07/23/2019
Leaf springs arent supposed to bend up like that. These are likely 24 years old and should have been changed a decade ago. You can see the only new piece of metal in this suspension is actually a lift shackle to raise it back up 2 inches. Changing the leaf springs so their strong enough to support the jeep would have raised it more than 2 inches though so it's really a band-aid fix.
Quality springs are really important and I recommend replacing springs quite often but I actually sell very few. The 2 coil springs are also weak and needed to be changed (they're from my BMW) but they dont look broken and so they never failed NH state inspection.
And that's the problem with springs. because the springs continue to pass inspection no one recommends they be changed and customers dont want to spend the money. I certainly dont blame them either as a new set of springs often costs well over $1000.
There are very good reasons to change your springs though:
- High speed handling: this corner of the jeep sits 2-3 inches lower than the other, that has a huge impact on high speed handling. High speed in this case being 40 mph and up.
- braking: front springs counter nose dive. Nose dive during braking is a shift in the balance of a car and the jeep renegade has been shown to nose dive hard enough to lift its rear wheels off the ground. Needless to say it's not going to stop as fast when the rear brakes arent doing anything.
-impact mitigation: this is the primary function Of the spring and is more than just driver comfort. You dont want to beat the vehicle chassis up with rough roads just because the springs are weak, new springs can make ball joints, bushings and even frames last longer.
Thanks for reading my whole rant. Now I need to get some new leaf springs for my jeep because this abomination with its band aid lift kit is actually mine.
