2000 Cherokee: Project Northwest Explorer

beardus supremous

Adventurer
How much is the AAL? Assuming it sags..it will. Probably end up around 2.5" all said & done. And over time..probably withing a year it'll sag out all the way..which is why bastard packs tend to be better! Because you can use leafs that will carry the extra load without sagging. Vs relying on 1 leaf to do all that you can use 2-5 leafs. I would say think about it..the 1 AAL will not hold the weight long & will sag & you will be back at square one..vs spending a little extra time/money now and be better off.
Thats just how it always is when dealing with used leafs & a aal.
QUOTE]


Hence the reasoning behind an AAL and another leaf below that. My brother and I's XJ are not sagging at all, but price wise bastard pack IF you can get it at a decent price.
 

88Xj

Banned
How much is the AAL? Assuming it sags..it will. Probably end up around 2.5" all said & done. And over time..probably withing a year it'll sag out all the way..which is why bastard packs tend to be better! Because you can use leafs that will carry the extra load without sagging. Vs relying on 1 leaf to do all that you can use 2-5 leafs. I would say think about it..the 1 AAL will not hold the weight long & will sag & you will be back at square one..vs spending a little extra time/money now and be better off.
Thats just how it always is when dealing with used leafs & a aal.
Hence the reasoning behind an AAL and another leaf below that. My brother and I's XJ are not sagging at all, but price wise bastard pack IF you can get it at a decent price.


What do you mean a AAL & another leaf below it? AAL only come with 1 leaf? Or am I misunderstanding what your saying?
I did a 2.5" AAL on my 1" leaf packs and only 1.5" out of it..when in turn it should of netted at least 3" combined. I ended up doing a bigger overload to get the actual lift I wanted of the AAL. Its a OME pack with 2 leafs added. They were new not sagged.
Bastard packs are better than AALs because you get 2 full packs vs just a single leaf. That way you can say take 2 or 3 or 4 ect from the donor bastard pack & add them to the cherokee pack.
 

BlackClassic

If Not Now When?
What Beardus is saying is he for his XJ and mine took the add a leaf as well as 1 more additional leaf on each side to the mix. So rather than having one AAL on each side you now have two. If I'm correct you can just go down to a local parts store and buy the two extra leafs and cut em to the size you need. That is how we are both running them. Like he said niether XJ has sagged yet. I have had my lift for over a year and his even longer.
 

88Xj

Banned
What Beardus is saying is he for his XJ and mine took the add a leaf as well as 1 more additional leaf on each side to the mix. So rather than having one AAL on each side you now have two. If I'm correct you can just go down to a local parts store and buy the two extra leafs and cut em to the size you need. That is how we are both running them. Like he said niether XJ has sagged yet. I have had my lift for over a year and his even longer.

Oh ya I was misunderstanding that lol. I didn't know you could buy single leafs... Thats not a bad idea either.
 

eurytopic

New member
Great thread! Updates please....

Thanks!

I've been busy with work but I have been able to work on my bumper a little. I recently retired my Harbor Freight welding helmet. I picked up a Miller Digital Pro Hobby. The difference is like night and day! It's soo much easier to weld when you can clearly see what is going on. Very comfortable helmet as well, and a bargain at $150.

P1060139.jpg


I changed the design of the bumper a little from the cardboard templates. I usually start with a rough plan in my head and eyeball it from there.

P1060138.jpg


I've started sanding the outside welds down but I have more to go. I'm going to pull the bumper off when I'm doing welding and do a few more finish plates on the bench.

P1060140.jpg
 

BlackClassic

If Not Now When?
That bumper looks good and nice welds! That bumper will look good all painted up. Any thoughts of a stinger or pre runner bars on it?
 

eurytopic

New member
I've been busy with other projects, but finally finished my bumper minus the winch mount.

DSC_6770.jpg


DSC_6773.jpg


I don't think it came out half bad for a quick and dirty bumper. Wasn't too worried about cosmetics but I didn't want something hideous hanging out front. I added a bar in front to protect the winch and mount some lights. First time using my bender.

I also mounted up my 31" tires I got from my brother in law. I think it will work great when I get my lift springs installed.

DSC_6774.jpg
 

Mekcanix

Camper
Very nice work on the bumper. also I like the way you came from the rear of the bumper with the hoop again nice work
 

eurytopic

New member
Very nice work on the bumper. also I like the way you came from the rear of the bumper with the hoop again nice work

Thanks! I wanted something a little different.

I worked on the stereo a little today.

Turned this:

P1060131.jpg


Into this:

DSC_6775.jpg


DSC_6776.jpg


Sounds good for a $50 sub and a $50 amp. Not quite as much as my younger days, but fits the purpose perfectly.

I also aimed my headlights. Should make the commute tomorrow much nicer.
 

eurytopic

New member
I had some time today to cobble together my lift.

Started out with some 4 leaf springs from a 90 S10 Blazer. Here are the springs compared. The S10 spring is on top and the Cherokee sping is on the bottom.

P1060153.jpg


I've been reading a lot about S10 based spring packs. It seems everyone has a different opinion on what leaves to use. My goal was to land around 3 inches or so total lift. After some careful pondering and comparison, this is what I came up with.

Top> Cherokee main leaf > S10 2nd leaf > S10 3rd leaf > Cherokee bottom leaf. This gave me a leaf pack with the same overall thickness of the stock Cherokee pack. Here is the completed pack.

P1060154.jpg


Here is the leaf installed with my Black Diamond shocks. Notice the brake line is maxed out.

P1060155.jpg


Here it is all buttoned up with my YJ brake line installed.

P1060156.jpg


Moving to the front, I installed my used 3" procomp coils, new shocks, and YJ brake lines. I also re-drilled the track bar mounting hole over 3/4". When I went to bleed the brakes, both caliper bleeder screws were frozen. I broke one, and rather than spending forever drilling and using an easy out, I decided to pony up $40 for new calipers. At least now all my braking components in front are new.

P1060157.jpg


I re-installed the wheels and tires and dropped it back down. I ended up with around 3" of lift rear and 4.25" front. The guy I bought the springs from said they were dead on 3" of lift. Oh well. If the winch doesn't settle it down a little, I'll probably just cut a coil out. Here's a before and after.

DSC_6774.jpg

P1060159.jpg


I took it for a test drive and everything felt good. No drive line vibrations.
 

88Xj

Banned
You may wanna use that S10 overload as well..it'll help out when loaded & you won't see much difference in height or ride! But its looking great brother can't wait to see what else you do with this!
 

jeepdreamer

Expedition Leader
Since I'm not to far from doing the "B-pack" springs myself...What did you guys do for the spring clip thingies? I have new center bolts but not sure what gets used or replaced when it comes to the little brackets that keep the springs in line?
 

88Xj

Banned
I used stock ones. I have 2 per pack. Also when yuo put the clips on put them as close to the middle of the pack as possible! That way when you flex your leaves can seperate & flex/ride better overall. My clips are all the way down by the overload! Litterally almost in the center of the pack!
 

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