[1BDYJ]

What do you run and why?
Do you feel you have a superior suspension system and
what makes it that way?
Most of our Jeeps run some sort of variation of stock suspension,
what if any did you do to enhance your factory suspension?
What did you change to make it unique?
I may be on the wrong board...sorry if this belongs in chit-chat,
but I think we can all benefit from others slight or major
modifications.
Just trying to get some feedback from you guys on what you
like or are willing to do to your Jeep to make it perform on
different terrains.
TIA...Robert

[1BDYJ]

I see I'm alone here...so I'll do what I do best....Talk to myself.....
I started out with a bone stock YJ suspension....seems like just yesterday......dropped in a pair of D44's SUA with stock YJ leafs...seem to be ok for a while. I ran with 31's and a small block Cheby motor...perormed real well on and off road.
As we all know what happened next (what I like to call the "domino affect") I decided to go SOA and at the same time I installed OME 2.5" lift springs a D60 front and 14 bolt rear and 38" SX's--wow thought I was done....NOT
I didn't feel I had enough suspension travel, so I installed MORE SRS with Buggy springs and boomerang shackles.
The suspension was finally where I wanted it, it worked great in the mud, awesome in Tellico!
Well after the big block, I realized that with excellent travel on all 4 corners, getting way too much spring wrap and under hard accelerations I was blowing rear yokes, damaging cv driveshafts and pounding the crud out of my flowmaster mufflers!
I decided to bite the bullet and go for Rockwells.......with the highest pinion location available, the brute strength of the 2.5 ton axle, I figure I'm gonna need a suspension to handle it....right...sounds good to me!
I'm presently designing a coil spring/long arm system to hang the Rockwells....not as easy as I thought!
I'm hoping I like the coils and the handling characteristics of links...only time will tell.
Well thats my suspension preferences for now..maybe some input from the TJ guys will help ease my mind.

[Jim B]

1Bdyj,

Don't want you to feel lonely :( so I'm going to chime in & I believe you are in the right section for the type of questions you raise.

Before I do... guys just because you might think you have small mods does not mean that we can all not learn from it. Everyone is different with different needs. Just like the tread we started a while back on what type of wheeling we like doing. I think I will bring that one up to the top. I think it was in "Chit Chat".

When my wife and I were just going out she liked Jeeps. She almost bought a YJ but the dash was too rough looking so she waited for the first year that the TJ came out. Did not argue the part about the dash of the YJ since it was her money so we waited 6 months.

After we got married I took the TJ and purchased 31" tires, stock suspension. Join the local Jeep club which was a terrible mistake on my wallet. Started to mud and reading about all the nice rocks to the North and West of this country.

My first lift was RE4.5, D30open/D35limited slip. Was going to go 3" 33"tires but my wife told me that she knew how crazy I was and was settling. So I went with 35" BFG tires with the 4.5 suspension, 2"body lift, 1"motor mount lift, was concerned about the axles. Traveled and wheeled cross country and it held up for 2 years. Being open in the front with a rear limited slip taught me how to drive, surprisingly I did not use the winch line that much especially in Moab. After 2 years, the D35 was toast from all the wheeling with the current set up.

Purchase D44s all around with ARBs, switched over to Swampers and put in an Atlas. Did this for almost 2 years. Steering and front Ujoints were taking the toll. Went long arm, D60s all around, 38"tires, beefed up the steering and since, have make a mutt out of the whole suspension, still running the coils. Been like this for almost 2 years. I'm to the point now that I only fix what brakes.

Now to answer the questions:

I don't feel like a have a superior suspension (far from it), I feel what I have, works for me and my driving abilities. I'm a firm believer in "experience", look at my signature. Still drive the stock 4.0 engine and the trusty AX15 manual tranny. My pics on my personal web page is an indication of what you are able to do without having a $100k+ competition rock buggy. In my opinion some of us seem to miss what this sport is about... family, friends, lots of fun and good memories.

I've made good friends, local and all over the country... not acquaintances. When we go away & time is at a premium, we wheel every day. We try not to do this any longer and take a day off for every 2 days of wheeling. The extreme trails, I enjoy them, I'm an adrenalin junkie... but I seem to enjoy the scenic, history and topography of other trails that our beautiful country has gifted us with. We try to mix all of the above into an outing.

[281 QuadCam]

Leaf springs won the war :sneak:

but besides that im only 3 inches up on junkyard material (JC whitney springs maybe?) with stock CJ shackles and 33's... bumpsteer is a bit of an issue and death wobble is from 60-70... did a pretty dumb amount of wheeling on the stock 20/30 and i've replaced a 30's driver's inner a couple times, and about five 260's... so before i get into "jim mode" out somewhere, i decided to upgrade the axles. thatll include an SOA, and in all likelyhood outboarding my front spring hangers... so i can see my suspension and steering is gonna be pretty junkyard built soon...

i have a ford 9" setup 65" wide, 31 spline, strange 4.11's, and a detroit locker, waiting to go in... Havent found myself a 65" wide front yet.

1badyj, how much time does your rig see on the street with that wide 14 bolt? do cops give you much hassle about the tires sticking out? (i expect to get more hassle for being a kiddo)

After the drivetrain can take it... this 258 is gone, time for a 302/435 or a 350/465... $$$$ :strong:

Jim, im with you, the best part for me, is bringing your tent and a cooler and relaxing... soemthing i unfortunatly haven't been able to do in my own rig yet (south florida isnt known for its extended length trails)

[1BDYJ]

281... with the 14 bolt and 60 it was a daily driver with 38's on it. I've never been bothered about width even without fender flares. My tires were completely outside the wells. I never had a problem on the trails either, the width I thought seemed to help me stay out of the line of the narrower vehicles. Not sure with the Rockwells yet...but the measurement WMS/WMS is not much wider, 68" rear - 72" front. If I play with the offset on the wheels I'm sure it's gonna sit about 4"-5" wider total.
Gonna have to widen the trailer now!! :jump:

[bigugly78CJ5]

Well, now for my 2 cents... Givin ive never owned a Coiled jeep(helped my buddy put a 5.5 tera lift on his 2003, but thats bout it) im saying leafs would be my choice to run, Had a 4 inch BDs lift on my old 88 Wrangler, which was great back before i knew much of beans, it was bumpy as high hell, id say my spring over lift now rides way better... Now on my 78 CJ5, its SOA...It rides Okay not to mention the lift only cost MAYBE 50 bucks in parts, a great way to jack your jeep to 35s really quick and cheap...and my driveline angle, isnt that bad.Downside to SOA in alot of cases your steering goes bananas but a simple SRS kit will fix that right away.... Soon i might be lookin at going to a 2.5 inch wrangler lift spring, but thats when i do the axle swap, been looking for the right axles for months now...its tough...all i know is im not payin a grand to regear pos narrow tracks

[1BDYJ]

BU....I've got a set of Wagoneer narow tracks...should be wider than your narrow tracks. They are front D44 and rear AMC20...need to be regeared (they have 331's) but they are in good shape, PM or e-mail me if interested.

As far as 2.5" lift springs, I ran the O.M.E. 2.5's for a long time...they flexed real well and rode great...no hard or stiff ride at all. For a while I ran Bilstein shocks and they gave me the best ride I've ever had in a Jeep. If your going to run SOA you should think of some kind of traction aid to limit axle wrap at least in the rear. Alot of people don't realize that axle wrap happens in the front also....sometimes worse than in the rear!

[bigugly78CJ5]

hey man, thanks for the offer on those axles, but im looking to do this axle swap once, and thats it(and no i will NEVER need rockwells ), sincei dont plan to ever get rid of my jeep, want to do it the best first time around... but yea that axke wrap, my CJ right now i see the wrap a little bit on the front springs...but im gonna let it wrap for now, no big deal as i want to go lift springs...all the more reason

[1BDYJ]

Got a D60 and 14 bolt I'll let go for $1500.00 with rear discs complete hub to hub, 3.73's,welded front, factory l/s in rear, already clearanced for 15" wheels :jump: