Suspension, '74 CJ5

First, sorry if this has been covered somewhere. I have a 74 with a Chevy 350 and VERY stiff suspension (springs). I'm not sure how much lift it has....maybe 4 inches or so, 2" on the body. The shackles look longer than stock. My biggest 'problem' right now is that the thing scares the crap out of me on off camber stuff. It is SO stiff, I seem to get it on 3 wheels almost every time out, even when the terrain really doesn't seem that bad. It's got 33's on it.

So here's my question. Is there ANY good options for the CJ5 that will let it ride softer and articulate better, without spending a gazillion dollars? I'd like to just get a TJ, but that's gonna be a while, so if I could take some measures to 'help' the situation for a couple years, that'd be my preference. I'm contemplating spacers for the wheels, stock length shackles, and a skyjacker lift (maybe 3-4") with softride springs etc. Can anyone help with what's worked well for them..the do's and don'ts etc? I don't do any serious rock crawling or anything..mostly desert stuff and up into rocky mountainous terrain finding old mines etc. Those roads can tend to get pretty rough, but it would seem the CJ5 should be able to handle these better than what I'm experiencing.

Thanks,
Steve

 

The most obvious step would be to get rid of the body lift. If the tires clear the fenders, there's no practical reason for it.

Stock shackles would also help lower the ride height and COG. You could also try removing a leaf or two from your spring packs to soften the ride. Lowering the tire pressure will help too... what kind of tires do you have, other than the height? Ply rating? Brand?

 

I have BFG All Terrains....33x12.50. I run them at about 12-15lbs when I'm off road. I looked at the spring packs and wondered if I might just be able to remove a leaf or two...seemed like that might help and certainly cheaper than all new. My stuff is pretty worn though too...probably a good idea to replace with new bushings etc.

 

maybe the shackle bolts have been overtightened and not allowing the shackles to move/flex ?

 

My stock springs really sucked and were stiff as can be. I litterally could jump on the front bumper and it wouldn't move.

My 2.5 inch 4wd.com springs don't suck as bad, but still offer a harsh ride. That's with the RS9000's on a 1. I have heard great things out of converting to wrangler springs. Rocky road outfitters has a conversion kit.

Maybe my springs aren't broke in yet, or maybe I need greasable bushings. All I know is I have dumped a lot of coin into this Jeep to have it ride as harsh as it does.

I think it may be the nature of this beast without converting to the softer wrangler springs.

That and the streets here in town are terrible.

Good luck

High5

 

I'm new to jeeps so I don't have much to compare mine to but I think it rides pretty good or at least as good or better than I expected. We just recently finished the restoration of mine. We installed a Black Diamond 3" kit. The kit was approximately $500. My tires are Cooper ST 33x12.5

I've got a picture of my '73 CJ5 on our first trail ride last fall. It shows a little bit of articulation.
I'll see if I can get the picture to post. The cutie in the window is my 8 year old daughter.

 

[rant on] I've driven quite a few factory-fresh stock Jeeps, and the ride harshness never bothered me. Tire pressure and seats can make a big difference ... I don't have a lot of basis to compare by, but it seems that some of the lift kits are really stiff in order to get the extreme ride height that people think they need.

Note that you'll never get the boulevard ride that, say, a TJ or JK has with coil springs. The ladder frame on these Jeeps requires the springs to be mounted way inward, so body roll is controlled by using a fairly stiff spring. For a given amount of body roll, you can have lots of height and stiff springs, or less height and softer springs. Some owners (ie hudsonhawk here) go with soft springs with a high arc - this provides both height and articulation, but you may not like the amount of body roll on the street. This can be fine if you want a trail-only Jeep, or can limit your driving on pavement. However, if you need to drive to the trail head on the highway, I think you have to choose a different compromise.

Near stock ride height and moderate sized tires makes the most sense to me, since I'd like to be confident driving on the street and don't really care if I have the most super-highly-optimized suspension for crawling. I know that these Jeeps are remarkably capable in their stock form, and that I don't need to be way off the ground or have the ultimate tire size to have fun. I think a lot of new owners are somewhat taken in by propaganda of the aftermarket sellers, and have become convinced that they need a lot of this expensive stuff to simply venture off the pavement. Patently not true!

Note that the TJ coil suspension will be a better compromise between off-pavement capability and boulevard ride. Gosh, it represents nearly an additional 50 years of development. Heck, the JK now uses electronic feedback for stability control! That's way beyond what was possible or practical in the '70s.

So I'd recommend looking at the stock setup, and then making incremental changes based on your needs and preferences.[rant off]

 

Here you go. Looks like your co-pilot is helping a lot!

(Go to the Picasaweb album and copy the location of the picture. In Mozilla, this is an option at the right mouse click over the picture. insert the image location URL between the bracketd "img" keywords).

 

Nice Pic. I'm not as concerned about the harshness of the ride as I am just how easy it seems to get onto 3 wheels. I posted here a while ago about how far it could go before it would roll.....maybe it's just my limited off-road experience, but even seemingly minor off cambers freak me out! It probably could go a lot further. Although a couple of friends I wheel with have commented about the same thing and attribute it to it's stiffness.

I agree about the lift stuff. I want it lower, not taller. Is there a logical way to determine the amount of lift this has over stock? I did not put the lift on it...I bought it that way. I'd like to know what the stock shackle lengths were and a way to determine how much spring lift I have.

Steve

 

I have a 93 YJ that's spring over with stock springs. With the stock shackles it will easily fit most 35's. (The ones that are only 34 inches) It is super flexy, so much that you would never think that leaf springs would bend the way that they do. My kit is from RockyRoad also. Granted, it's not a CJ, but just some food for thought.
Randy

 

If you are looking for the smoothest ride possible, look into two different options. These are if you have mild fab skills and are comfortable with the basic skills.

A) Use Rubicon Express extreme duty YJ lift leaf springs. These springs from this brand are super sweet and flex awsome. You can get a 2.5" lift or a 4" lift from them, and switching from using CJ springs to their YJ springs will also greatly benefit you for ride comfort, bump absorbtion, and suspension flex. Don't buy a whole kit, just look for and purchase just the springs, you will save money doing it that way and make the other things you need. If you need main eye hangers or shackle hangers to accommodate the YJ springs you can get them from MORE off-road.

B) Holbrook Specialties makes a 3" lift that is supposed to be extremely flexible and smooth. Two of my buddies have this lift and love it. The kit uses extremely longer leaves than the stock ones to help remedy the same things as above and give you the same things as above (better ride comfort, better bump absorption, and more flex). I believe they are just using a leaf spring like the rear springs out of a dodge dakota or a Jeep XJ cherokee, as they are long like that and have a very off-centered center pin (go to holbrookspecialties.com and look at the pics of the springs and you'll see what I mean).

Anyway, those are my two suggestions, and I'm still contemplating which way to go. I have a shackle reversal on my rig, though, and Holbrook doesn't recommend their kit with shackle reversal, so I'll probably go with the YJ Wrangler lift leaves from Rubicon Express.

Good luck hunting.

 

I love my YJ springs on my '72. Set up right it can be the best thing you do to your jeep. I used OME.

 

Then I must have done something wrong with my new 2.5 lift, shackles, and RS 9000 shocks because I'm not as happy as some of you are. How 'tight' are shackle bolts supposed to be????

 

I would go with any soft 4" spring kit, and get rid of the body lift. You will have a better ride, a nice lift, and a better built more stable Jeep. Add some adjustable shocks with your stimulus money, and you can dial in better handling, and just the right amount of firmness that you want. Later, put in a rear locker to go with your improved suspension, and you suddenly have a very capable rig worthy of taking anywhere.

 

My lift is a 4wd.com lift which apparently at the time I bought it they were using BDS springs. Maybe I have my shackles too tight. I'm going to look at that this weekend. Good to know though....

High5

 

When I first got my 5 I went through and retorqued all the spring bolts to spec and the suspension got rock hard. I replaced all the nuts with nylocks and just snugged them and things got a lot better

 

Definately don't want your shackles too tight. But also, most people I know who installed BDS springs claimed they rode pretty stiff untill they got broken in on a couple of trail rides.

 

Guess I need to find some trails then