New to me 1988 YJ

D

dosmie72

New Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2021
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Location
Wernersville, PA
Good Morning and Happy Father's Day to all...
Just picked up a solid 1988 YJ with a slight lift running 31s. It has new shocks, and no other issues other than a leaky valve cover.
Just a few questions:
--What lift is required to run 31s? I have no information on what is installed and would like to address the ride.
--It is crazy bouncy (see above)... I am going to need to fix that to better enjoy it. What site would you suggest to find parts? I have done some searching and am not finding much other than "kits". I am looking for leaf springs only.

Thanks,
Mike
 
You described my 88 this time last year, all except for the "solid" part. :D

I have a slight body lift only and 31's.

I replaced my rear leaf springs two days ago with stock height springs made by Crown. Pretty much everyone sells them. (Quadratec, Amazon, Rock Auto, I got mine from Summit Racing)

Like me, you may find your leaky valve cover is due to the plastic being broken.
 
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I've got a 2-1/2" Rough country spring lift and a 1" body for 32"s, 33"s maybe someday.
But that was a can of worms, and I'm still wranging them.

Is it bouncy on the road, off road, both?
Tire pressure can play a big part in that, especially off road.
 
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jeepjoe43 said:
I've got a 2-1/2" Rough country spring lift and a 1" body for 32"s, 33"s maybe someday.
But that was a can of worms, and I'm still wranging them.

Is it bouncy on the road, off road, both?
Tire pressure can play a big part in that, especially off road.
Click to expand...
It is crazy bouncy on the road. I will have to check the tire pressures. Just sorting through it now...
 
Check your spacing between the axles and the bump-stops, you should have a couple inches.
If it's less than 3/4" your springs are probably shot and you're bouncing off the stops.
This was the case with mine when I first got it.
It had spent lots of miles behind a coach on dirt roads and had the suspension literally beaten out of it.
As for lift, a 1" to 1-1/4" body lift with good stock springs should be fine for 31"s, depending on how you intend to use it.
 
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Check tire pressure, set it to around 29. discount tire aired me up to 40 psi one time and it was really bad. Makes a huge difference. The suspension could be worn out, the springs are basically flat when stock, and if they have a negative arch then they're sagging. Seems like not many YJs have stock suspension these days so figure out what you have. Pics will help us help you if you want to try and identify what you've got.

The new shocks could definitely hurt the ride depending on what shock was used. Decide if you want to do some lift or not and go from there. If I were building a rig for 31's I'd probably do the Old Man Emu 2.5" suspension and call it done, although a 1.25" body lift by itself would likely be enough to get the job done too, unless flexing it hard offroad.

The one nice thing about OME suspension is how damn nice it rides. The downside is the cost, but to me it was well worth it.
 
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cas said:
You described my 88 this time last year, all except for the "solid" part. :D

I have a slight body lift only and 31's.

I replaced my rear leaf springs two days ago with stock height springs made by Crown. Pretty much everyone sells them. (Quadratec, Amazon, Rock Auto, I got mine from Summit Racing)

Like me, you may find your leaky valve cover is due to the plastic being broken.
Click to expand...
Not that it matters, but the stock height Crown springs are really not stock height. They sit around 1.5-2" high. Stock springs are completely flat. Don't know why Crown does it that way.
 
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My 91 runs a Rubicon Express 2.5 kit with rancho RS5000X, must be the "X" compared to the old style 5000's. For a short wheel base vehicle with leafs Its pretty decent riding. I did remove the shortest spring in back to soften things up. Personally Im not a fan of Body lifts for what thats worth. Springs and shocks are my #1 choice. Go more than 2.5 and drive line problems seem to be the case.
 
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Man you are right, drivelines were my issue, after the 2-1/2" RC lift, it actually came up 4".
But my original springs were collapsed.
Been considering yanking the short leaf out of mine, too.
That used to be SOP on the flatty, and yes, they broke, but that just became standard maintenance.
 
Here is what I have....
I have plenty of room between the bump stops and the axles.
I have aired down the tires, and it did help some. They were at 33 - 35 psi all around.
Most of the bounce seems to be coming from the front end.
Thanks for all of the input.

left front 2.jpg


left front shakle.jpg


left front.jpg


left rear mount.jpg


left rear.jpg


rear.jpg


right front.jpg


right front2.jpg


right rear.jpg


side.jpg
 
dosmie72 said:
Here is what I have....
I have plenty of room between the bump stops and the axles.
I have aired down the tires, and it did help some. They were at 33 - 35 psi all around.
Most of the bounce seems to be coming from the front end.
Thanks for all of the input.

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Looks like a standard 4" or 2.5" lift to me. Possibly Rough Country. Their 2.5's and 4's sit basically the same. I think I see a number painted on one of the front springs (on top behind the shock)...can you wipe off the dirt and try to read that number? Did you put those shocks on or were they put on by PO? Many suspensions (both the springs and shocks) for the YJ ride terribly. I had BDS 3.5" for a while and it was seriously awful. This is very likely related to your suspension. It can maybe be improved by just shocks, but you may want to look at changing things springs and shockwise.

It would be good to try to figure out what you have by any identifying numbers if you can though.
 
dosmie72 said:
Explorer PRO Comp? (amazon) Looks to be a 2.5 lift.
Click to expand...
Yep, that brings up 2.5" Pro Comp. Pro comp is known to be one of the worst riding suspensions in the Jeep world. Whose shocks are on there now? Any part numbers?

They kind of look like Quadratec Hydros but I'm not sure.
 
I dont recall if you said this is your first leaf sprung jeep. If so they just dont ride real great regardless of what suspension your running. I've heard stocks leafs and a spring over rides the best..couldent say myself. Theoretically flat springs will provide the most compression and drop or articulation in the suspension. Hopefully some of the guys here have experience with that one if you interested. Based off the pics you have a 2.5ish spring lift like Macho indicated. I believe you crossed the numbers on the one to Procrap. If that's the case based off my experiences id personally remove them and throw them in the trash. One for how they ride, the other based off principal, I wont elaborate. They shocks might be PC Procrap 3000 "ES" which I believe stands for Extra ShXXXy , which again belong in the meltdown pile.
 
dosmie72 said:
That is what I am looking at. What site would you use? I see some stuff on Amazon, mainly springs and bushings.
Click to expand...
I bought 4 individual springs, 4 individual shocks, a bushing kit, shackle kit, rubicon express u-bolt kits for front and rear; Currie u-bolt skid plates, and a few other small items. I got most of it at Quadratec.
 
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