Stephen_Chicago

I'm going to replace my leaf springs in a couple weeks. LOTS of helpful info on this site. I'm looking at stock leaf springs, but can't tell what parts are usually included. The bushings are usually includeed? Or do I need to buy them separately? What other parts usually come with the springs? Also, I see a lot of other related parts--shackles, Ubolts....other stuff. What are the other parts I should order iand replace in addition to the leaf spirngs? I've also sent inquiries to a parts dealer (partsgeek or Quadratech). The undercarriage of my 2001 XJ is pretty grimy and rusty, and I'd rather address as nuch as possible I'm trying to order everything so I'm not riding my bike down to AutoZone...you know the drill...

EZEARL

Some brands of springs come with bushings installed and some require purchasing them separately. If your shackles and the upper bushings in them are still good you can use them. Most importantly is that you replace the u-bolts and their hardware. Which ones you need will depend on what rear axle is under your XJ. The ones in the links below are of good quality.

PatHenry

Get the springs with the bushings pre-installed! You will have enough to fight with when you're doing the replacement considering Chicago area rust is going to be comparable to New England area rust... You will not want to struggle pressing the dang bushings in on top of that.

When I did my replacement, I got new springs (with bushings installed), new shackles, new spring bolts (I had to cut all 4 of those b*stards out (the frame to spring ones - I left the shackles on the old springs so I didn't even bother with those 2), new U-bolts and new shocks (all around actually).
I ended up needing a new rear sway bar link (most folks actually ditch the whole thing, I considered it but circumstances led me to keep it) and a major repair to the trunk floor on top of everything else.
My experience was pretty much textbook.. the bushings froze to the bolts so it was a long and painful cutting job.. I didn't break any of the weld nuts though (thank you MAP torch!)

NWPenCrawler

Just a word on removing the old springs. I just went through this whole deal replacing mine and the one thing that stuck out for me and gave me the most trouble was removing the front spring eye bolts. They have a captured nut that is inside the frame and it's common for them to break off during removal of the bolt. Then the bolt will just spin in place.
I would soak them in PB Blaster for a week before trying to remove them. When I did my springs I got lucky and only one nut broke but it was a pain to get to the back side where the nut is located. Just be SUPER CAREFUL when backing out the bolt and keep dousing it in PB Blaster. Even if the nut holds, keep soaking the bolt threads in PBB as you SLOWLY back it out.

Regarding springs and bushings, I ended up installing the Crown HD springs (emulates the Country OE setup), Energy Suspension bushings, and new shackles. Worked great for me.

The very best of luck to you.

PatHenry

HEAT!!! - you MUST use heat on those big bolts to prevent the nut from breaking off. The factory bolts are coated with red loctite and if you don't get them up to 500F they will snap off and you'll be doing the "cut a window in the rear of the bracket" thing.

That's AFTER you deal with the likely "bushing seized to bolt" garbage. However, once you've cut the rubber bushing out of the way, it's very easy to get a torch on the bolt and get the bolt out.

Stephen_Chicago

Dousing with PBB and applying heat are def in the plan. I know it's going to take some time. I'm budgeting a whole day to simply remove the old springs, but will begin hitting them with PBB probably today. Removing rusted bolts is an art that I need to work on.

Stephen_Chicago

Question--I only have a propane torch, for sweating copper pipes. Does that produce enough heat to help break the factory-applied Loctite? Once I commit to doing this, there really isn't a Plan B, so I'm kind of worried about tearing things up to get to a point where I realize I can't do it.

jordan96xj

I tried propane first, and didn't have much luck.

I entered into the same way on my 96. I actually got totally into the job on the first try and failed. Had to button it up and thought I was out of options. I spent the week reading and researching, and tried again the following weekend. And succeeded. Funny enough, one of the main differences between the 2 weekends was propane vs. map. The propane just couldn't get enough heat down to the end of the bolt. Because the bolt is long and large, and most of your access to it is at the head, so it has to work its way down the bolt. Map worked a lot better, and I was able to turn a little bit, then re-heat and turn a little bit...repeat. As the loctite cooled you could feel the bolt getting tight again.

Having a couple extra bolts on hand, and a large pickle fork were also factors for the 2nd try. I ended up cutting two bolts with a dremel, and had 2 bolts to replace them with. BEWARE - do NOT cut bolts until they are completely threaded out of their holes! I only cut them so that I would not have to deal with the leaf spring bushings having seized to them. But I still had to get them threaded out of the frame before cutting them. Because once they are cut, it would damn near impossible to keep turning them.

I wish I had made a more detailed video - but here are some of the tips I tried to pass along:

EZEARL

I needed no heat on my '96. I did have one collar rusted to the bolt but splitting it and soaking it in PBB did the trick.

PatHenry

I agree with Jordan - you'll want a MAP torch. They sell the kit with a nice push button/trigger nozzle and a tank of gas for roughly $40 at the big box home improvement stores and probably at Walmart as well.

It is technically possible that the propane will give you enough heat, but the MAP gas is just so much nicer. I've used the MAP several times and just recently had to break out the propane since it was the only thing available and it was vastly inferior - the MAP seems to be more precise and the level of heat is obviously better. I've been using my Dad's MAP torch, but after that experience it's well worth it for me to cough up $40 and grab myself one of those kits the next time I'm at the store.

I'd also recommend getting a couple "plumbers pad"s (or welding blanket) so you can isolate the area you want to heat up. Just be careful that you don't get the PBB on the pads (spray down first, place pads second) or the pads will catch on fire - which obviously defeats the purpose of using them in the first place.

PatHenry

Nice!! Considering how bad my springs were on my 95 and seeing the bolts, I'm pretty sure my springs were original and considering how much loctite was smeared on the new Mopar bolts, I'd use heat just to be sure - I'm very glad I didn't have to cut into the frame bracket to deal with a snapped off weld nut. And considering how little effort it has taken for several bolts on my Jeep to just snap apart, I was VERY happy that the weld nuts held up for me.

Stephen_Chicago

I haven't used MAP gas before, but have done a lot with propane, so will give it a try. A couple more lame questions:

I can use the same torch head on the MAP cylinder as the one I use for propane? These cylinders of MAP gas are CHEAP. $9 at Menards.

Also, I didn't realize PBB was flammable. I'll be OK spraying PBB on the bolt heads for a couple days and letting it permeate (hopefully), then using a MAP torch on it over the weekend and not blowing myself up and burning down the garage?

I greatly appreciate all the patient and thoughtful responses...I'm sure I'm going to learn a ton by doing this. I know several mechanics I can hire, but as I tell them, I don't learn anything when I pay someone else to solve my problems. Many thanks!

PatHenry

Honestly, I think you'd get more bang for your buck with a better nozzle on a propane tank than a crappy nozzle on a MAP tank - so if you have a good nozzle that's sufficient for propane, you're almost certainly fine using it on a MAP tank.
However, if you have a crappy nozzle and don't want to spend much $, I'd buy a nice nozzle and use the propane tank.

PatHenry

You need to get the bolt to 500 degrees to free red loctite. Now bear in mind that that means 500 degrees, down a mammoth size bolt that's something like 5 or 6 inches long. If you've cut the bushing and sleeve off (which is a LOT of work) and you can run heat all along the exposed part of the bolt, propane will be more than enough to free the loctite. However, if you want to follow Jordan's strategy, and be able to cut the big bolts without fighting with the bushing and sleeve, you need to get the end of the bolt up to 500 with only the head and bracket housing to apply heat. This will mean a LOT more heat to the head of the bolt.
A quality MAP torch kit will make this a lot easier, but either way, if you can't heat the length of the bolt, you want to get the bolt hot enough that it's glowing red, turn it a little bit, apply more heat turn it, apply heat, turn it... that sort of thing.

PBB is definitely flammable. The worst case (without a pool of it or putting a lighter up to it as you're spraying (don't do that!)) is a bit of flames that you can just blow out. It'll burn off pretty quick if it's just a normal sprayed bolt.

Stephen_Chicago

I ordered everything from Quadratech...basically the springs, Ubolts and nuts, bushings, and sway bar bushings. The back undercarriage actually doesn't look too bad. The shackles look good and I'll leave them.

For the life of me, I cannot find replacement bushing eye bolts for a 2001 XJ. I'm hoping to salvage mine, but want to have 2 on hand just in case. I see eye bolts for other Jeep models (i.e. Omix-Ada 18271.06 Leaf Spring Eye Bolt at Amazon, which fits older Jeep models). Anyone have any leads on where to find these bolts? I'm guessing I'll have to go to AutoZone or Advance once I pull one to see if they have a match, if I need it. I don't see these on their websites, but am guessing/hoping they carry them.