Lowering Suspension

[DosCaras]

Has there ever been any popular trends with lowering or removing the suspension on jeeps? I would assume some have tried this allow I am pretty sure such a plan may be somewhat risky

 

[mylittlecj5]

while a few demented souls have tried it, there is (IMO) never a good reason to lower a CJ. And why would you remove the suspension altogether? you wouldn't be able to drive it anywhere.

 

[CJ]

To each his own but it's not for me. If I want to ride around in a scraper, why buy something that is already 'way' up in the air?

 

[coldwater]

On the grounds of just plain BLASPHEMY, I vote this thread be removed And placed in a toyota celeca site someplace!

 

[sjbrand99]

I would agree that lowering suspension is madness.

HOWEVER - I have heard of it before in CJ's. I have met a fair few crazy CJ owners, and I do remember a fellow Jeep owner bragging about how he was going over to West Coast customs for some very exclusive work on his car, but when I found out that one of the jobs involved a suspension conversion and lowering - I was no longer interested.

The expression "what a crime" still rings through my head when i think of him...

 

[slimer]

I can't see why anyone would want to lower a CJ. It's not exactly a "streamlined" vehicle and I wouldn't call it "sleek" by any measure. I've seen a few lowered TJs. They look like a ZIP ZAP (small radio shack toy).

Now, if you're talking about lowering it because it's been LIFTED too much than that's another story. There is a trend to minimize the amount of lift and tuck as much up into the frame rails to get more clearance. That makes perfect sense.

 

[projectcrawler]

The owner of the dealership I work at has a son-in-law who bought a new fj cruiser and lowered it. He raced it in autocross. He has infinite money, so I am sure the best components available were used. He races all kinds of autocross cars and swears this was one of the better handling ones. I am not into lowering 4x4's and it looked like to me. But whatever floats your boat.

 

[Kimmyh51]

hmm - repeating what they others have said

but isnt the whole point of a jeep or other 4x4 that its HIGH off the ground so you can drive over all sorts of stuff?

(I have no 4x4 at the moment and even onroad... I miss being able to see whats happening on the motorway a few km ahead! LOL)

aah sob, this forum is just emphasizing the 'i miss driving down the beach or up an old riverbed' nostalgia

gotta buy another one...soon

 

[ramblux1]

Not a CJ, but...





Now, I do remember an extremely lowered CJ from the mid '90s (it was bright green), but I couldn't find any photos of it.

 

[mylittlecj5]

this one I actually like...

 

[DragonHEF01]

But isn't the whole point of a jeep or other 4x4 that its HIGH off the ground so you can drive over all sorts of stuff?

Remember, not all Jeep CJs or YJs were 4x4s. My '76 CJ7 was a Quadra-Trac and not meant for serious off-roading. Plus, my loan and insurance considered it a roadster...so I showed them the true definition. It already had a full Smittybilt roll-cage(from my Dad) and a 'glass body(from my Dad's buddy that I bought it from). Then, out went the AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l I-6(had a header which was kind of nice), and the leaf spring suspension. Anyone notice in some 4x4 mags at the time when the Samurai then others were getting bad reps for rollovers that a suspension company called Bulldog came about? Their solution was a non-adjustable coilover kit that lowered the vehicles around 1-1 1/2 inches. This helped a lot with what replaced the 4.2L: a blueprinted and roller'd 327 that came from another of Dad's friends(rear totaled Camaro RS). Gotta love networking. And yes, getting a beefed-up Transfer Case and switching to the TH350 was a #@$%&!! But, everything worked out: it had a hard top from salvage, 275 BF Goodrich T/As on offset American Racing, and the dual Hush Thrush exhaust(with dual round tips) exited right where the leaf spring mounts used to be. My mom might still have the build pics somewhere. It was a crazy little thing...that I could only keep for a few years because of insurance rates at that time were sky rocketing and the additional loan backfired. Oh, and mine wasn't the craziest or fastest. That went to the guy my Dad knew that had a '49 Willys 427 Pro Street(drag version of below). And here's one for today: a '95 Turbo'd 4.0L Cherokee that runs Motorsports and can take out a lot of high-end cars: http://http://bangshift.com/bangshiftapex/the-humbler-five-buddies-built-this-cheap-turbo-jeep-to-go-12s-and-destroy-on-the-autocross/. Definitely miss my Panther, but now I'm tinkering with other car designs(maybe later I'll grab an '86). So, there's my sea story for the day. Good luck.

 

[Landon3185]

im fairly new to jeeps in general so i dont cringe like others do when hearing this. im not a huge fan of most lowered vehicles but some are nice. one of the jeeps i saw that grew my interest in them was a hunter green late cj that was lowered and had wide street tires on it. this guy was cruising down the freeway and i couldnt take my eyes off of it. it was one of the coolest jeeps ive seen. i say if youre into it, go for it!

 

[Kane]

The only lowered Jeeps I like are the guys who are building rat rods out of the old flatties or DJ Jeeps. I have seen a couple cool rat rodded CJ's as well. I say if the Jeep is trashed and really not worth doing a proper restore or rebuild then have fun and do what floats your boat.

I really have always liked this guys build.