Lift/level a Jeep Cherokee XJ with Chevy S10/Blazer Leaf Springs (The Bastard Pack) - CHEAP AND EASY

[@MrJoey1570]

My 2001 xj is virtually rust free, I'm so thankful!

[@tommullaney8714]

My 2000 limited is too. Very very thankful!

[@jondoe4379]

Man I’m glad I live down south. Our vehicles in general gave significantly less rust than what y’all got up there.

[@DEInTheGarage]

Yea buddy... It is a major issue up here. This Jeep was a $1200 beater used for plowing, so it is a bit worse than the norm

[@megadethguym7977]

Out here in california we dont have rust problems like this forever greatful

[@robertoleeva985]

That was a lot of work, it was also a lot of work to film and upload this video. Thank you for taking the time to do that. It has helped a lot !

[@DEInTheGarage]

Glad it helped! Thanks for the feedback

[@richtyler1353]

Love your headliner

[@XxggxX8]

Not here to talk about rust , thanks for the video 🤙🏽 needed this

[@Cherokee-sz7xi]

Much better mod than blocks! Damn the rust ! Great video again!

[@DEInTheGarage]

Haha... The rust in this one is particularly bad

[@steventeal17]

11:20 wheres the heat shield at to protect your gas tank. Use your head 🤣 but good video

[@overdrewmatic5086]

This is super cool. Actually someone not just jacking it up. Doing it for a trailer and practicality. I put monroe load bearing shocks on mine and that did about the same. That 3/4 inch raise/ go with the shocks. They are 100 apiece coilover with dampers holds 1200 pounds a piece. With your upgraded leafs I bet it'll hold 7000+. I know it pulls 7000 but anymore not sure. 2001 jeep cherokee sport aka xj

[@DEInTheGarage]

I would love to try those shocks some time. thanks!

[@SheDevilsGarage]

I appreciate the videos man i own a 01 jeep cherokee sport xj 4.0l and i love it reliable engine for sure

[@xsilentzeptikx4744]

I put new shocks on my xj and it raised it half way where yours is but I gotta say, nice xj

[@kenoskateboarding]

Good video man very informative

[@morrismercier9849]

Great job. Helped me a lot!!!!!! Do more

[@DEInTheGarage]

Will do!

[@MrJohnv8386]

Good video bro work with what you got I think you should have knocked them socks out at the same time but that's just my two cents I've been doing the same to my 93 Astro back of it has a large tool box with Jack's and whatnot adding helper springs really helped it and then revamping all the suspension and steering in the front little at a time like you were doing keep up the good work man would love to see more videos from you on how the progress of the Jeep is going

[@DEInTheGarage]

Hey Thanks. The shocks actually took a bit more to replace. we did a short vid on the process. kzbin.info?o=U&video_id=aV-WCWPrNMU

[@seth4076]

I like that headliner

[@DEInTheGarage]

Thanks! We have a video on how to do it cheap and easy kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6fKgKpsdseMl7s

[@shellsart4821]

Thank you! What a great video. It helped me a lot!

[@thedeathwobblechannel6539]

Ford Ranger leafs work as well, same weight and spring rates give or take a few one way or the other.

[@liamstraub3394]

Heyyy!!! this video inspired me to fix up my xj! i did all new leaf springs and shocks all the way around alound with new brakes all the way around. Including drums, that was a bitch. and the new coils should come in tomorrow!! keep it up with the vids love em!

[@DEInTheGarage]

Heck yea! Glad to hear it! I bet she is running race ready now!

[@mikerobbins5049]

Results look good

[@DEInTheGarage]

Thanks!

[@billtwist2037]

You have coral growing on your brake drums. Lol. Nice video.

[@cwcadventures9987]

I have the exact same Jeep color and all and I too also have the saggy Jeep butt problem

[@DEInTheGarage]

Like humans, Jeep start to sag in their old age. haha

[@sneakthief5724]

Shoulda added all the leaves just to see how high it would take you

[@johnaustin9289]

I have the whole s-10 pack that I'm going to be doing the only xj spring I'm keeping us the main one that is going to be my vacation project.

[@DEInTheGarage]

Nice!

[@E.force89]

How did it turn out ?

[@limited50scla]

Sweet lift

[@AvocaSingleTrack]

You want M42 bits for drilling steels. Save you alot of time.

[@jamesgraves6567]

over all not bad at all... good job....

[@richtyler1353]

Great video thank you

[@nobsatthistime]

To be honest with the work involved in what you did you should have replaced the leafs with a brand new springs Dorman 929-301 has the stock replacement springs for 116 a side.What is going to happen is the rear shackle is going to give way and give you a nasty banging noise. Dorman has the new shackle you will be needing 2. You should never reuse u bolts either. Invest the money and buy the right parts for the job and borrow your friends tool's to break lol.

[@DEInTheGarage]

I agree that is the more "correct" way, but my solution was about $25 and I am on a shoestring budget. That said, I don't know anyone who has gone this route and had an issue. Thanks for the feedback and part numbers though!

[@nobsatthistime]

As I said the rear shackle is where all the stress goes and by the looks of yours they are on borrowed time. Just the stress from replacing my rear shocks was enough to snap my rear shackle. I just did the job I recommended you do and now that the rear is back up it shifted all the weigh forward so when I hit a bump with the front wheels it's horrible so I just ordered new coils for the front with a 2 inch lift to shift the weight back aft. I guess what I'm trying to say is if your going threw the labor do not skimp on parts or you will be doing it twice.

[@patb4493]

@@nobsatthistime "rich man pays once, poor man pays twice"

[@KKaufman40]

Great video. I've prolly watched it 100 times. What bit did you use to drill through the DJ springs

[@DEInTheGarage]

Thanks for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed it!, I believe I drilled mine out to 1/2 inch. That is the size that matched the new center pins I found and the holes that were in the Chevy springs i got.

[@stoff3r]

Looks at the whole undercarridge: thats a project for another time

[@ronaldreed7698]

Scrap it, rust buckets are not worth the effort, never get emotionally involved with a mechanism.

[@bigshortstack2929]

I'm curious as to why you didn't use the springs from a junkyard Cherokee XJ that would have the lengths and hole locations you needed. Why were the springs from the S-10 a better choice?

[@DEInTheGarage]

The Chevy springs are thicker, so they offer more lift (by compressing left under load). You could use Jeep springs, but you wont get as much "spring" out of them.

[@bubuleja1791]

That was a lot of work. I mean a lot. To save a few bucks..? Digging g trough the junkyard, cutting springs, drilling, etc... I get the small budget and thank you for posting the video. Just a lot of work for that. I think I'm gonna go with an add a leaf kit, maybe spring helpers and some shackles....

[@DEInTheGarage]

Haha.. true. A whole lot of work. When you have a genuine love for digging in junk yards and wrenching rusty Jeeps it is a hobby not work. I'd have gone this direction even if the add-a-leaf was free. Either you get it or you don't. The add-a-leaf isn't too expensive and it is certainly easier to instal. You will be happy with the results

[@bubuleja1791]

@@DEInTheGarage I went to the junkyard today and found a plethora of S10 's with perfect leaf springs..I'm gonna take your approach, just gonna take my time with it. Thanks!

[@DEInTheGarage]

Hey, good for you! In my most humble opinion, it is a fun project. maybe not time-efficient, certainly a sense of satisfaction at the end of the day. Good luck with it!

[@dadirtydawg7789]

Where'd you get the cross/center pin from

[@jamesgraves6567]

oh my god the rust im glad im out west wow.....

[@DEInTheGarage]

Yea, the struggle is real here in Jersey... Also, this is a $1200 Jeep, so it is particularly rough

[@cesarbeg]

Hi. Nice video, excellent idea. Did you weld the clamps?

[@ronaldreed7698]

I went up to the great lakes to buy a sailboat, noted what wonderful condition all the boats were in BUT the cars/trucks, all rust buckets. The opposite of our Fl boats and Trucks.

[@DEInTheGarage]

Yea, in the north our boat only sit in the water for 3 months, then get packed away, but our vehicle get destroyed with road salt. really sucks

[@JustJeep_It]

What is the part number for the centering pins? Are they on amazon? Great video!!

[@DEInTheGarage]

I got them off the shelf in the suspension isle at AutoZone. Not sure what the part number would have been, honestly

[@JustJeep_It]

It’s all good! Thanks man.

[@greynolds17]

any clue what the s10 3rd leaf with the clips and the 2nd leaf would do? i have the main and 2nd and 3rd on but its wayyyy too tall, like 5 inches or so of lift. thinking of removing the s10 main, and i dont want to use the 2nd s10 leaf exclusively because i would like to reuse the clips on the 3rd one without welding them on the main leaf

[@DEInTheGarage]

Well the 2nd gave me about 2" on a very saggy stock suspension and you are saying both got about 5" on both 2 and 3, so I would estimate just the 3rd would be around 3?.. this is juts a hypothesis, but it seem the lift goes up exponentially when you add more than one leaf as the S10 leafs are so much beefier than the XJ one. That would be my guess based on my experience.

[@40Spec]

Went through all that work and only put one leaf in from the S10? Why not swap all but one of the Jeeps leafs?

[@thomasnunya1438]

Is there anything stopping a guy from bolting the main leaf from the s10 into the Xj frame? From a quick measurement it looks like it should fit but I know everyone cuts the eyes off and leaves the main leafs in place. Just that my leafs are soo worn out.

[@DEInTheGarage]

I am honestly not sure, but if it fits go for it. I had thought they were too long for the XJ, but I could be wrong

[@mikeadams5410]

Anyone on the channel have any experience with the bolt on spring helper kits? Not looking for a lift I just want to level it out. Trying to raise the back end up without opening up a big can of worms I did a rear shackle a few months ago and everything was frozen and rusty so i know it would be no fun task to go this route. Any sugguestions and thoughts would be appreciated

[@DEInTheGarage]

They work, but are a bandaid and sometimes effect ride quality. Definitely easier than this method though

[@mikegriego3671]

Those leafs are done. AAL will not last long. A whole new set of leafs will last longer.

[@jaybourbon8608]

Great video I have been looking to make these for my 01 XJ. So I found a set of S10 leafs from a 98 at my local Junk Yard the guy said he has 3 leaf, from a 2wd, and 4 leaf for a 4WD s10. I didnt think to ask about the blazer.. Which one would be better? How many leafs are needed for a 3" lift. Also what year s10/Dakota/Blazers will work? The guy asked me what year I was looking for so I need to call him back and tell him exact years. I would think the newer the better? Less wear and sag? Thank you for your time, and keep up the videos!

[@DEInTheGarage]

Pretty much an year will work. The all use the same width leafs. It is hard to nail down how many you will need becuase it depends on the state of your leafs and the new leafs. You will probably want 2 leafs for a 3" lift. Unfortunately this type of thing sometimes required some mixing and matching to get it right

[@jaybourbon8608]

@@DEInTheGarage Hey thanks for the response. Think the 3 leaf will work for a 3" lift? How many leaf were the springs you used and what year and vehicle did you use?

[@DEInTheGarage]

@@jaybourbon8608 I used i leafe to fix my sagging, but as you can see my Jeep was sagginy REALLY badly. If you use 3 springs i would not suggest using the largest of the Chevy spring. use the 3 smaller ones on your main leaf. I believe mine we from a late 90's S10 Blazer

[@jaybourbon8608]

@@DEInTheGarage Hey thanks again. for anyone looking for leafs. I ended up scoring some leafs off of a 98 Jimmy s15 4x4 for $40 in the local bone yard they matched up the same as the s10 blazers. After spending much time in the junk yard and comparing the 2wd to 4wd leafs off a bunch of vehicles I'd definitely recommend getting the 4wd Blazer or jimmy leafs. All the 2wd models were about flat from age and the 4wd had decent curve. S10'S, BLAZERS, AND JIMMY'S seemed to all be comparable from late 80's up to 2001. . Going out to start the project today not looking forward to it.. What model Lincoln welder is that? How do you like it? Been on the market for one.

[@raymondbutterfield8621]

So now you just need to lift the front?

[@DEInTheGarage]

Probably not. This was for leveling in my case. If were interested in a full lift i'd recommend using more leafs in the back and finding some larger springs on craigslist

[@greynolds17]

also has the pack sagged much at all afterwards?

[@DEInTheGarage]

It has been about 4 months and it has sagged about 1/2" from where it was at the end of the install.

[@greynolds17]

did you get anything over stock or was this just returned to stock? im looking for 1.5-2" over stock and my leaves are a little bit less sagged than yours

[@DEInTheGarage]

So I am about 9 months in and yes, my Jeep has sagged a bit. The big issue for me is the weight I carry back there every day. 200 lbs of tools. I am going to redo this and use the larger Chevy spring instead of the smaller one. this should net me 2" over stock with - with my tools - will end up being stock ride height

[@scottwatson1225]

D&E In The Garage Thanks for the video brother and the response to the Sagging. I was a little concerned about going the way you were in the video for that purpose. Very comprehensive and extremely helpful. I’m getting ready to do this project this weekend and will use the largest one that I have from the pack. So do you think it would be better to just replaced the largest XJ spring with the largest S 10 spring? ( 2nd from main)

[@giovannilopez6529]

How much lift will I get from a shackle and puck lift in a 99 Cherokee xj with stock everything

[@DEInTheGarage]

I dont follow your question. When you purchase a shackle and puck kit they come as a specific size. Usually they are 2"-2.5", but I have seen them as high as 3". The answer to your questions is you will get however much lift you buy. Did I misunderstand your question?

[@giovannilopez6529]

D&E In The Garage yeah I forgot to add that I’m looking at lift that says it’s 3” puck in front and 2.5 in rear shackles

[@WiSeR187]

One rotor and one drum in the back? Hmmm 🤔

[@michaeldramis2349]

The rust on those drums it's so bad, I've seen old trucks in the worst situation looking better than that😬

[@ddcraun]

I know I haven't finished watching yet but you NEVER weld a spring.

[@DEInTheGarage]

There wasnt enough heat in that tack to decarbonize the spring.

[@ddcraun]

Good lord that thing is a cancer pile! Where the hell are you that a 95 is that bad?

[@DEInTheGarage]

Jersey

[@williamnagel2654]

Springs r like breasts they sag with age