullshit to that. I have seen some leaf springs have more than enough usable articulation.



okay, dumb question, but how exactly are leafs more stable off-camber? I know it to be true, that's why I'm fudging around with the freakin' sway bars on the ZJ while my leaf sprung rig can feel super freakin' solid offcamber:

http://www.nmt.edu/~rselina/quebradas6.JPG

okay, maybe not THAT stable :roll:

http://www.nmt.edu/~rselina/quebradas7.JPG

Is it a more progressive spring rate than a coil? (don't know if I'm saying this right, but basically I mean the first inch of compression comes from 160lbs, the second 170 lbs and so on) or what gives?

As for flex, I'm with you man, flex ain't a problem:

http://www.fototime.com/687A39911B8CAB5/standard.jpg

and that's not anything fancy either, just a freakin' run of the mill SOA...my rear has quite a bit more articulation...I'm ditching the rear leafs for coils right now, but that's mostly for departure angle, keep getting hung up on my ass end all the @#$@# time, that metal's gotta go!

2drezq
09-03-2004, 04:13 PM
Mosat days my driveway looks like the evolution of suspension tech:

'78 SJ - leaf front & rear
'86 XJ - coil front & leaf rear
'94 ZJ - coil front & rear

I suppose I'll need a WJ with IFS next...

BTW; that is one of the coolest SJ's I've ever seen! What are the specs?

Jim311
09-03-2004, 04:45 PM
Call me crazy, but I won't be smoking any doobs before designing a suspension system


:lol:



After wheeling a YJ that was completely leaf sprung, a coil sprung ZJ seems totally unstable off camber to me. Nowhere near the flex that my ZJ has, but I wish there were some sort of compromise when it came to stability.

robselina
09-03-2004, 04:45 PM
BTW; that is one of the coolest SJ's I've ever seen! What are the specs?

Thanks. Checkout www.ifsja.org. The message board, especially the off road tech section has some great rigs/people. As for specs - 3/4 ton axles, welded front and rear, SOA up front, 35" mickey thompsons, NP208 t-case, stock tranny and 360 (got a beefier trans to build though). I've also messed with the rear setup and done a slider type shackle, also ram assist high-steering and of course homebrew cage, bumpers, chop top, etc....

2drezq
09-04-2004, 08:41 AM
BTW; that is one of the coolest SJ's I've ever seen! What are the specs?

Thanks. Checkout www.ifsja.org. The message board, especially the off road tech section has some great rigs/people. As for specs - 3/4 ton axles, welded front and rear, SOA up front, 35" mickey thompsons, NP208 t-case, stock tranny and 360 (got a beefier trans to build though). I've also messed with the rear setup and done a slider type shackle, also ram assist high-steering and of course homebrew cage, bumpers, chop top, etc....

Nice Rig! I especially like the retro-rhino-chaser grille. I've got one hanging in my garage but I haven't decided to put it on yet.