Hollbrook Springs Vs Rocky Road Yj Spring Swap Vs Home Brew Yj Spring Swap

I am contemplating upgrading my springs. I would like more flex and a smoother ride. I know that I will never get modern comfort out of my glorified farm implement, but I would like to improve over this 40's technology.
I currently have Rancho 2.5 in lift springs and Rancho 9000 adjustable shocks. I removed a leaf which improved the ride, but still leaves something to be desired.

I am trying to decide between going the Hollbrook springs, or The Rocky road YJ spring swap with Old Man Emu springs.
I am leaning toward the Rocky Road kit due to the use of off the shelf springs and I have heard great reviews about the quality of Old Man Emu products.
I am not expecting to achieve the comfort of a Tj or newer jeep.

Did you guys who have installed either of these companies products notice a considerable improvement in ride quality?
In the end did you feel the money spent was worth in improvement?

 

I will be watching this one. Those are the three options I have been considering.

 

I am aware of the BDS option. But I am looking more flex out of the longer springs; moving hangers and such.

 

BDS or get a newer Jeep...

Your still throwing tons of money on improved 40's technology for minimal gain.

 

I'm watching too.
I have BDS and I think they are rough even with tires aired down, but have never driven another cj5 to compare to.

My hesitation with Yj conversion is I don't know if my rear gas tank skid pan will clear the wider springs and how the rocky road kit would work with future Saginaw box.

I gotta do something cause my wife keeps wanting to ride in the polaris instead of the jeep.

 

I'm just going from my old notes and memory , so don't hold me to anything exact...............Stock CJ early Front 39" / Rear 46" ..............YJ 45" I think both ends................Holbrooks Front 46.5" Rear 52.25" ...............I hear good things about the Rocky Road kit about flex but not so much ride........when I was messing with the YJ springs with Jeff Deaver we thought a little longer YJ spring would be better overall........front around 48" and 53" in the back with an offset center bolt..........and also using the boomerang shackle in the rear........Deaver takes his spring building a step further by using a much thinner millimeter sized spring material and then adds more leaves.............

Holbrooks are definitely flexy but in a completely different manner in which it takes some getting use to. Lots of body roll on the street..........and ride very nice both on and off the trail. With a hardtop the body roll would be exaggerated ..........I personally think the early CJ with the Holbrooks on the street would benefit greatly from a sway bar with disconnects as I started to add to my build at one time..............Nick Miller and Warlock I believe still run Holbrooks........and if I remember right Chuck used to keep his Holbrooks in check with body roll by using the adjustable Rancho 9000 shocks.

 

What makes the BDS so much better? They are nearly $800 for the base level kit. They still bolt into the stock brackets and work with stock length shackles. It would be hard to squeeze much more flex out of them than what I get out of my ranchos that have one leaf removed.

 

I have BDS 2.5" springs on mine, and I too have been contemplating the same question as Norcal. The ride is better than some other aftermarket springs but it's far from great.
I've been leaning towards the YJ option because with the Holbrook springs, you have only one option, 3.5" lift, which is higher than I want (I like the stance of my CJ now)
With the YJ conversion you can use any stock or aftermarket YJ spring hopefully getting the ride height and flex you want.
As mentioned above, I'm concerned about the Rocky Road conversion brackets and my Saginaw steering gear swap...I contacted the company about this but they were no help, they couldn't even supply any pictures other than what's on their website.

 

The quality and warranty of the BDS springs fetches the price.. the name a little bit too..
The OP says the goal is "better ride and more flex..."
I just don't thinks that achievable in a SWB early Jeep without some major money, time, effort, fabrications skills, and energy.
I'm sure some will disagree... but as you said.. its a glorified tractor.. take it for what it is and what it was intended to do and it wont let you down. Every modification away from original intention will be a cause and effect reaction.

want more flex or comfort.. a YJ or TJ is where its at

 

I would say go all the way to a TJ and coils, rather than leaf springs. A YJ is basically a CJ-7 with square headlights.

I mostly agree with rejeep's comment. There are some things you can do, but at some point you are making a silk purse from a sow's ear. If you want more comfort, run softer tires and get some good seats. Tire pressure makes a big difference. The Bostrom high-backs I had in my first CJ-6 were very comfortable ... the dealership I worked at used them in the Jeepster race cars.

 

I am hoping that Scott Milliner will chime in here. I have read through his Rocky road install. It doesn't look like it will interfere with my saginaw box. I am with you on the height. We have to keep it down so it fits inside our toy haulers.

Tarry, I am not opposed at all to adding a sway bar and disconnects in addition to any suspension upgrade.
When you were talking with Deaver, did you guys discuss a rough price for a set of his custom springs?

 

if you are contemplating custom springs I can only say awesome things about Alcan's..
have a set on my Rover and
even with stock mounts the the orbit eye bushings will add some extra flex.

Orbit-Eye Springs and Bushings

 

Kyle , Custom comes in many forms.........when I was working with Jeff we were getting off the reservation somewhat and exploring many things. Keep in mind that spring manufactures are more apt to develop & build springs for the masses and then adapt that which works to perhaps other subordinate applications. Jeff welcomed the challenge and was glad to engage but the learning experience would not be without cost for either of us........Bill at Alcan is another smart guy and does a few interesting things but pretty much stays with what sells.

If you want a better ride and more flex in a leaf spring , then length is the first prerequisite.....then material , width & thickness , Calculated to carry a given amount of weight at a certain ride height , deflection and span..............So axle weighing of each corner of your vehicle is mandatory for the spring person to build the correct spring the first time ........likewise lift should not be part of what the spring does as most manufactures would like you to believe...........as the chassis / body dimensions should already be correct to allow for clearance & proper ride height and just allow the spring to do it's work within its given range and spring rate............getting back to what we were doing in the length that I mentioned above was based around my new longer CJ6 chassis which is around 105 inches +/-. So longer springs do in most cases require a longer wheelbase.

I scrapped my leaf spring project on my CJ6 build when the width of the leafs became too wide to package it and the 9"Ford under the front end without having to go to a much wider width axle............I changed everything over to Fox coilovers with dual springs and although packaging is still an issue with a 3-link it's slowly getting sorted out while still able to keep the look I wanted.

 

Thank you Tarry,
For What I am trying to accomplish, I don't think that one off springs are necessary.
It is tempting, and I do have wheel scales to provide individual corner weights. I have had custom springs built before for the rear of circle track cars, but I was only having the spring rate changed, not the length and width. We used to polish the individual leaves and grease them with white lithium grease. Once a week I would disassemble them to clean out the speedy dry, rocks and rubber chunks. They were very smooth and there was a noticeable increase in traction on the throttle and less wheel hop under deceleration and cornering. From there I had a set of monoleaf springs built which were outlawed after we set a track record 3 weeks in a row.

I am also considering ordering all of the necessary hangers from ruff stuff, YJ springs and creating my own kit. Hopefully the guys who have done the Hollbrooks or YJ springs/ Rocky Road will chime in on the improvement.

 

I know that the jeep in this picture is spring over. I am interested in spring under. You can see the rear tank skid plate. I would imagine that it clears.

 

At the very least...........you should get the scales out and weigh it loaded at Ride Height............with the information you can surely talk with allot more knowledge about what you need vs the spring choices these folks are offering..........The spring over concept in some cases does have some benefits like getting the lift out of the way for tires if needed and then allowing a more compliant flatter spring pack for a better ride to be run........(Look at that picture above at how flat that pack is ) although steering would have to be addressed on the passengers side..........but that's easy.......something to think about.
The Holbrooks are also a good choice. Gary, his family and a whole bunch of other people have been running that setup for years......just got to get used to the leaning on side hills and turns.....

 

I converted my CJ5 over to Wrangler springs and it made a tremendous difference in the ride quality and flex on the trail. My rear has SkyJacker Softrides and the front are something else. Both are 2.5" lift springs and both have been a huge upgrade over the skinny Rancho springs that were on there when I bought the Jeep.

 

Did you use the kit mentioned above, or make your own?
Do you have pics you can post?

 

Surprised nobody has mentioned the Skyjacker Softrides. They transformed my 70 when I put them on from bone jarring rough to amazingly soft. At the time I didn't know about the holbrook long leaves - they would be my first choice if I was doing it now.