Lift Question

[228jeeper]

Recently bought a 77 CJ7 that I am in the process of restoring. It has 31x10x15 BFG all terrains on it. I have found a great deal on some 33x12.5x15 mud terrains. Would I need a lift for these tires to fit? To the best of my knowledge, it is not lifted already. I am very new to all of this, and I am just trying to find out the best way to go about things. Thanks.

 

[elwood blues]

228Jeeper,

Hello and welcome to an awesome site! And welcome to the wonderful world of CJ's. Don't be afraid to ask question here, everyone is generally friendly and there is lots of knowledge and give great advice.

To attempt to answer your question. As for as I know, 33's won't fit under a stock CJ. There are several options for lift, body (bad), shackle (only marginally better), replacement leafs.

It's really up to how much money you're willing to spend. Remember, Jeep stands for Just Empty Every Pocket

 

[mylittlecj5]

MY stock '83 we had years ago would fit 33x12.50s but anything but mild trails would make the tires rub. I knew it and tempered my driving accordingly, but they did work for the 6 months I had them on before the tranny went out and I sold it RIP
Not saying they will work on yours, thats a factor of spring condition and driving habits...

 

[Old Dog]

Do you plan to take your new jeep offroad? If you do you will need a 4" lift to keep the tires from rubbing. If you plan to keep it on the blacktop you might get away without a lift or you might have to do a 2 1/2" lift.
I'm not a fan of body or shackel lifts over 1".

 

[dalefan88]

like olddog said. 2.5" lift and a 1" body. do not go over 1" on body.

 

[228jeeper]

Thanks for all of the advice. What has started out as a hunting camp vehicle has morphed into much more. My wife said that if I was going to spend that much on it, it had better look good enough to drive around the beach on Sundays in the summertime. Thus no camouflage paint. I am learning as I go on this one, but it is quite fun. The jeep is a 77 CJ7 , AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l 6 cyllinder, three speed Transmission . Asthetically its kind of rough, but mechanically its sound. Thanks again for the advice. I will post more questions as they come up as I know that they will.

 

[Rollbar]

I had a '77 CJ5 , three speed stick, AMC 232 i6 .

In my opinion I would go with a 4" BDS lift (life time warranty) w/a 1" Daystar body lift and new stock length shackles. To many times folks go with longer shackles and it throws off the caster of the Jeep which should remain @ 5* (preferred angle). IF, you do buy longer shackles you will want to shim the front axle but personally I don't like that due to safety reasons. With this set up you will be able to run 33"-35" tires with no problem with the proper gearing.

Calulators from www.4Lo.com

4Lo.com :: Final Gear Ratio, Crawl Ratio, Tire Size Calculators

Speedometer Gear, Speedometer Gears, Ford, GM, Dodge 700R4

Gear Ratio Calculator

 

[warrpath4x4]

im not sure about the leafs on a CJ7 but on my older CJ6 the springs are stiff as h**l, i was suggested to use YJ springs, you will get some lift and a softer ride running just stock YJ leafs or buy lifted ones for more lift.

 

[BrockGrimes]

<--'79 with 4" super lift and 33x14.50x15

 

[Rimo79]

What I am looking at is doing a spring over axle lift. Here is the link to one of the more complete kits that I have found.

Spring over axle lift for Jeep CJ 5, CJ 6, CJ 7, CJ 8, Scrambler

Another thing to look at is even though the tire says 33" it usually is not 33" and some are smaller than others. You would have to look at actual tire size to be for sure. If you are just looking at a spring lift I would say that 2 1/2 with shackles will be sufficient.

 

[skiner24]

3 1/4" suspension to 4" suspension lift should clear. I have used both, and have no problems. I did use wheel spacers on the 3 1/4" suspension. I am not a fan of body lifts.

 

[2BAD4U]

What I am looking at is doing a spring over axle lift. Here is the link to one of the more complete kits that I have found.

Spring over axle lift for Jeep CJ 5, CJ 6, CJ 7, CJ 8, Scrambler

Another thing to look at is even though the tire says 33" it usually is not 33" and some are smaller than others. You would have to look at actual tire size to be for sure. If you are just looking at a spring lift I would say that 2 1/2 with shackles will be sufficient.

I'm looking at doing the same. Nice kit from Rocky-Road!

 

[BajaEdition]

SOAs bring on a entire set of issues to be looked at
it really changes the steering and that needs to be addressed
also, if you use stock springs then you are using a spring rate designed for less than you will have. However they are popular. I stick to the proper longer springs with the strength they off, may not be as flexy, but seem to be more stable.