Topic: advantages and disadvantages of soa conversion

[YJ KiD]

any opinions(sp) on how bad the axle wrap would be with the 6 pack rear springs?

[stan98tj]

this is prob a real newb question....why dont more of you YJ guys gut your springs in favor of coil set ups like on the TJ?-i think i remember coil sets being sold as an option to rid yourselves of your leaf springs. Wouldnt coils and shocks be better off road as far as flex and off road manners are concerned...i hope i didnt stir up the hornets nest with that last statement..please note i meant no disrespect.

[FourbangerYJ]

this is prob a real newb question....why dont more of you YJ guys gut your springs in favor of coil set ups like on the TJ?-i think i remember coil sets being sold as an option to rid yourselves of your leaf springs. Wouldnt coils and shocks be better off road as far as flex and off road manners are concerned...i hope i didnt stir up the hornets nest with that last statement..please note i meant no disrespect.

Costs is the biggie! Setting up a 4 link is spendy! Plus getting the geometry correct is another big factor.
Besides leaf springs are awesome! I thought it would be cool to get a LJ and swap in leafs. I have seen a few builds like that. Mostly it would be to  with the coil crowd.

[YJ KiD]

i know that buying a kit to swap to coils is definately not the cheapest way to go to coils but the fabtech conversion is around 8K wanna lend me the money and i'm in

[Jesse-James]

why dont more of you YJ guys gut your springs in favor of coil set ups

I love having the rear of mine linked. Flexes great and rides better than any YJ I've been in. 3 linked front is on the list.

[Jeffy]

Costs is the biggie! Setting up a 4 link is spendy! Plus getting the geometry correct is another big factor.
Besides leaf springs are awesome! I thought it would be cool to get a LJ and swap in leafs. I have seen a few builds like that. Mostly it would be to  with the coil crowd.

Speaking of which, the JK Diesel with the D60 has leafs in the back.  They just can't get the load capacity they need with coils.

Then there are those TJ'ers who have switched to rear leafs to get rid of rear steer as well as the squatting and jacking problems.  I think Brad Kilby was one of the first to convert the rear coils to Leafs.  He also changed the coils to Coil-overs later on.  Might as well forget coils and go with a multi-link long arm suspension and coil-overs.  Still, that's a lot of work and for most people, overkill.

Leafs are simple technology that works.  Problem is most of the complaints of leafs are from mass-produced leafs and not custom ones.  When building a custom suspension, you really need to account for YOUR jeeps specs and not someone elses.

[FourbangerYJ]

The Superlift X2 has leafs in the rear also for the TJ and JK.

[95yjman]

Whatever route you go I HIGHLY reccomend BDS springs. I love mine. I think they are flexy as heck right out of the box. 

[neale_rs]

Regarding the axle wrap question: One local jeeper had a very reliable SUA Jeep on RE 4 inch springs and something like revolver shackles.  Then he converted to SOA with the same 4 inch springs except that by then they where very sagged and provided maybe 2" of lift.  The SOA was reliable with 32 and 33 inch tires but as soon as he went with 35s the axle wrap got so bad that rear u-joints were breaking pretty often.  He then converted the rear to a link suspension to get rid of the axle wrap.  The thing to keep in mind is that if the axle wrap was so bad with sagged 4" springs, it will be even worse with stock springs.

Another bad thing about the stock spings in either SOA or SUA is that if you hit a step hard you will tend to put a kink in the main leaf (front springs) near the main eye (personal experience).  The curvature of lift springs (SOA or SUA) will take smacking into a step much better.  If you do go SOA, try to get the RE 1.5 inch lift springs so they have some arch to them.

[Bounty Hunter]

I wish BDS made a 0" lift spring for SOA, I would buy them in a heartbeat.  Can't beat the 'no questions asked' warranty, they replace them no matter the abuse.

I run stock springs with an add-a-leaf from another pair of stock front spring packs.  The AAL's were cut half-way through the spring eye so they wrap part-way around the spring-eye of the main leaf, giving it good support where they commonly bend at the spring-eye.  I run 5.38 gears and axlewrap is minimal.

[Jeffy]

Check this out...

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=8206855&lpid=&cat=402

[YJ KiD]

thats a pretty sweet rig wish i had that much for adedicated rig

[jfrabat]

Regarding the axle wrap question: One local jeeper had a very reliable SUA Jeep on RE 4 inch springs and something like revolver shackles.  Then he converted to SOA with the same 4 inch springs except that by then they where very sagged and provided maybe 2" of lift.  The SOA was reliable with 32 and 33 inch tires but as soon as he went with 35s the axle wrap got so bad that rear u-joints were breaking pretty often.  He then converted the rear to a link suspension to get rid of the axle wrap.  The thing to keep in mind is that if the axle wrap was so bad with sagged 4" springs, it will be even worse with stock springs.

Another bad thing about the stock spings in either SOA or SUA is that if you hit a step hard you will tend to put a kink in the main leaf (front springs) near the main eye (personal experience).  The curvature of lift springs (SOA or SUA) will take smacking into a step much better.  If you do go SOA, try to get the RE 1.5 inch lift springs so they have some arch to them.

I would think that the longer the leaf, the more prone to warping...  So in that sense, a stock leaf (shorter) would be less prone to warping.  Of course, it also has to do with how stiff the leaf is in the first place (and you mentioned that the 4" leafs were pretty worn).  RE does make a SOA set of leafs, so that may be something you would want to check out if considering SOA.