Misc Drive shaft angle/Rough County Suspension

[Genaz]

Hi. I installed a Rough Country 2.5" lift kit in my '79 CJ7 . Despite the instructions, and original set up, it would not go in axle-over-spring. The front shocks were completely compressed, and sway bar links were too short. So, disassembled and installed spring-over-axle and everything fit fine. However, now my rear drive shaft is at an extreme angle. Rough Country recommended flipping the shims 180 degrees, but that didn't help. I'm pretty frustrated at this point. Does anyone have any suggestions? Do the shims maybe have to be switched to the bottom of the leaf spring?

 

[CJ]

Yeah, I see it now. Can I get the pictures and instructions, please?! That would be great. I'm talking to a guy tomorrow who can cut and re-weld components for me. It sounds like I probably have to source new spring plates too.

Need to see pics of your rear shock mounts to see what has been changed.
Here are some Crown part numbers for the front SM. There are many other MFGs - I would probably go with other...
Here is an example of the stock front shock mount.

J8126587 - Google Search

Spring plates stock:

J5363439 - Google Search

J5363440 - Google Search

J5359011 - Google Search

J5359012 - Google Search

 

[Genaz]

yeah, the story keeps getting worse. here are a couple of pictures of rear shock mounts and they've obviously been moved and a horrible job of welding.

 

[Genaz]

I notice that some of these spring plates have one stud and some have two studs. Is that one for shock and one for sway bar link? Any idea which one I'll need before i start tearing this down again?

PS: Thanks again for all the input from everyone. It's been invaluable.

 

[CJ]

yeah, the story keeps getting worse. here are a couple of pictures of rear shock mounts and they've obviously been moved and a horrible job of welding.

View attachment 101794

View attachment 101795

I notice that some of these spring plates have one stud and some have two studs. Is that one for shock and one for sway bar link? Any idea which one I'll need before i start tearing this down again?

PS: Thanks again for all the input from everyone. It's been invaluable.

Those are some pretty bad welds...
Are you against aftermarket parts or is a stock type replacement more desirable?
The dual shock spring plates are for an additional shock if desired.

 

[Genaz]

No problem with after-market at all. I've already got plenty of Crown and Omix parts on it. And the front fenders are aftermarket because the holes were too big to patch. This is it last summer before I got into this debacle with the suspension. I've done the steering, cooling, added power brakes (with input from you guys) and it's a work in progress. But I'm learning the hard way about barn finds!

 

[CJ]

Lets start with the front sway bar. Does your frame have these brackets?



I found a complete setup on ebay...

JEEP CJ CJ5 CJ7 CJ8 Scrambler Sway Bar Original OEM NEW STYLE - OEM LINKS | eBay

Original Sway Bar setup off a Jeep 1984 CJ7. The setup is off of a 1984 CJ7, so it had the new style spring pads which had the shocks on the axles. This was removed and in good shape.

www.ebay.com

 

[Genaz]

No, it has about a 7.5" bolt or I made a stud at one point when originally installed AOS. I'll get a picture to you later when I get home.

 

[CJ]

No, it has about a 7.5" bolt or I made a stud at one point when originally installed AOS. I'll get a picture to you later when I get home.

Well, if it doesn't look like the 2nd image it's not stock. Your pictures will help.
Thanks.

 

[TSB8C]

I notice that some of these spring plates have one stud and some have two studs. Is that one for shock and one for sway bar link? Any idea which one I'll need before i start tearing this down again?

PS: Thanks again for all the input from everyone. It's been invaluable.

The rear spring plates have the single stud for the shock. The front spring plates have two studs, one for the shock and one for the sway bar links. Your earlier pics showed a different sway bar and links that are not stock CJ style.

 

[Genaz]

Started the tear down again. So, I can just cut off these top spring perches and toss them, correct?

 

[CJ]

Started the tear down again. So, I can just cut off these top spring perches and toss them, correct?

Before you do that can you really take a boatload of pictures so we know what we are dealing with.

 

[Genaz]

Thanks for your help again. I'm actually flying out of town to spend Father's Day with my daughter today. I'll get new pictures when I get back next Friday. Have a great Father's Day everyone.

 

[TSB8C]

I have the Rough Country 4" suspension lift. I took some pics of my sway bar, sway bar links, front and rear shock mounts, drop pitman arm, and Transfer Case drop spacers on the skid plate. Not sure you can tell from the angle of the pic, but the rear diff pinion is also angle slightly upward with shims on the rear springs. This, along with the spacers on the skid plate lowering the Transfer Case output, keeps my rear drive shaft from being too sharp of an angle. The lowered skid plate also helps with the front drive shaft since I have a GM 700R4 auto Transmission and needed a slight bit of extra clearance to keep the front shaft from hitting the tranny pan.

Compare the sway bar links to yours. Stock CJ links are a "dog bone" style, with holes at each end that threaded studs go through with bushings. The sway bar also has holes on ach end facing horizontally for the bolts to go through. The threaded stud on the bottom of the links is welded to the spring plate. And of course you'll see my axles are on top of the springs with the plates underneath.

The Rough Country kit came with the 4" lift springs, skid plate spacers, longer sway bar links, and drop pitman arm. It also came with some crappy extended shocks I immediately replaced with coil-overs. That drop pitman arm has my drag link and tie rod almost straight parallel to each other. You'll also see in the pics I have a steering brace (bar clamps around the steering box and angles up to the frame on the passenger side), and dual steering stabilizers (homemade brackets). I have 35 tires. I also replaced the upper ball joint sleeves with offset ones that allow me to tweak the camber and castor. With this setup, I easily do 70-75 on the freeway with no wander, bump steer, or death wobble at all.

And in case you're interested, all underneath I have Prothane red urethane bushings (suspension and body mounts).

 

[CJ]

Best helpful post ever!!!!

 

[Genaz]

Sorry for the delay in response to everyone. Traveling for work and haven't had a chance to get back to the CJ and this nightmare. I've got a long weekend for the 4th of July and will get back to this then.

Thanks very much for the pics. Completely different than the 2.5" I'm installing.

Does anyone have specs or illustrations of where the original shock mounts would need to be moved to? I'll get some more pictures of the existing set up when I get back to it.

Thanks for the help.

 

[CJ]

Glad to hear you're getting back to this.
We will find some measurements for you.

 

[CJ]

Wanted to add, if you would like to just use some bolt on mounts - Throttle Down Kustoms makes some great ones. This way you can place them as needed for your shock length.

Jeep CJ Frame Parts From Throttle Down Kustoms

Upgrade your ride with Jeep CJ Frame Parts from ThrottleDownKustoms.com. Shop Now and Save!

throttledownkustoms.com

 

[flyn hawaiian]

WOW! Definetly SOA. Where do you live? I'll do it fo you. I'm in Tn.

 

[Genaz]

Hey Everyone. After 2 months of work travel and family vacations, I finally got back to the CJ7 suspension. Thanks to everyone for the pictures, illustrations, links and advise. It was invaluable. Had to get all new spring plates. The sway bar was the biggest hold up. Now it's back to original axle over spring and it steers a lot tighter. A couple of quick pictures attached. Thanks again everyone!

 

[TSB8C]

That looks so much better. I see the wedges on the rear axle to tip the pinion angle up a bit, helping rear drive shaft angle. I see the sway bar and proper connects (dog bones). And the tie rod and drag link look nearly parallel as they should be to avoid bump steer. Should be driving like a dream now.