Which leaves are the best to remove to reduce height?

With my front fenders being gone (And will be replaced by tube fenders that are nearly hood height) I want to remove a leaf possibly two, in order to reduce the over all height.

So which one(s) do I remove?

IMO, the shortest 2 leaves are the ones to remove....these will most effect your load carrying and your ride height, and removing will speed the sag process. Once they've been out for a while, you may be able to reinstall them to get your load carrying back with little height increase. (Once the mains have sagged, they STAY sagged! lol)

NOTE: You will experience increased rear axle wrap, even in a SUA config, so beware. A wrap bar is encouraged. (I know, I busted a rear pinion while SUA!!)

thanks man, Busted pinion?? No way....;) They don't call me pinion boy for nothing that's for sure. :laughing:

I think I will try and remove one leaf and see how that works. I have a pretty bitchin trac bar on the rear, so wrap isn't "too" much of a concern. :D:D

If you look at old pictures of my Cruiser with the 38's, I had both small leafs out of the front FJ-40 pack and the rear is a stock FJ-55 pack.

I pulled the bottom and #4 leaf out of the front pack and the two bottom and #4 leaves out of my rear 55 pack. Works well. Although I might put some of the leaves back in because of the cage :eek: :D

Start with the bottom leaf then go from there..

I know this sounds dumb, but how do you go about removing leafs? just wondering.:)

Originally posted by Twig4790
I know this sounds dumb, but how do you go about removing leafs? just wondering.:)

Easy enough. Jack up the truck, remove the entire spring pack, remove the spring center pin, remove the leave that you want, reinstall the center pin, and re-install in the truck.

Simple, but lots of work. :D:D:D

To make it even easier, before you remove the center pin put a c-clamp on the leaves you intend to keep to hold the pack together.Plan on putting in new pins as well. I removed the bottom two leaves on my front packs and it worked out nice.

my ride is really stiff, i have two rs5000 s at each wheel. Would it be better to remove a shock or some leafs to soften up the ride? (just a little, the cruiser is pretty tall) Thanks.

TWO RS5000's at each wheel? IMO, one RS5000 is stiff enough. Ditch the 2nd shock unless you like prerunning the trails and stick with a single setup at each corner. Your kidneys will thank you.

I was helping a friend with his S-10 project a couple years back....his suspension was designed by a offroad racer, and the front 5-link was double shocked with RS5000's....he kept complaining about the ride and I kept telling him to ditch the 2nd shock. Finally, he listens to me....and his ride improved a ton. What works in racing is often the wrong idea for daily or trail use.

Too bad this S-10 seems to break something everytime it comes off the trailer....it's actually only been on 1 trail ride in 4 years! lol