Leaning tower of Jeep....

Hey All,

OK, so I made an error...I did not swap the springs side to side like I had
intended. The reason I wanted to was to help the leaning to the drivers'
side. It's pretty obvious now that I've got a few miles on it.

So now here are my options....

A) Swap all springs side to side
2) Swap just the fronts or rear springs side to side
III) Replace just the driver's side springs
d) Replace all springs


And here are the questions...

1) Which option is best? Please keep in mind you're spending money I ain't
got.
II) If I just swap the existing springs side to side, do you think it will
lean the other way too much? I'm thinking that the driver's has the most
sag, and swapping will "even" this out after a while.
C) If I only swap just the front or rear springs, which set should I swap?
I'm thinking rear due to it having more leafs. The thinking here is that
the "sagging" springs will be in opposite corners, thus cancelling each
other out, but am also wondering if frame twist will come to play.
4) Will I gain a whole lot more than a level ride by replacing all the
springs? I mean other than an extra inch or two of lift. It's an old Jeep,
and I'm resigned to the fact that it just ain't gonna drive like a new car.

TIA

 

How much lean do you have? If it's, say, an inch or so, I'd just live with it. Even brand new CJs leaned. The problem was bad enough that AMC made a kit to correct lean that was a steel block and locating pin extension that went between the spring and the axle. This lowered the high side.

New springs should ride level, at least for a while. If they don't you could send them back. I'd think you could rig a bathroom scale to weigh each wheel and see if there's actually more weight on one wheel than another. If there's not, then the lean will follow the weaker springs.

 

Well, although it's good that Lynn points out the spring kit disclaimer, I think it's more CYA than fact. Some Jeeps did come from the factory level. Both of mine did.

It's simple physics - weigh each wheel, look at the spring rate (spring constant) and that's how much each spring should compress. There is some weight transfer due to the lean, but that can only get better by evening out the spring rates with new springs.

 

I've got a brand new lift on mine. Can't be more than a year old and it has ALWAYS leaned to the driver's side when I'm in it. I can stand on one side or the other and straighten it out but once I get in and go ever a few bumps, it leans. I was actually thinking of putting dry lube on the springs thinking that they were just "sticking" but I doubt that would help.

 

I went through this when I replaced my springs. Betsy leaned before the new springs and after. I did swap them side to side without effect. Finally had one side rearched to compensate and this helped, but did not completely eliminate the lean.

 

I have a question about the lean, If you take a tape measure from the end of each side of the rear bumper are they the same on both sides? My problem is that Lil' Ug which has been renamed by my coworkers as "Ilean" the body mount has rusted a little and sagged on the drivers side. I have to get some time and lift the tub and put a piece of angle iron under it to shore it up. The PO also trashed the rear crossmember for a 5/16" thick steel bumper with no body mount provisions on the back. My rear bumper ends are within a 1/2" of each other but, the body leans 2 inched down on the drivers side.

This kinda sucks, the fuel pickup is uphill and I can only get about 7.5 gallons in the tank. With a 383 V8 Chevy and 4.56 gears it will pass everything off the stoplight except gas station.

 

My 'tux had the gangsta lean to the driver's side. Replaced left rear spring: still some lean. Replaced left front: no more lean. So I vote for replacing the 2 on the offending (leaning) side.