jeep lift w/ spoa & other misc... Q's

Gaylord · Aug 24, 2006

CrustyJeep said:
Approach/departure angle.

Leaf springs can bend easily when abused; they work OK as springs, but not as well for axle location.

Leaf spring hangers and shackles are rock magnets; you can tuck your link mounts up into the frame more easily than spring hangers.

Leaf springs interfere with steering, so they must be mounted close together in the front, which diminishes side hill stability.

:flipoff:

But I do agree with you, leaf springs can work pretty damn well when you set them up right.

Approach angle is defeated with a shackel reversal. Furthermore with the monster ass tires most of us are running today thats rarley and issue.

I can honestly say I have never been truley stuck on a shackel.

Leafs rarley bend if a reversal has been done at least not anymore often than I have seen coils break. I have broke two coils and bent two Wrangler leafs.

On my 3b the springs are outboarded and they do not interfear with turning. Orcourse I have wheel spacers

Many leafers today run airbags as well, just for side hill stability.

My point here is that there are good and bad things about both suspentions, and going through the time and money to fab up 3 or 4 links and coil buckets or spending the ching on coilovers is just silly when at the end of the day we will all get back to camp at the same time and neighther rig will have pulled any more line than the other. Diffrence might be your kidneys will feel a little better :beer:

Lamar · Aug 29, 2006

Dear group;
I would very much like to have an opinion on this topic, if I may. Rock_Crusher has asked some questions which may not be as easily defined as one might think. I will take the liberty now of posting his original topic questions and then I will post my replies to them as best I can.

"can a jeep wrangler be lifted by doing a spoa... w/o the sye & cv shaft, *and drove on the street or wheeled?

anyone?

-----------------------------
can i drop the belly pan, re-adjust the driveline angle?
w/o getting terrible vibes or breaking u-joints - until i can get a sye kit.

running 33's w/ a somewhat light foot... using a 4.0 5-speed... would the rear hold up welded? until i swap in the 8.8 ford

whats the better idea to control axle wrap from a spoa set-up?

--------- thanks ahead of time, i'am reading ton's of info from vendor's / other jeep site's... but, figured i ask here - maybe someone w/ a jeep has a idea / advice to share... it's fairly easy to do a Spoa... but doing it right... or knowing how to do it the 1st time - just makes more sense to me. and saves me the headache, especially if you've already been there."

Yes, a YJ can be SOAed without installed an SYE or a double cardan (cv) driveshaft. And no, the skid plate (belly pan) does not need to be lowered if you are going to stay on 35" tires or smaller. How do I know. Because I've done exactly that. I did rotate the pumpkin slightly towards the xfer case to lessen the d/s angle, and I flogged the crap out of it daily for 6 months without a problem. 03RUBICON will remember when I limped it home with a broken leaf after 6 months of daily driving in the jungle along the Brazillian border. That was when I stuck inside of the Herc and flew it back to the main base. It's the fastest 4.2 YJ in the world now. It reached a top speed of 430 knots per hour. So yes, it can be done.

Stay off of the accelerator and the rear diff should do fine. My stock diff worked well right up to the day that I pulled it out and stuck in a D60HP. So, if you are light on the gas pedal you should be OK.

I prefer the old style twin anti-wrap bars that are very easy to fab and cost very little to make, and you can fab the whole in under 6 hours, if you have all of the tools and materials around the shop.
I hope this helps you.
Your friend;
LAMAR