Is it supposed to be so rough? (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Not yet. Intend to call and order tomorrow.

That can make a big difference, those pads ride between each leaf and reduce friction. Its a marked difference when you get them greased up. They grease through the bottom of the leaf spring with a needle attachment on a grease gun.

1680656351088.png
 
What’s the great advantage of tall narrow tires? Seems like a lot less footprint whether it’s climbing rocks, fighting through mud or maintaining a low center of gravity on a steep mountain train.
Flotation is the greatest benefit of a wide tire off road. A wide tire will roll over beach sand instead of plowing through. With high HP a big wide tire can blast over deep mud without sinking.

A narrow Tall tire will cut through 6-8" of slick clay to the firm ground underneath instead of sliding around on the surface. A narrow tall tire aired down will conform/deform to rocks providing a long soft contact patch to pull over rocks. A narrow tire provides greater pressure/weight to your contact patch to grip and bite when there is something to bite to vs. bouncing and spinning. IE: A 70 series with 32X9 mud tires aired down will grip and bite on rocks, dirt, and slick muddy roads, but will sink in deep mud. The same truck with 33X12.50's may bounce and slip more on rocks and dirt, have less directional control on slick mud, but may be able to blast through/over deep mud with enough power and speed.

If you don't intend to do alot of beach driving and you don't go out mud bogging specifically targeting giant mudholes narrow is better. A smaller narrow tire with the money you save spent on lockers front and rear is better than big wide tires for must things except cruising Wal Mart parking lots.
 
Last edited:
I went with Skyjacker springs, Bilsteins up front and soft KYB shocks in the rear. Very happy with it. I subscribe to the notion that you want a soft shock in the rear shince there is not much going on there, especially with the top off. My rear end no longer feels like it wants to pogo off the ground when I hit a bump. I took out a 4" Rough Country lift which had terrible shackle angles and rode like it was on blocks, I do not recommend those springs. I did take apart the skyjacker springs and slip plate between them to facilitate relative movement. Full writeup with links here.
 
Flotation is the greatest benefit of a wide tire off road. A wide tire will roll over beach sand instead of plowing through. With high HP a big wide tire can blast over deep mud without sinking.

A narrow Tall tire will cut through 6-8" of slick clay to the firm ground underneath instead of sliding around on the surface. A narrow tall tire aired down will conform/deform to rocks providing a long soft contact patch to pull over rocks. A narrow tire provides greater pressure/weight to your contact patch to grip and bite when there is something to bite to vs. bouncing and spinning. IE: A 70 series with 32X9 mud tires aired down will grip and bite on rocks, dirt, and slick muddy roads, but will sink in deep mud. The same truck with 33X12.50's may bounce and slip more on rocks and dirt, have less directional control on slick mud, but may be able to blast through/over deep mud with enough power and speed.

If you don't intend to do alot of beach driving and you don't go out mud bogging specifically targeting giant mudholes narrow is better. A smaller narrow tire with the money you save spent on lockers front and rear is better than big wide tires for must things except cruising Wal Mart parking lots.
There certainly is a wide range of opinions. I’ve been reading and seeing several well-researched pieces that support the narrow tire argument. There is a lot of empirical data to supports it. Then there are a number of long-time Wheelers who argue that wider tires “can make all the diff in the world offroad.”

It’s something for me to think about for my next set of tires. I probably won’t go 12.5” again. The question is whether I’ll go as narrow as 9.5”. Have to think about that. 10.5” could be a compromise
 
Love my 40 with 33/10.50/15's although they are getting harder to find. It's not a hardcore wheeler but with a locker in the rear it will go places and is fine around town.
 
It's a total non-issue, we've paired hundreds of OEM setups with Bilstein shocks for lighter weight applications. OME springs with higher end shocks work really well too, we've paired with Dobinson IMS, some Fox options back in the day, etc. All about matching the setup to your load and driving.

OME 13 and 14 leaf springs are very old, but if they are low mile and still have life (as we previously discussed), run em'. I know my tech guys dug into the parts you need to service the clip liners and interleaf liners for you (I had to help them find the 2002 application guide :D), did you end up ordering those parts? New interleaf liners will help compliance as much as anything.

Kurt, what is the Spec Free Arch on the OME-13 Springs? I pulled my drivers side spring and measured it at 5-3/4”. Is that still a good Spring or should I think about new Springs? What is the Free Arch on new Springs?
 
So, after a year + of rebuilding my rig, I have had the chance to drive it the last two weeks and I gotta say mine just isn't that rough.

I replaced all the bushings, but kept the original springs. Running 7.00 x 15 STA Super Traxion bias ply off road tires at 32 psi.

Put the Monroe-matic standard duty shocks all around.

The only thing it really doesn't like is 6" or so sharp linear rises, like a curb or where they are pouring new asphalt.

Picture for attention:

1685215964909.png

1685216017629.png
 
So, after a year + of rebuilding my rig, I have had the chance to drive it the last two weeks and I gotta say mine just isn't that rough.

I replaced all the bushings, but kept the original springs. Running 7.00 x 15 STA Super Traxion bias ply off road tires at 32 psi.

Put the Monroe-matic standard duty shocks all around.

The only thing it really doesn't like is 6" or so sharp linear rises, like a curb or where they are pouring new asphalt.

Picture for attention:

View attachment 3333649
View attachment 3333650
If you like that old school tread pattern Tirecappers in Nasheville offers their "extra grip" pattern retreads for $144. They are retreaded on a radial core so you will get the MPG and ride bennefits of a radial and they bulge and grip nicely when you air down to 12psi. That price is free shipping I"m guessing if you go to Nasheville and pick them up you can get a much better price. Based on my wear experience they are perhaps a 30-40K mile tire.
 
If you like that old school tread pattern Tirecappers in Nasheville offers their "extra grip" pattern retreads for $144. They are retreaded on a radial core so you will get the MPG and ride bennefits of a radial and they bulge and grip nicely when you air down to 12psi. That price is free shipping I"m guessing if you go to Nasheville and pick them up you can get a much better price. Based on my wear experience they are perhaps a 30-40K mile tire.
I did not know that. Thanks!
 
The "graphite paint" is sold at tractor supply and is sometimes located near the bush hog blades. "slide-ez" or "ezi-slide" I think. Good stuff. If I could go back and do it again I would have painted my shackles, bushings, and shackle bolts with this stuff when I installed my new springs.

I remember my fj40 being less bouncy than a jeep and really not to bad, but I always had 10.5" -12.5" wide radial tires normally at 25-30PSI. Did you say you had "STA" tires. If that is an old school bias tire with a really heavy ply/load rating it's going to ride rough. They will also bounce more due to heavier unsprung tire weight. Bigger wider radials at lower pressure will roll over the bumps. In comparison an unarmored HMMWV weighs 6-10Klb depending on load with 37" tires. Tire pressure specified is 20psi front and 25 rear. You don't need 35PSi+- in a lightly loaded normal bigger 4wd tire like you would put in a car tire.

When I first got my BJ73 it had the original worn out springs and less than 2" between spring and bump stop it rode horribly. I installed OME 2" lift springs and the improvement was dramatic. After 3 years the ride is not quite as good as new and I think that is due to the fact that newly installed/greased bushings work better.

A soft spring with a decent amount of travel help with lessening impact of bumps. Good bushings and joints properly greased help allow the suspension to work properly. Good shocks will slow rebound after a bump lessening bounce and preventing bouncing/swaying intensifying. Too much dampening and suspension will not rebound quickly enough on a washboard or successive bumps.


@robmobile73 what is the benefit of the graphite paint? I bought a gallon of that stuff, and its a PITA to paint on. it goes on pretty thin, so I wonder how much protection the metal is going to get from that stuff. what is the point of the graphite coating? I wouldn't thing the springs slide very much , if at all, once they are torqued together into a pack. I guess I don't understand the benefit of the graphite on the leafs. seems like the stuff will just rub off in short order.
 
@robmobile73 what is the benefit of the graphite paint? I bought a gallon of that stuff, and its a PITA to paint on. it goes on pretty thin, so I wonder how much protection the metal is going to get from that stuff. what is the point of the graphite coating? I wouldn't thing the springs slide very much , if at all, once they are torqued together into a pack. I guess I don't understand the benefit of the graphite on the leafs. seems like the stuff will just rub off in short order.
Not sure where/what you bought as a gallon. I just bought the spray can at tractor supply. EZ-Slide graphite spray paint. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/ez-slide-graphite-based-coating-12-oz-aerosol Never been difficult to spray on at all. It's quite good a making a sliding coating. It will wear off in time, but a coating on bushings shackles and springs would help with the slipperiness after the grease washes out. I painted the top of one of my table saws with it and boards and the fence still slide around smooth after 5 years of use.
 
@robmobile73 what is the benefit of the graphite paint? I bought a gallon of that stuff, and its a PITA to paint on. it goes on pretty thin, so I wonder how much protection the metal is going to get from that stuff. what is the point of the graphite coating? I wouldn't thing the springs slide very much , if at all, once they are torqued together into a pack. I guess I don't understand the benefit of the graphite on the leafs. seems like the stuff will just rub off in short order.

I've disassembled many leaf springs where the lower leaf end has worn a ridge into the upper spring it rides on. When wheeling the springs compress and extend all the time. A flexible suspension is the goal. Quality springs will have Teflon pads at the end of each leaf and/or the end of the leaf will be tapered to prevent wear. I also remove the limiting bolts or loosen the steel wrapped clamps for more flexibility. .
 
Last edited:
Not sure where/what you bought as a gallon. I just bought the spray can at tractor supply. EZ-Slide graphite spray paint. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/ez-slide-graphite-based-coating-12-oz-aerosol Never been difficult to spray on at all. It's quite good a making a sliding coating. It will wear off in time, but a coating on bushings shackles and springs would help with the slipperiness after the grease washes out. I painted the top of one of my table saws with it and boards and the fence still slide around smooth after 5 years of use.
But what is the benefit of painting the spring leafs? They don’t slide once they are bolted together.
 
As the leaves flex the length changes so they have to rub together. Reducing the friction would help smooth the ride.
 
Thanks! I was looking for some explanation as to how the graphite would help. I guess it makes sense that as they flex there is friction especially on the outer edges But isn’t that what the greasable interleaf liners are for?
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom