coon.hunter_21 Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 I'm doin a SOA on my mj.that is about 6" right?? I'm only wanting 4.5". is there any way i can put my stock springs over my axle and do somethin to keep the rear at 4.5"?? rustys has a kit that is 4.5" SOA.has anyone used this?? i don't see how it will sit level so is there any way to make it do that?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnkyboy Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 My first lift on the MJ was a 5" SOA,it had a bit of a rake to it but looked ok. Here's a pic,5"/SOA with 31X10.50s I ended up going 6.5" up front to get it level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 what you need in the front in order to match a spring-over conversion sepends on the perches you use and the condition of your leafs. if your leafs are saggy a bit, you will get 5-6 inches over your current height, but may only need a 4.5 in the front to balance it out. there are no guarantees when mixing and matching used or new springs. 2wd packs sit about an inch lower than 4wd packs, all other things being equal. other vehicles with less arch in the leafs can be mix and matched. just be sure to retain your main leafs so the tire is properly centered in the wheel arch and the front and rear bolts fit tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepNewb Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 I got about 5.5 out of my soa, and i already had 2" shackles so currently I'm at 7.5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICEBOX Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Hello Guys and gals. How tall can I go on the front while using stock arms ? if I did the SOA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 stock arms? or do you mean short arms? (as opposed to long arms) the stock MJ lower control arms really only work at 0-2". 3" is really pushing it but it has been done (especially if you adjust the shims in the lower control arm body mount). personally I'll never use stock MJ arms on anything again given a choice. WJ arms ftw! (same length of MJ arms, but stronger and with a curve for tire clearance) going soa is only cheap for the rear. getting the front to match properly and safely is pretty expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICEBOX Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Thats what I was thinking PETE. ty for the info . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnkyboy Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 I ran mine for a long time at 5" on the stock arms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHelton Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 I put a xj 4.5 rough country lift on the front if mine when I did the soap in the rear I ended up pulling a leaf out of the factory pack for the rear to make my mj set level. Not to mention I did a axle swap from a xj when I did all this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepNewb Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 If u weren't planning on wheeling it too hard you could go with a CAD kit for the front and still use the stock "short" arms up to about 6" i believe. Rocky Road has em for about $250. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICEBOX Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 CAD ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnkyboy Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Control arm drop brackets They drop the control arms about 4" to get the angle of the control arms close to stock. They improve ride and flex greatly over a short arm lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawn Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 here's mine with 3" coils, wj lower control arms and the back sits at 4.5" using an mj main with another 3 leafs from a chevy suburban and then the mj overload on the bottom. these springs are a perfect fit and are somewhat flatter than the mj onesso give less lift and a fantastic ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-man930 Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Resurrecting this thread. The entire suspension on my MJ is pretty much worn out (3" AAL+Chevy drop shackles, Rusty's 3" coils+.75" spacers.) I'd hate to go and replace a bunch of parts and not walk away with any lift. Realizing that a custom long arm setup is pretty much out of my budget and time allotment for the next several years, I have decided to invest in some good adjustable control arms (JKS) for a short-arm lift. The question now is how to lift the rear. -I don't really have a vantage point for how an AAL affects ride quality, but I hear it stiffens things up quite a bit. Which in my mind would affect off-road flex capabilities. So I'm interested in avoiding any kind of AAl. -I don't really haul much weight in the bed, nor do I tow anything. The only major weight I will be adding is a bumper that weighs at least twice as much as the original. Which I guess might be a bit of a big deal now that I think about it :doh: -I don't think I want 6.5" or even 6" of lift. I guess its because I feel like 33" tires won't fill my cut-out wheel wells at all (shallow I know. and no, I don't want to go any bigger than 33" tires on my D30...) 5" of lift sounds more like it. So what does this leave me with? Could I do a SOA with 2wd leaves and get about 5"??? Sound like a terribly bad idea? Thanks for your input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Could I do a SOA with 2wd leaves and get about 5"??? Sound like a terribly bad idea? Thanks for your input. yes. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-man930 Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 yes. :thumbsup: Yes what? Bad idea?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 whoops, didn't quite edit the quote enough. :doh: I mean, yes that should give you the desired results. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-man930 Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Haha, figured that's what you meant. So I think I'll start looking for some 2wd springs and go with some 4.5" coils with some JKS ACOS spacers for the fine-tuning up front. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepNewb Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Depending on the perches you go with you will get somewhere in the neighborhood of 5.5" in the rear with the SOA. My 89 is 2wd and i have perches from barnes4wd.com and i'm sitting right at 5.5" in the rear. And i'm planning 6.5" coils in the front with a CAD kit to sit it level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 the condition of the springs and the height of the perches go a long way towards determining how much lift that you need to match up front. and you can try mixing and matching with XJ leafs too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnkyboy Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 33s will fill the wheel wells just fine at 6-6.5" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 The ACOS will lift at least 1.5" (smallest setting). Coupled with 4.5" springs that makes 6" front lift. (up to 8.25" if needed). Also at stock height the MJ is raked forward, so you need more lift in front if you want it to sit level. You're probably good with those springs and the ACOS. But you will also need adjustable track bar as well as upper and lower control arms and some sort of taller sway bar links (quick disconnect?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-man930 Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 33s will fill the wheel wells just fine at 6-6.5" I've already got my wheel wells cut out quite a bit. Idk, maybe I'm just worrying about it too much. :dunno: But you will also need adjustable track bar as well as upper and lower control arms and some sort of taller sway bar links (quick disconnect?). Already got a JKS trackbar, looking at UCAs, LCAs, and quick discos from JKS as well. I guess I'm not interested in going all the way to 6-6.5" in lift becuase I don't want to be at the outer limits of a shortarm suspension... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 I run 6.5" with short arms without a problem, and the truck rides like a Caddilac. A friend has a Cherokee with 9" lift and short arms. I still have no clue as to the original source for 6.5" being the limit for short arms, as I have found these claims to be unsubstantiated. Most are talking about a harsh ride, but I found ride to be affected by the shocks way more than the angle of the control arms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garvin Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 As long as the angles aren't too extreme, you won't notice too much of a difference in on road ride characteristics between long arm and short arm (assuming you did upgrade to aftermarket ones to fix the caster). A lot of the arguments should be aimed more towards ride characteristics offroad. I haven't driven on a lift and short arms on the street (always had long arms since my first lift) so other will have to chime in more on that. The main characteristic is when rock climbing and hill climbing (mud to a MUCH lesser extent). The flatter the arm in those instances, the better the front end grips and the less wheel hop you will get. As for the rear, I did a SOA with IronMan4x4 adjustable shackles. I also swapped to a Chrysler 8.25 at the same time when I did mine. I netted 4.5" with the stock perches (just cut, moved and rewelded the perches). There is 2" rake on these trucks also (assuming your springs aren't sagging all that bad). Right now I have a 6.5" lift in the rear (4.5" from SOA and 2" from shackles) and an 8.5" in the front and the Jeep sits level. I know you said you don't want to go that high but I have also taken measurements as I want to go down to around 4.5" later on. With my old 4dr Cherokee (I know it's not exactly the same but you should be able to trim a lot more than I could on the Comanche), I was running the 8" Rusty's lift with 36x13.5R15 IROK's. At full flex (sway bar disaconnected), I still had a good 4 or so inches of space in the front before the tire touches the fender. I was planning on dropping down to a 4.5" lift on that Jeep with the 36's and maybe slight bumpstop extensions (wouldn't need anymore than an inch over stock) just to keep a little clearance between the fenders and tires. This was with Wrangler flares mounted at the body lines in the front (and trimmed up to them) and the rear was trimmed to the pinch weld. Sorry, it's a long post, but that was my experiences so far. I can provide pictures of either if you're interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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