BDS YJ Conversion is on

[cuban11182]

I know it took a long time to get it installed due to life (college, work, weather, etc) but my buddy and I installed it yesterday. Took a lot longer than we thought it would, and ran into a few snags. First: read the directions before-hand, it'll save you problems later. Secong: make sure you don't lie in an ant hill of biting ants. Third: run with a sway bar!

I'm pretty sure this was the original suspension, so some of it was a pita. Front driver side was alright. Just grind the rivet and place the new hanger. They have these spacers if you want to run an oversized bumper, but mine is still stock, but I kept the plates (just in case). Since you are using YJ u-bolt plates it comes with two studs, one for the sway bar and one for the shock. Problem is that the stock shock mounts on the front axle interfere with the shock going into the plate. On the drivers side this wasn't an issue and I placed the shock in the old location. On the passenger side I had to cut and grind off the old mount so that the ubolt would go on straight. Sway bar upper bolts would NOT come off. I pulled it off for the short time being. New parts have been ordered to throw it back on. Rear was easier, but time consuming. My advice is to put on the body mount bolt on first, then attach the shackle mounts.

As to the ride. I've only taken it about 10 miles or so, including a small (2 mile) trip on the highway to work. She is still bouncy, but it's a much smoother bounce (if that makes sense). It doesn't jar you all over the place. Driving at 45MPH and below, you can feel the sway bar is not there. On the highway she is super twitchy (it's always windy in Corpus) and I'll be putting it back on once the parts come in.

Picture to come.

 

[cuban11182]

This is before. You can see that the jeep is lower than the truck.

The second one is at home ( long day) and it's the same height as the truck.

 

[hole]

I didn't see you mention anything about putting the degree shims in under the front spring. If you didn't, that's most of your shimmy above 45mph as you've changed the castor when you lifted it. If you take it to a front end shop they can check the castor and tell you exactly what degree shim, but my guess would be 2.5*

 

[PaRenegade]

I'm pretty sure this was the original suspension, so some of it was a pita. Front driver side was alright. Just grind the rivet and place the new hanger. They have these spacers if you want to run an oversized bumper, but mine is still stock, but I kept the plates (just in case). Since you are using YJ u-bolt plates it comes with two studs, one for the sway bar and one for the shock. Problem is that the stock shock mounts on the front axle interfere with the shock going into the plate. On the drivers side this wasn't an issue and I placed the shock in the old location. On the passenger side I had to cut and grind off the old mount so that the ubolt would go on straight.

Your Jeep should have the wide track axles (82 and later) and those mount the shocks to the axle, not the spring plates. You don't need the second stud for the spring plate. And the only grinding you should have needed to do was a little on the diff. housing so the U-bolt would fit better due to being pushed over 1/4" closer.

You ground off the rivet, I assume this was to move your shackle mount forward. You could have used a longer shackle and negated the need to grind off the frame rivet and move it forward. Just an fyi.

 

[cuban11182]

I can tell you that there was no way to get that ubolt on without cutting the mount. I'm not sure if the mount was bent. In any case it's been removed now.

 

[cuban11182]

Here you can see that the bracket was interfering with the u-bolt. It's a bad picture, but you should get the idea.

 

[Torxhead]

If you have the locating bolt in the clearance hole on the mounting pad for the diff it looks good from here, but I don't see any angle shims between the top of the spring and the mounting pad.

 

[cuban11182]

Torx,

Thats what the boys were saying when we installed them. I have some shims that I can eventually install. I have a magnetic angleometer (sp?) do you know what the angle should be front and rear?

Here is the instruction to install the shocks on the spring plates. I'm going to order longer ones for the front and attach the way they should be. I'm also going to have to grind off the driver side perch.


26.

Install the new BDS shocks. Use the OE hardware at the frame and the 5/8” nuts and SAE washers from bolt pack
#714 at the new lower mounts. Tighten the hardware until the shock bushings begin to swell.

​

 

[Torxhead]

If you are going to order longer shocks, you could measure for max and min shock extension required and the shocks should come with that info. You might have issues with the extended length brake lines rubbing against the tire which is usually solved by installing a carb return spring on the upper shock mount to the brake line to prevent tire rubbing. You might also have to adjust the turn stops to prevent the wheels from hitting the springs or inner fenders. I think that angle you are looking for is around 6 degs. up front. To make sure that it is set right, make sure the steering wheel returns to a straight position when you let go of it as you come out of a turn. As for the rear, you don't want any driveshaft vibration. This can also involve changing the yoke angle at the rear of the Transfer Case along with the pinion angle. On my CJ7 , I use a CV type u-joint that has the pinion angle just less than the driveshaft. this way you don't have to mess with the angle coming out of the Transfer Case . Up front I have a steep castor angle that has been welded in, so no shims, and that keeps the front pinion angle correct. The rear has the spring pads welded in the correct position also.

 

[PaRenegade]

That's odd. I never had any issues with interference, with the exception of the diff. housing needed some slight grinding as I said. This is the only good picture I have of that area but you can see theres plenty of room. I'll have to look at it closer tonight.
Could your shock mounts have been re-welded on?

 

[cuban11182]

I'm not sure to be honest. I spoke with BDS (super friendly folks) and they will be getting me the longer shocks. I'll end up removing the other shock mount and just mounting to the plate like the passenger side. I'm going to have to order longer brake lines now too.

Just Empty Every Pocket.....I'm starting to understand. LOL

 

[cuban11182]

The first picture is me getting derive shaft. Putting the magnetic angleometer on it shows 6 degrees without any shims.

The rear shows about 15 or so. Or looks OK but I wonder if I would swap the 6 degree ones for the 4 degree ones. Thoughts on that?

 

[PaRenegade]

To measure your caster the measurement needs to be taken off the top of the steering knuckle where the castle nut for your ball joint is. You can set a socket over the nut and measure across the top of it. Should be 5-7 degrees (positive [top leans back]) but you still may not have any steering issues if it's at 4 or even 3 degrees.

The driveshaft angles are totally different. The front is what it is and it's typically not used at road speeds so vibration isn't any issue. The rear angle varies, what's more important is that the angle of the axle pinion and the angle of the Transfer Case yoke are parallel with each other. The driveshaft just connects the two.

I took a pic of my front shock mount (82 widetrack) and theres about a 1/4" of clearance to the U-bolt.

 

[cuban11182]

Well damn. I wasn't able to get the ubolt over. In any case new shocks are on the way.

 

[007]

I've been keeping an eye on this thread as I plan on a YJ spring conversion myself this winter. I'm going with a 2.5" lift with OME springs.

How much lift is this BDS kit...? Seems like a lot more geometry than I was envisioning...

 

[cuban11182]

To measure your caster the measurement needs to be taken off the top of the steering knuckle where the castle nut for your ball joint is. You can set a socket over the nut and measure across the top of it. Should be 5-7 degrees (positive [top leans back]) but you still may not have any steering issues if it's at 4 or even 3 degrees.

The driveshaft angles are totally different. The front is what it is and it's typically not used at road speeds so vibration isn't any issue. The rear angle varies, what's more important is that the angle of the axle pinion and the angle of the Transfer Case yoke are parallel with each other. The driveshaft just connects the two.

I took a pic of my front shock mount (82 widetrack) and theres about a 1/4" of clearance to the U-bolt.

PA,

Thanks for the info. I just got home and check the front angle and it was right at 6 positive. Thanks for that.



The rear needs to come down just a bit so I'll take the 6* shims out and put the 4* ones in.

Thanks.

 

[cuban11182]

I've been keeping an eye on this thread as I plan on a YJ spring conversion myself this winter. I'm going with a 2.5" lift with OME springs.

How much lift is this BDS kit...? Seems like a lot more geometry than I was envisioning...

I want to say its about 3-4 inches before it settles (mine hasn't settled). My CJ was pretty cherry, though.

Right now it looks like all I really needed to buy was a 4* degree shim.

 

[PaRenegade]

Just make sure that angle finder is sitting on the nut and not the ball stud or bent cotter pin. That's why I like to use a socket that sets on the knuckle instead of the nut, if theres anything that sticks up higher than the nut.
Heres a good drawing of what I was explaining about the rear driveshaft. Pics are sometimes worth a thousand words.



And heres a site that will provide some more understanding of it.
Tom Wood's Custom Drive Shafts - Tom Woods Custom Drive Shafts Custom Driveshafts Specialist
Go to "tech info" then "slopes and angles"

007 - the geometry applies to any lift springs. There really not much to it. But realize we're talking about two different issues here, one is the caster angle for correcting squirrely steering and the other is driveshaft yoke angles to remove any vibration in the drivetrain you get while on road.

 

[cuban11182]

Pa,

I removed the cotterpin to ensure that it was on the flat of the ball joint. Thanks again for your help.

 

[007]

007 - the geometry applies to any lift springs. There really not much to it. But realize we're talking about two different issues here, one is the caster angle for correcting squirrely steering and the other is driveshaft yoke angles to remove any vibration in the drivetrain you get while on road.

Understood, but coincidentally I was researching a Rocky-Road YJ/OME 2.5-3' lift kit conversion and I asked about shims (for steering)... Here's their reply yesterday - "The kit comes with new shackles. Has to as a part of the conversion. Shims, we really don't recommend buying any up front. Most times the spring setup as it is works great. If you feel you need to trim the angle a bit, THEN go for the shims. Otherwise you may actually create a problem by installing them when they're not needed... which is most of the time."

To be clear, this kit converts CJ's to YJ springs, then uses OME YJ lift springs. Here's a partially detailed page on the kit...

Jeep CJ OME lift