Any Recommendations For A Soft Riding Leaf Spring Set?

What shocks are you using with your BDS 2.5 lift?

 

I used the new Rancho 5000 shocks that were installed last year. I figured I would try them out before buying new ones. They seem okay with the springs.
The valving on the front shocks felt a bit soft just cycling the shocks by hand, but the ride is definitely improved!

 

The kit came with their premium shocks. I will see if there’s a part number on them.
UPDATE. The shocks are the 5500 series. You can choose between 4 colours for the shock boot. I went with the black.

 

I have the BDS 2.5 lift with their base nitro shocks. It seems to ride rougher that I expected. I haven’t had the Jeep long enough to do trails yet but just going across railroad tracks, etc will bounce you around a bit.

I only have about 700 miles on the suspension so far though.

Could be my tires though. Jeep still has old school snow tires on it

 

I was wondering if the hydro shocks might be better. Thanks for the feedback.

I’ve dropped my tire pressure to 20 psi but They are old school tires. I’m sure that plays a part.

 

Having 2.5" Pro-Comp springs on the '69 and recently installed 2.5" BDS springs on the '71, I have to say I'm not impressed with the BDS springs.

The goal of the '71 was to have a Jeep comfortable enough to drive for decent distances on the highway to get to the trail. With the BDS springs the ride quality is terrible. It feels like the rear is too stiff. A lot of our roads here have bumps and frost heaves. When you hit them with the BDS springs, the Jeep has an annoying pitching motion. It snaps your head back and forth constantly and gets really annoying after a 1/2 hour. The Pro-Comp springs on the '69 are still firm but it feels the the whole Jeep moves up and down when you hit bumps. It's not snapping your head back and forth.

I'm going to try removing a leaf or two from the rear BDS springs to see if it improves. I suspect I'll end up taking them off for Pro-Comps or YJ springs.

The second thing I don't like about the BDS springs is the large built in rake. I had to put 1" shackles on the front to get the Jeep to sit sort of level. I don't have a heavy rack on the back, but it doesn't make much difference when I have the spare, spares, tools, and the cooler packed in. I'd rather not have the tall shackles in the front.

That said, the BDS springs seem to flex a littler better for rock crawling. Not enough to make me want to keep them though.

 

I don't like the lack of Military wrap on the Softrides. At least the Pro-Comps have the Military wrap.

 

It's a good question. According to this (motor weights), it's 60-70lbs heavier than the V6 at 450 vs 390 lbs. So less difference than adding a winch to a V6 Jeep.

Also note the Buick V8 weighs less than an F134 which are 470-500 lbs!

 

As a trailer tower with a seriously heavy CJ6, I like the BDS springs. The rake works well for my application but I can imagine it's excessive, especially in a CJ5. They are some nice riding springs though.

 

After driving the '69 with the Pro-comps on some of the same roads last night, I think I need to walk it back a little bit.

The '69 has a similar pitching motion of the Jeep body (a little less I think) but it's just more comfortable. The difference? Low back vs high back seats. With the low back seats in the '69 your upper body seems to absorb a lot of that motion while the high back seats in the '71 push your shoulders forward and force your neck to absorb all the motion. I may need to go to low back seats in the '71 some day.

 

I have had the same experience as Nick; Rancho springs have been plenty flexible and predictable and I have seen more suspension complaints solved by loosening overly tight shackles than by anything else.

 

OK, as an engineer I can't let this sit. I'm going to yell it:

DO NOT LOOSEN YOUR SHACKLE BOLTS FOR RIDE QUALITY!​

Bolts are not meant to be used in shear. By design the shackle bars are clamped tight to the metal sleeve in the bushing. The friction between the sleeve and the shackle bars is what holds up the weight of the Jeep. The bolts themselves are only loaded in tension to clamp everything together. All movement takes place in the rubber bushing.

It the bolts are not tight, the shackle bar is trying to cut through the bolt and all of the movement is now happening at that junction, exacerbating the problem.

This happens. See how the shackles are cutting through the bolts:


Also see how the bolts are wearing through the shackles:


This is bad and can cause unexpected failure.

Don't just take my word for it. Straight from the Jeep manual:





Always torque them to proper spec.

If you want less friction or more movement, you need to switch to polyurethane bushings, home made bronze bushings, or the older U shackles.

...and then torque them to proper spec!

 

Fireball,

Agreed, IF all of the components are working as required you should NOT need to loosen the bolts to free up movement.

As I am sure you read on here, it turns out the shop who installed my suspension omitted the steel liners inside the urethane bushings. I did not notice this when I replaced the shackles and bolts since I had at least that much faith in the shop to put the right bushings in...
Loosening the bolts to get things moving was inadvisable, but as a temporary ad-hoc solution I would do it again if I had to. Some suspension is better than no suspension. The Jeep was scary, borderline undrivable with solid suspension and no caster...
Everything is torqued to spec now and she drives as good as an old Jeep can be expected to

 

Was there just a 1/2” bolt in a 5/8” hole?

 

It was a 1/2" bolt in a 9/16" urethane hole, but yeah... that's the gist of it
Now I have 7/16" bolts in all positions WITH SLEEVES. The sleeves that Energy Suspension uses are 7/16" ID x 9/16" OD x slightly longer than the frame is wide fwiw. I smeared a little bit of moly grease between the shackles and the frame. I actually think the U-bolts were probably a better deign than this, until they came up with shouldered bushings. I don't like the shackles just rubbing against the frame, but that's just the way it works with urethane bushings. Properly pressed in vulcanized rubber bushings probably do a decent job of locating the shackle plates axially.

 

Just for fun, here's the 2.5" Pro-Comp springs on the '69 flexed out to where the left rear and right front wheels spin:





And here's the BDS 2.5" springs on the '71 in the exact same spot. It made it about six inches further before spinning the wheels. The BDS springs seem to droop about the same but compress a little further:






Note: The left front of the '71 is on my extended bumpstop or it would compress a little further. I did that for fender clearance while turning.

Even though the tires spin and the Jeep stops when creeping through, both Jeeps easily drive though this with a little momentum.

 

My Jeep is basically stock suspension. Heavy duty 11 leaf front with one or two leaves removed. Standard 9 leaf rear with one or two added from the front. Regular rubber bushings
8ply tires and I keep them at about 15psi.
It doesn't ride as smoothly as the Ford Flex or Expedition but it is able to carry the tongue weight of the camper and rides as well as an older k30 or a rented wrangler.

My point here is stock does work as designed. It is give and take from here.

20200801_164637 by Joe with a jeep, on Flickr