79 CJ Stock Suspension

[JimsCJ5]

Hey Gang,
We are moving forward with our father son project. When we get a little further along we will start a project thread. In the meantime we are trying to fix what is wrong and figure out what we are dealing with.

Which brings us to the suspension. Right now it has 6 leaf leaf springs front and rear with shackles that are 4" bolt to bolt. Is this a stock suspension for a 1979 CJ5 Laredo ? We suspect it may not be since the PO clearanced the front frame cross rail / bumper for the shackles. It is also way too bone-jarringly stiff in the front.

What we would like to do is to have it at a stock height (no lift) and a decent street ride.

Recommendations?

Here are some pics of what we are dealing with:

Front shackles. The rears are identical.


Front eye.

Front leafs. Six leafs per spring and the u-bolts are way too long.


Like I said, We are going for a very stock look with no lift and good street manners.
Thanks in advance,
Jim

 

[Tinman22]

I've seen 6 and 7 leaf packs as well as 4. 4s and 6s were straight up while the 7s were 6 plus an overload (yes on the front). 640,890,920 lbs capacity
4. 6. 7.

The bumpers were notched from the factory
Bolts are not o.e.m
Shackles don't appear to be o.e.m. All iveseen are relatively flat and notched in all four corners and a little narrower in the middle.

However I do have a set of shackles identical to those out in my shop and have no idea where they came from. a buddy of mine says they came from a samurai that had taken refuge here some time ago and were removed in favor of braced units to help with tire clearance issues.

If your looking for good ride and stock ish height you may look into a yj spring swap much much better.

 

[Posi]

Hey Gang,
W Is this a stock suspension for a 1979 CJ5 Laredo ?

Never was a CJ5 Laredo . The Laredo model was a CJ7 thing that began in 1980.

The factory in 79 offered spring packs of 4, 5, 6, and 7. The 4 and 5 packs came with/o hard top. The majority came with 6 or 7 packs. If your looking to return to stock the best way would be checking your GVW. The 6th digit in your vin will be A = 3,750 lbs or E = 4,AMC 150 lbs A = 6 pack E = 7 pack

Your shackles are from a stock YJ, their a 1/2" longer and beefier then stock CJ shackles.

I'm using them as well.

 

[bptactical]

Is it my eyes or is that spring military wrapped?

 

[Tinman22]

Thanks posi at least my shackle mystery is solved they came with the yj leaves I got for the other jeep......... And not so quick on CJ5 Laredo thing. I've got old mags with CJ5 Laredo ads looking at a nice black and chrome one right now I've also seen one in brown and gold and somewhere I've got a 5/7 two pager for the Renegade package. Although the earliest I can find an ad for the 5 Laredo is 1980. Actually you could probably google the ads. Funny how a stock brand new jeep still can make me smile.

 

[hdgapeach]

Thanks posi at least my shackle mystery is solved they came with the yj leaves I got for the other jeep......... And not so quick on CJ5 Laredo thing. I've got old mags with CJ5 Laredo ads looking at a nice black and chrome one right now I've also seen one in brown and gold and somewhere I've got a 5/7 two pager for the Renegade package. Although the earliest I can find an ad for the 5 Laredo is 1980. Actually you could probably google the ads. Funny how a stock brand new jeep still can make me smile.

Yep, I agree. Back in the early '80s I had several local friends with CJ5s. Back then, if you saw one of us, the rest of us wasn't too far away. I specifically remember drooling over Mackey's black CJ5 Laredo with air conditioning and a soft top. Lee had the Renegade and I had the Golden Eagle .

Man, those were the days.......

 

[Posi]

They never built a 79 CJ5 Laredo (year in question). They started in 1980 with the Laredo model, good to know they came in the 5 and 7. The 80's CJ's are too new for me.

 

[JimsCJ5]

Never was a CJ5 Laredo . The Laredo model was a CJ7 thing that began in 1980.

Oops. It's a Renegade . Not sure where Laredo came from.

 

[moparharn]

Someone asked about the military wrapped springs (double front eye). Did Jeep ever supply military wrapped springs from the factory? Bill

 

[JimsCJ5]

The bumpers were notched from the factory

Like this?

That does not look factory to me but then I am new to Jeeps.