Hot Springs, AR and new leaf springs

We decided to hit Superlift park at Hot Springs, AR instead of barnwell mountain in September
This was a great weekend with no breakage sans the old leaf springs finally collapsed.
A JK rubicon snapped its front axleshaft, a YJ wrangler bent his tie rods, and a XJ Cherokee snapped his outer steering joint and yolk.

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This was rock to boulder sized entrance that led to a large rock slab angled at 50*.  For reference the severely stuck XJ has 33 12.50-15 tires.  Unfortunately for him the XJs wheelbase fit perfectly between 2 rocks and stuck him like a champ.

Don't let the pics deceive you, there are some serious trails here.  We still have 141 trails left to hit too!
 I found a tail the commando couldn't conquer- Baileys boulders..

View from the top of the mountains..



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fixes...

These are dodge Durango leaf springs That I swapped afterwards. They are 2.5" wide and 56" long- like the commandos.
 There is a little drilling due to the 9/16" eye bolts, and I re-drilled the centering pin back 1" on the main leaf to keep the 104" wheelbase

tire carrier finished...

Its not stock, but I didn't want anything that looked like an erector set bolted on either...
I started off with a complete spindle kit 1.25" diameter, with bearings and seals...
I had heard that 1" spindles start snapping with 37" tires, so I went a bit bigger with the 35" spare...


  Spindle and mount

 

The box in the center holds a complete scout 2 wheel spindle, wheel hub, and lockout hub as a trail spare...

This rack can hold my 225 lbs at full swing, just rocks the jeep a bit.

 

About 2 days of work, and cussing...

The red handle is supposed to be rated at 750 lbs of clamping force...

There's enough room on top for a hi-lift that's sitting in the corner...

 

 

 

 

 

 

As nice as it turned out- there is a caveat!    Due to the racks angle matching the tailgate- the carrier has to come past 90* (more like 120*) out to open the tailgate- food for thought