Why HD Springs on Early Renegades?

Thought occurred to me yesterday while reading the recent post on Renegades why heavy duty springs were selected by the factory for this special package. Seemed that Jeep marketing was trying to target a more fun vehicle for off-road enthusiasts. But isn't a HD spring more appropriate for uses like snow plowing and other heavy attachments? No question the ride is a lot stiffer with the more stout springs. Wouldn't that detract from what Jeep was trying to accomplish in their marketing? I'm assuming the heavier springs offer no advantage in off-roading. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

 

Even though they were called HD, I am not too sure they were stiffer. Even through they had more leafs, I think each leaf was softer then the older style which gave a softer ride. The reason I say this is because when I first got mine it had a lot softer ride then my old CJ-2. When I got my new Renegade I transfered my PTO wrench off of my old CJ-2 on to it. On my old CJ-2, the PTO was on a 20 year old veh. with the original springs, and the weight of PTO never made a bit of difference on the ride height, but when I put it on my new Renegade, with in about a year, I had to add another leaf to the front because it was sagging. I added one leaf from a old JEEP and never had anymore problems. It did make it a lot stiff riding however. I think HD just ment "softer ride"
Just my thoughts

 

The HD springs definitely gave a sportier feel, even if the bump stiffness was higher. I'd guess that's the reason. These came with the Polyglas Suburbanites, which had a 2-ply bias-ply polyester sidewalls, and rode ok.

 

As in the amount of flex?

 

My Ren 1 is on it's third set of springs. The original set didn't last but a couple of years. My cousin bought the jeep to run in the dunes in southern cal and apparently the springs didn't last to long doing that. So maybe the HD just sounded good instead of being good.