Suspension 77 CJ5 Lift question - what do I have ?

[Bluebandit2g]

Details: 77 CJ5 Recently purchased work in progress. 350 SBC conversion. Fiberglass tub, 33" tires so obviously a lift installed. The tie rod hits the leaf springs. I guess the previous owner drove it this way. Im wanting to put it back to stock height or close to it. Looking at the leaf springs and mounts its definitely not stock. The front mount is some sort of boxed in bracket (looks homemade) the rear is a homemade shackle instead of the factory mount. If i purchased the OEM front and rear mounts how do I go about locating them to the frame in the orginal spot since I can not see where they were removed. Does anyone have a measurement guide of where the OEM mounts go ?? Any thoughts on the current setup or locating the stock mount locations ? Posted on another Jeep site thinking I was on the CJ forum. oops.

 

[CJ]

Does anyone have a measurement guide of where the OEM mounts go ??

Let's start here,

1977 CJ5 Frame Dimensions

1977 CJ5 frame dimensions.

jeep-cj.com

Can you take some other close up pics of your mounts?

 

[Bluebandit2g]

Awesome thank you. Yes I can/will take some more photos of the mounts. Appears to be some sort of homemade shackle reverse with what im thinking is about 3" of lift

 

[CJ]

This thread might come in handy also...

How tall are you?? I mean really.

Hey gang!! Hope to satisfy my curiosity on something and need a little help to do it. Here is the information. who: anybody that knows or think they know what amount of suspension lift they have, including those with no lift at all. what: Two dimensions, setting on reasonably flat level...

jeep-cj.com

 

[CJ]

Awesome thank you. Yes I can/will take some more photos of the mounts. Appears to be some sort of homemade shackle reverse with what im thinking is about 3" of lift

Ouch, a homemade shackle reverse could be crazy unsafe. Shackle reverse work but throw the whole suspension in the opposite direction in which they were designed.

Shackle reversal pros and cons

Who here has done a shackle reversal? I was reading about it on a Jeep facebook page and was looking for some first hand accounts if someone is willing to share what is good or bad about their experience with this modification.

jeep-cj.com

shackle reverse

I am going to fabricate a new fram for my CJ-7 and am wondering if I should reverse the front shackles or leave them they way they are. What are the pros/cons ? There must be a reason the factory maintained this setup from the CJ into the YJ/Wranglers.

jeep-cj.com

 

[Bluebandit2g]

Here are a few more photos. The front is a boxed in mount. Rear mount is for sure a shackle. The rear forward leaf spring (not pictured) mount is the OE mount with a homemade rear shackle. The front is the sketchy one. Just wanting to go back stock. I'm thinking I need fwd and rear mounts and stock springs. Besides eBay. Any suggestions for obtaining some stock springs?

 

[CJ]

Stock springs are easy, fixing the frame - not so much.
You don't really need stock springs, a 2" or 3" lift spring would work great after getting your frame in order will work good with your larger tire/wheel selection. 33" tires are easy to clear.
My order -
1) fix the frame
2) get a good 2 - 3 inch kit
3) drive
#1 do you know or can you move the spring mounts?

 

[Bluebandit2g]

It already had the 33" tires on it. They are old and weather cracked. Just wanting to ditch all that and go back stock. I don't think they hacked any of the frame up. Looks like they just welded onto it. Nothing a grinding wheel can't fix to remove all that mess and weld up the holes. Based on the measurements provided in CJ's reply. Looks like the rear shackle is directly where the rear mount would go. I need to buy some mounts so I can mock it all up I suppose.

 

[Armyvet25]

Didn't read the whole post but here is my .02 cents addressing the front spring interference, looks like maybe the front axle was rotated to adjust driveshaft angle, and doing this can cause the interference, a lot of people flip the tie rod to the top with special conical sleeves.
But even with that the frame mods exasperated it if not caused entirely.

 

[CJ]

That's a good point, when the axle is rotated to fix the pinion angle it could make the steering hit.
But that's crazy to do on a front end but I haven't seen it all.