Sunday, April 09, 2006



Well the springs finely got here. We wanted only a 2" lift for several reasons, safety, looks and the fact that a dropped pitman arm is not needed until after 2". We certainly didn't want to be bothered with bump steer, since this will be a daily driver and should be a pleasure to drive. We also wanted to go with 31" tires and with a shackle reversal kit it moves the front axle ahead by 1 1/2" which if you look at a side view of a stock CJ the front wheel is too far back in the wheel opening. So when you go to a larger tire you end up with clearance problems. The springs I got from my local Chysler dealer Outten in Hamburg, Pa. http://www.outtencars.com/location/hamburg-pa/index.jsp The service manager there is Brian Moyer who also runs Blue Mountain Jeep Alliance Club http://www.bmja.org/ He is a real Jeep guy and he advised me on the springs. We used Wrangler front springs part # OK-BDS-00420 and CJ rear springs part # OK-BDS-00425. These cost a total of $317.89 and was cheaper than a lift kit in which we would not have used many of the parts and also this way I could mix and match Wrangler/CJ springs. The Wrangler springs ride softer than the CJ and are also wider than CJ so we are hoping the rear springs are not too stiff. The reason we didn't go with Wrangler rear is because they are longer and I didn't want to have to mess with relocating spring mounts. I guess we will find out after it is on the road if we made a mistake or not. The rear part of the shackle reversal kit comes with a bushing tube that must be drilled and welded into the frame. The instructions for locating them are based on an assembled vehicle with all the weight. We didn't have that luxury. The shackle must be a little past centerline with all the weight on, it will bump and actually lift the Jeep when it tries to move back as the suspension travels. We actually had them too far front and when I got the bright idea to compress the springs with a bar clamp, the shackle moved too far back and ran out of travel. So I had to redrill the frame and weld in filler pieces in the original holes. Oh well, lessons will be learned. The bushing kit is from J.C Whitney http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/StoreCatalogDisplay/c-10101/s-10101 catalog part #38166 or mfg. part # 1-1005 or 1-100 and cost $29.95. They are of the urethane type and I am sure will squeak. Gonna try and install some grease fittings to compansate.

1 Comments:

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8:26 PM  

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