Hey all, the previous owner of my '79 J10 installed a Rough Country 3-inch lift kit (replacement springs in front, blocks in rear), and so I've got what I believe are stock springs on the 3-inch blocks in the rear. I am getting a lot of sag under heavy load.
Here are a couple pics, one is with a rick of red oak firewood from a few months ago, the other is from today with nothing in the bed. I estimate somewhere between 3-4 inches of sag under that load. I am guessing the firewood was close to a full 1/2 ton, though I have seen similar sag with lighter but still heavy loads of 500-600 lbs.
under-load.jpg
no-load.jpg
Here is an image underneath with nothing in the bed, and you can see there's a rougly 5 inch gap between the bottom of the bump stops and where they would land on the axle.
bump-stop-no-load.jpg
If those blocks weren't there, then my axle would have been resting on the bump stops with that load of firewood. It is rare that I need to haul a heavy load, but I am guessing that can't be good?
Timbren was suggested to me as a potential solution, but looks like that gap is too large for any of their stuff to work. Are there any other helper options worth considering, like coils? Air bags maybe? I guess I'd have to pump them up whenever I needed to haul a heavy load.
Other than helpers, I could consider new springs, but they don't seem to come cheap. I am seeing an option on TGW and BJ's for ~$450. Does anyone know of other options for replacement springs?
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