SOA or not ? Your opinions ...

[DJM/78]

I am thinking of SOA converting the rear now that my new D44 is finished . The spring mounts are still sprung over from the XJ

it came out of . So now would be a good time look at options .

 

My questions ,

 

Is SOA worth it and what are the strengths and weaknesses ?

 

What do I need to match a 3.5 " lift in the front ?

 

What other problems will occur and what else should I look at doing .

 

My project ; RE adjustable upper and lower control arms , RE 3.5 " lift springs , RE track bar 3.5 -4.5 " , RE HD tie rod with ends ,

 

RE sway bar disconnects or JKS ( haven't decided ) . Also new lift shocks are in order .

 

What do ya' think ?

[mnkyboy]

if you want SOA you need to be looking at 5"-6" in the front to match.

[JeepcoMJ]

yea...soa will lift it too high to work with 3.5" front.

[DJM/78]

OK , I didn't know if that would work or not considering the SOA would give you 3.5 by itself . :doh:

 

Thanks ..

 

I'm still captain newb here !!

[jpdocdave]

OK , I didn't know if that would work or not considering the SOA would give you 3.5 by itself . :doh:

 

Thanks ..

 

I'm still captain newb here !!

 

:huh???: soa gives you 5-6" lift out back.

 

other downside is axle wrap, that would be the only drawback. i haven't heard of many people using antiwrap devises either on these, ladder bar etc.... i'm considering soa in the future, i'm sure thats still an issue on an mj, anyone got any input on that?

[JeepcoMJ]

my anti-wrap device is an 8" long spring perch.

[DJM/78]

OK , I didn't know if that would work or not considering the SOA would give you 3.5 by itself . :doh:

 

Thanks ..

 

I'm still captain newb here !!

 

:huh???: soa gives you 5-6" lift out back.

 

other downside is axle wrap, that would be the only drawback. i haven't heard of many people using antiwrap devises either on these, ladder bar etc.... i'm considering soa in the future, i'm sure thats still an issue on an mj, anyone got any input on that?

 

Yeah the smallest spring set up I found was 1.5" for SOA .

I guess I'll have to wait on the 5.5 " lift .... :(

[jpnjim]

One way SOA works with a 3.5" ft is if you rebuild the leaf packs to be completely flat.

 

I haven't measured my trail MJ lately, but it's still SOA in the rear, and looks to be ~3" at the moment (tires are 33x10ish):

 

I'm using the MJ top leaf, and the rest of the pack are all flat XJ leafs.

 

This is just a short term setup for me, the XJ leafs are pretty thin & light duty,

once it's registered & inspected I'll probably stiffen up the pack for more durability & a couple more inches.

 

 

FWIW, if you're thinking of SOA since the XJ axle is already SOA,

the perches are spaced differently from MJ to XJ, so you have force the MJ leafs over to reach the XJ perches (= not the best setup).

Also, one of the XJ shock mounts is on the wrong side for MJ's, so you'd still have to flip the shock mount around to make it work.

[mnkyboy]

my anti-wrap device is an 8" long spring perch.

 

same here

[JeepcoMJ]

OK , I didn't know if that would work or not considering the SOA would give you 3.5 by itself . :doh:

 

Thanks ..

 

I'm still captain newb here !!

 

:huh???: soa gives you 5-6" lift out back.

 

other downside is axle wrap, that would be the only drawback. i haven't heard of many people using antiwrap devises either on these, ladder bar etc.... i'm considering soa in the future, i'm sure thats still an issue on an mj, anyone got any input on that?

 

Yeah the smallest spring set up I found was 1.5" for SOA .

I guess I'll have to wait on the 5.5 " lift .... :(

 

there's no setup for SOA spring lift at 1.5".

 

there are 1.5" lift blocks, that work with a vehicle that came STOCK with SOA, and I'm sure AAL's will net 1.5" lift, but they'll sag.

 

none of that works on our comanches. they're a completely different animal.

[DJM/78]

What spring size should I use for a 5.5 " front lift ?

Or is that still not enough ?

[mnkyboy]

 

 

My project ; RE adjustable upper and lower control arms , RE 3.5 " lift springs , RE track bar 3.5 -4.5 " , RE HD tie rod with ends ,

 

RE sway bar disconnects or JKS ( haven't decided ) . Also new lift shocks are in order .

 

What do ya' think ?

 

 

you should be able to put in 5-6" coils or add a 2" puck on to the 3.5" coils and everything else should still work.

[jpnjim]

OK , I didn't know if that would work or not considering the SOA would give you 3.5 by itself . :doh:

 

Thanks ..

 

I'm still captain newb here !!

 

:huh???: soa gives you 5-6" lift out back.

 

other downside is axle wrap, that would be the only drawback. i haven't heard of many people using antiwrap devises either on these, ladder bar etc.... i'm considering soa in the future, i'm sure thats still an issue on an mj, anyone got any input on that?

 

My SOA experiences:

 

Pulling the bottom overload leaf out helps keep the lift height down. (you're still looking at ~5.5")

 

Spring wrap hasn't been that bad, at first (see below)

 

Stock MJ leafs flex like crazy in SOA (W/O the overload leaf),

they also wear out alot faster like this,

 

If you let them wear out & get flat, you're looking at more axle wrap, bottoming out, and the leafs will start to negative arch after that.

 

 

 

 

I've had stock packs last years in SOA,

but I also had what I thought was a good set of 2wd leafs turn to junk after one hard weekend of wheeling (a couple states away, so I was carrying a bunch of weight).

 

I 'rebuilt' that set with YJ leafs (it's all I had with a decent arch).

 

The YJ's were pretty short, but brought the arch back, and lasted a couple more wheeling seasons.

 

There are better options out there to rebuild the packs with now, like Durango leafs, so I wouldn't bother using YJ's, unless that was all you had.

 

 

The idea setup would be a dedicated SOA leaf pack for MJ's:

maybe with a little less arch than stock, or even reversed spring eyes to drop them another inch, or so,

but built with lots of thin leafs for weight carrying ability AND flexibility.

 

But I'm not buying a custom built leaf pack ($$$$) anytime soon, so I'll have to make due with junkyard rebuilds. :yes:

[JeepcoMJ]

 

 

My project ; RE adjustable upper and lower control arms , RE 3.5 " lift springs , RE track bar 3.5 -4.5 " , RE HD tie rod with ends ,

 

RE sway bar disconnects or JKS ( haven't decided ) . Also new lift shocks are in order .

 

What do ya' think ?

 

 

you should be able to put in 5-6" coils or add a 2" puck on to the 3.5" coils and everything else should still work.

 

nope.

 

he'll still need control arms or long arms for that height, a new trackbar, and sway bar links/extensions.

[DJM/78]

 

 

My project ; RE adjustable upper and lower control arms , RE 3.5 " lift springs , RE track bar 3.5 -4.5 " , RE HD tie rod with ends ,

 

RE sway bar disconnects or JKS ( haven't decided ) . Also new lift shocks are in order .

 

What do ya' think ?

 

 

you should be able to put in 5-6" coils or add a 2" puck on to the 3.5" coils and everything else should still work.

 

OK , I already have the 2" RE pucks and the springs are on the way .

 

I would still need drop brackets , Track-arm bracket , RE extreme duty track bar , drop pitman and matching shocks right ?

[JeepcoMJ]

you ONLY need a drop pitman arm if you replace the frame-side trackbar bracket with a bracket that drops the upper end of the trackbar down.

 

so, if your trackbar bracket drops the trackbar by 1", you would use a 1" drop pitman arm

[DJM/78]

you ONLY need a drop pitman arm if you replace the frame-side trackbar bracket with a bracket that drops the upper end of the trackbar down.

 

so, if your trackbar bracket drops the trackbar by 1", you would use a 1" drop pitman arm

 

I only added that in there because RE's 5.5" HD kit includes it .

 

I've been racking my brain trying to get my truck set up .... :hmm:

 

Thanks .

[mnkyboy]

 

 

My project ; RE adjustable upper and lower control arms , RE 3.5 " lift springs , RE track bar 3.5 -4.5 " , RE HD tie rod with ends ,

 

RE sway bar disconnects or JKS ( haven't decided ) . Also new lift shocks are in order .

 

What do ya' think ?

 

 

you should be able to put in 5-6" coils or add a 2" puck on to the 3.5" coils and everything else should still work.

 

nope.

 

he'll still need control arms or long arms for that height, a new trackbar, and sway bar links/extensions.

 

what i was saying was he could do the springs or pucks then everything else on his list will still work.

[DJM/78]

 

 

My project ; RE adjustable upper and lower control arms , RE 3.5 " lift springs , RE track bar 3.5 -4.5 " , RE HD tie rod with ends ,

 

RE sway bar disconnects or JKS ( haven't decided ) . Also new lift shocks are in order .

 

What do ya' think ?

 

 

you should be able to put in 5-6" coils or add a 2" puck on to the 3.5" coils and everything else should still work.

 

nope.

 

he'll still need control arms or long arms for that height, a new trackbar, and sway bar links/extensions.

 

what i was saying was he could do the springs or pucks then everything else on his list will still work.

 

Yes , I already have the adjustable control arms .

 

I like that Idea , I can just upgrade later using some of the existing equipment .

[comanche09]

You could also try MJ 2wd leafs for -1" on SOA for maybe 4.5"-5" of lift.

 

IMO a pickup should have a little rake. :dunno: 3.5" up front and 4.5"-5" out back for 1-2" of forward rake.

[DJM/78]

You could also try MJ 2wd leafs for -1" on SOA for maybe 4.5"-5" of lift.

 

IMO a pickup should have a little rake. :dunno: 3.5" up front and 4.5"-5" out back for 1-2" of forward rake.

 

:agree: I like the mild rake look , but I'll probably wait until I'm ready for long arms .

 

I'm going to start with a short arm 3.5 " and step up to the 5.5 later . I might go with the 4.5 " for a wile ...

 

Thats the cool thing about replacing the control arms now , they use the same UCA, LCA all the way up to 5" .

 

So I can see what looks and performs best for on off road driving . Also a winter DD . :thumbsup: