Has anyone ever installed rear leaf helpers? Are they effective?

I hat when i have stuff in the cargo area getting high beamed all the time. Saturday i had 6 people in the x one of which was in the rear area (better then a dui) but the whole ride home i kept getting beamed. This has happened during other trips when there are coolers or other heavy items back there.

So i was looking for a cost effective way of fixing that.

like these
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Heavy-Dut...040828033QQrdZ1

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/3-Way-Adj...039391028QQrdZ1

you might be happier with an aal instead of the two that you looked at, it will be a little more $ but you get what you pay for in this respect.

What is aal?

I would just do a PML, but with Add A Leaf springs instead of the shackels. It will definatly stiff up the rear for ya and give you a nice little lift while your at it. 2 birds with one stone as they say.

Oh, and to techincally answer your question, no i have not installed the helpers.

Link to Calmini AALs

well.. incase you didn't figure it out from the post above...

AAL= Add a Leaf
PML= Poor Man Lift

Ah gotcha. But that would add height. And while si would love to light the whole thing, its not in the cards currently. Baby on the way, plus i dont think it would fit in the garage then.

I was looking for some support that would only engage when called upon, I saw some anti sway/helpers in summit racing that looked pretty sweet. they mount on top of the leaf pack so as not to hinder clearence.

http://store.summitracing.com/default.as...t=egnsearch.asp

I think i am going to go with a set of these Helwig helpers from summit 59 shipped..



Any thoughts?

Do all of the aal add height to the rear of the truck?

The problem with stiffening the rear leaves is that the truck will ride harsher, and have no flex....and, it must add height unless you only add overload springs that it hits on the way down during compression.

The AAL only adds 1.5" of height, so garage issues will not be the problem...making the front match vs driving around with your butt 1.5" higher than the front than normal is more of an issue.

Since it sounds as though you vary between running empty and overloaded, the most elegant solution would be helper air bags.

These add no height per se, as you inflate them when needed, and they augment the support of the leaf packs, preventing sag.

You install a small air compressor, 2 bags, and adjust the height/support from the drivers seat, pumping it up for loads of drunken friends, and pumping/drainging it down for loads of empty passenger seats, etc.

You can also save $ by just getting the version you pump/bleed at a gas station/home etc....as needed.

I believe some XOC have also installaed air shocks for the same purpose...although I don't know them or their set-ups personnally.

So - to avoid porn star pose driving when empty...you can do:

Thicker overload springs
Air Bags
Air Shocks

Tj thanks for th intput. Tru about going from empty mostly to saggy butt.

But the helper springs pictured will they really add tension all of the time. To me it seems that they would only be engaged as more and more weight was put on the leafs.

Or i guess with each bump you hit pressure is put on the leaf. I think taht would result in the stiffer ride you speak of.

Im going to look around for the manually infaltable bags, i didnt think that was even an option.

Hmmm.... Inflating bags to help a sagging ass

Well its less painful then AAL

I ordered a set of the Hellwig 550's from Summit Racing. Ill report on them when they arrive and i install them..

I recently had leafs added to my X because of sagging in the rear...about 1" or so....if you go to a local spring shop they should be able to add a leaf (or two) without raising the hieght too much above stock....just make sure you get them to re-arc the whole leaf pack to give you the desired hieght you want....I had a leaf added to each side and the packs re-acred and got abotu 1 1/2" back, up to stock hieght and it rides perfect again....

Well im going to try the helpers for now, and most likely torsion light the front a tad bit.

Then im going to save up for some new shocks.

Does anyone know if this would work to stiffen the rear suspension? Has anyone used it? Is it good or just junk? I saw it at another forum and I'm curious. They have it at autozone for $30.

What are you attaching the top and bottom of that too?

TJ,

I just found the link to Autozone

I believe you bolt it to the rear axle, just on top of the U bolts, so that the yellow "plastic" part hits the frame.