Snow plow - leaf spring helper

Just lifted my 63 CJ5 with a 2.5" Pro Comp lift. The manufacturer does not reccomend plowing with the leaf springs even though they are claimed to have a 10% higher spring rate. I was considering installing either air shocks or coil over shocks for the winter. Gabriel sell Hi-Jacker air shocks that provide a 1000 lb added capacity and coil over provide 500 lb. Anyone have any experience with these? Any other reccomendations for dealing with the weight of the plow?

 

maybe beef up your current springs by adding extra leafs ?
air shocks put all the load on the shocks.

 

And more importantly the shock mounts which are prone to cracks and rust.

I agree with Jpflat2a, I'd consider beefing up the springs. Shocks are for dampening, not load bearing....

 

I would recomend maybe mounting a set of airbags in between the axle and the frame, or between leaf and the frame depending on how your suspension is set up. But bags are usually pretty easy to set up and you should be able to easily remove them. Or you can just deflate them and they wont change the ride.

 

Most of the dealers won't sell you the bags if you say they are going on the front, at least in my experience, might try a bit of ingenuity to find the parts.

 

How big is your plow? Your own driveway or commercial use? Daily driver with the plow attached? I run a 6' Meyer 4-way. Only do my own driveway, so the plow is at rest on the ground 90% of the time. If that's the case, don't worry about it. If you're running around all week carrying the plow, look into something like this place:http://www.truckspring.com/default.aspx Oh, if the mfg of your springs doesn't recommend it, they probably won't cover any issues you may have.

 

I just added a leaf to my springs, but it does make the front way stiff without the plow.

 

Add a winch (or something else heavy) to the front when you are not using the plow....

 

Yeah, I've got an 8274 up there and its still tough. Nice and smooth with the plow on though. I've got like 12 leaves in my front springs IIRC.


Really, I'd like to ditch the plow, but its the justification for keeping the jeep

 

All, thanks for the suggestions.