Which coil springs are the softest for a lifted TJ?

Folks!!!!!! Before you claim to be rocket scientists and magicians of all things with wheels, please do us a favor.

REMOVE YOUR SHOCKS AND GO FOR A RIDE. THEN TELL US AGAIN HOW THE SPRINGS ARE TOO STIFF.

I promise it will open your eyes to what is being preached here.
You will feel like you are on one of these.
1640097506241.jpeg
 
Remove the shocks and go for a drive. Come back and tell us how stiff the new springs really are.

Fwiw, I've done this and it isn't what you expect.
Ok JJ, for the sake of science I just tried this experiment. I removed my shocks and went for a ride. And man - the ride sucks! Way more stiff than with the shocks!

🙃
 
Jerry ,
kept the original shocks ,,,,just changed the coil springs,
Had cushy ride before I changed to Rubicon coils,( bigger wire diameter )
The schocks are still in great shape

Hey BigDan,

So yes, it was changing the springs that caused the change in ride quality, but as others are mentioning, that has more to do with how the springs changed your ride height, which affects the riding length of your shock. It turns out that no springs on the market have a difference in stiffness/softness so great that it can affect the ride quality. Now yes, in theory, if you installed a spring that was so stiff it compressed only 0.1" when loaded with the weight of your LJ, then that spring would be stiff enough to affect the ride quality of your Jeep. But none of those exist, so it's sort of a moot point.

So no, you won't find a 'softer' spring that can hold your LJ at the desired height. Once the springs are holding the Jeep at the desired height, you have to either live with the ride quality, or change the shocks to something that perform better at that ride height.

If you want to send along some specifics of the compressed/loaded length of your springs, so that we all know what your ride height is, then we can recommend shocks that meet your goals of ride quality at that length.
 
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One question, exactly (!) what air pressure is in your 35's right now and could anyone have jacked it up when the new springs were installed? If the air pressure was jacked up, perhaps to the air pressure molded onto the sidewall, which is never the correct pressure to run, that could be significantly negatively affecting the ride.

Aha, great point. That could have made a big difference too.
 
Installed new Rubicon coil springs on my regular LJ ,
Same length but bigger wire
Result, lost the soft ride but gaiined an inch in height ,
I’m looking for moderate lift coil springs but with soft ride , similar wire size to original but longer in length
Does it exist ?
Thanks
Dan,

You can inexpensively get the exact same spring rate and +1 inch height with a 1 inch spacer. This will tell you for sure if the new springs are responsible for the harshness or not.

This is a great group, but every group has its dogmas. "Springs have 0 impact on ride quality" is one. The absolute truth is that springs do affect ride quality. The practical reality for TJs is that with the commonly available springs there is little noticeable difference in ride quality, so it's best to focus on shocks.

If you were happy with the ride before get some 1" spacers and go back to your old springs.
 
You can inexpensively get the exact same spring rate and +1 inch height with a 1 inch spacer. This will tell you for sure if the new springs are responsible for the harshness or not.

This is a great group, but every group has its dogmas. "Springs have 0 impact on ride quality" is one. The absolute truth is that springs do affect ride quality. The practical reality for TJs is that with the commonly available springs there is little noticeable difference in ride quality, so it's best to focus on shocks.

If you were happy with the ride before get some 1" spacers and go back to your old springs.
That is correct, you can build a spring that will affect ride quality. The reason for the dogma is if you open that door, then the discussion becomes spring centric and that fails to address the actual problems. So, you have to keep that door shut by continually hammering vast quantities of "springs don't matter" nails into it because if you miss one, then the conversation becomes another "what is the best riding spring?" full and complete waste of time. Like you said, reality is there are no springs in the common lift ranges that have a perceptible difference in ride quality. And there again, you have to qualify every stinking answer so some twat doesn't try to use the example of a 2" lift spring in place of the 4" he just removed and now the fully bottomed out shocks are holding the rig up.
 
ask him what the rate and free length is.
I just wanted to know the make and model, I can find the free length data online based on that.

Not wanting to make the guy feel bad, I really am just curious to which springs he chose and what model shocks he had (and left) installed.

Yes, there's more to perceived ride quality than those two items; tire pressure, potential lifts, and so on.

I'm just wanting to avoid that particular combination.
 
Hey BigDan,

So yes, it was changing the springs that caused the change in ride quality, but as others are mentioning, that has more to do with how the springs changed your ride height, which affects the riding length of your shock. It turns out that no springs on the market have a difference in stiffness/softness so great that it can affect the ride quality. Now yes, in theory, if you installed a spring that was so stiff it compressed only 0.1" when loaded with the weight of your LJ, then that spring would be stiff enough to affect the ride quality of your Jeep. But none of those exist, so it's sort of a moot point.

So no, you won't find a 'softer' spring that can hold your LJ at the desired height. Once the springs are holding the Jeep at the desired height, you have to either live with the ride quality, or change the shocks to something that perform better at that ride height.

If you want to send along some specifics of the compressed/loaded length of your springs, so that we all know what your ride height is, then we can recommend shocks that meet your goals of ride quality at that length.
REALLY nice response @SSTJ. Informative and respectful. Thank you.
 
Installed new Rubicon coil springs on my regular LJ ,
Same length but bigger wire
Result, lost the soft ride but gaiined an inch in height ,
I’m looking for moderate lift coil springs but with soft ride , similar wire size to original but longer in length
Does it exist ?
Thanks
Dan,
This should have been posted earlier before all the banter started, but here you go Dan. Some of the info you're looking for is in this thread.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/tj-shock-spring-specification-resource-thread.47846/
 
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I’ve swapped between different rating of springs onto the same shock for the T4R. Of course I had to move the spring cup to maintain ride height for the softer spring The 25% difference in spring rating did make a noticeable difference in small imperfection ride quality. About the same difference as going from soft passenger tires to AT.
 
I’ve swapped between different rating of springs onto the same shock for the T4R. Of course I had to move the spring cup to maintain ride height for the softer spring The 25% difference in spring rating did make a noticeable difference in small imperfection ride quality. About the same difference as going from soft passenger tires to AT.
What is a T4R?
 
I went through this whole thing a few years ago. I installed 2 inch OME heavy duty springs along with their shocks and the ride was quite harsh. So I replaced the heavy duty springs with light duty springs. The ride was much better. I reported these results and boy did I get flamed for saying that springs affect ride quality! When I offered a physics 101 explanation as to why this might be true the flames got hotter. The reaction was so strong I thought I must have been wrong. So I did a blind test with a neighbor. First I took him for a ride with the LD springs. Then, without his knowledge of what I had done I took him for a ride with the re-installed HD springs. The reaction was immediate and conclusive. He thought the ride was worse. I got more input from my wife who knew I was working on the Jeep but didn’t know what I had done. With the HD springs she immediately asked what I had done to make the ride worse.

So there you have it. Basd upon my sample of one, spring rates can affect ride quality, albeit perhaps not as much as the shocks. This was not a case of the shocks reaching their up or down limits. This was just on ordinary roads. When offroad the ride with the LD springs was bad because I was always bottoming out. The HD springs are better in that regard.
 
I went through this whole thing a few years ago. I installed 2 inch OME heavy duty springs along with their shocks and the ride was quite harsh. So I replaced the heavy duty springs with light duty springs. The ride was much better. I reported these results and boy did I get flamed for saying that springs affect ride quality! When I offered a physics 101 explanation as to why this might be true the flames got hotter. The reaction was so strong I thought I must have been wrong. So I did a blind test with a neighbor. First I took him for a ride with the LD springs. Then, without his knowledge of what I had done I took him for a ride with the re-installed HD springs. The reaction was immediate and conclusive. He thought the ride was worse. I got more input from my wife who knew I was working on the Jeep but didn’t know what I had done. With the HD springs she immediately asked what I had done to make the ride worse.

So there you have it. Basd upon my sample of one, spring rates can affect ride quality, albeit perhaps not as much as the shocks. This was not a case of the shocks reaching their up or down limits. This was just on ordinary roads. When offroad the ride with the LD springs was bad because I was always bottoming out. The HD springs are better in that regard.
Did your ride height change between the spring swaps?