Old man emu YJ spring conversion

[Belizean]

I’m late part to the party.
I ordered YJ oldman emu 2 1/2 inch lift did the shackle reverse and Fox 2.0 shocks.
Holy smokes what a difference
OME also makes extra leaf spring, which I added front and rear.
The droop is phenomenal. Sway bars front and rear for highway.
The ride is wonderful.
Keep in mind my early CJ had inch and three-quarter wide spring.
Good luck

Over the years I haven’t heard a lot of good things about the shackle reverse. Was there a reason you did that ?

 

[73CJ]

I wanted more stability on the highway and less wander. The front will dive on hard braking but with the Fox shock I adjusted the damping to compensate for that.

Love the ride now

 

[Manic Mechanic]

Hopefully after Christmas I'll be doing my install

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[Petescj]

Hopefully after Christmas I'll be doing my install

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Looking forward to this one

 

[Manic Mechanic]

This turd is coming off my lift either today or Tuesday. Once it does my Jeep goes on.

Besides the long awaited suspension I'm going to try and fix my engine placement issues (sitting way to far forward in the bay) some electrical gremlins and a few upgrades like new u joints in the front axle shafts.

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[CJ]

On your engine placement. Not sure what engine you have or mounts but I have seen where R and L mounts were swapped moving the engine forwards. I'm pretty sure you would catch that, but I thought I would throw that out there.

 

[Manic Mechanic]

On your engine placement. Not sure what engine you have or mounts but I have seen where R and L mounts were swapped moving the engine forwards. I'm pretty sure you would catch that, but I thought I would throw that out there.

Appreciate it. It's the mounts that have been in there since I got it almost 20 years ago. They are correct (left and right) I'm thinking the frame side mounts might be 4 banger. (Jeep always had a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l but not sure if it left the factory that way) I have a customer who has a second set of AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l frame mounts (yes one is different than what I have) I'm going to try that first and see if it makes a difference. If not I'll drill new holes and move it where I want

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[CJ]

Appreciate it. It's the mounts that have been in there since I got it almost 20 years ago. They are correct (left and right) I'm thinking the frame side mounts might be 4 banger. (Jeep always had a 4.2 but not sure if it left the factory that way) I have a customer who has a second set of 4.2 frame mounts (yes one is different than what I have) I'm going to try that first and see if it makes a difference. If not I'll drill new holes and move it where I want

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LMAO @ ME!
I thought you were talking about the engine in the Stang, not the CJ.

 

[Manic Mechanic]

LMAO @ ME! [emoji1787]
I thought you were talking about the engine in the Stang, not the CJ.

O no. That thing was fairly straightforward. Rear disc brake conversion, stainless steel brake lines. Drilled and slotted rotors front and rear. Resealed the 3rd member, new leaf springs and bushings.

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[KRUPP]

My Limited experience with OME stuff, from back in the day, is that it's very good. You should be happy with it.

If/when you get around to installing the springs, you'll likely have to do a bit of grinding on the front end, at the passenger side spring pad, on the inboard side. That little extra width in the spring means some surgical angle-grinding at the diff casting web there. No big deal, but just a bit annoying if you weren't expecting it.

I went with new front YJ Shackle Hangers from Fishbone Offroad. Compared to the originals, they bolted up in a spot where the bushing bore is a bit further forward, maybe 3/4". Guess this accounts for the slightly longer springs.

 

[Manic Mechanic]

This kit comes with new front hangers and brackets for relocating.

In prep I blasted and epoxied the other fender (did one over the summer) and my new to me 6 cylinder frame side mounts

Jeep comes in in the morning. For the real work and tear down.

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[Manic Mechanic]

So it begins. I know my floor isn't 100% level. But I also know it's not that far off. My beginning measurements are as follows.

Passenger side rear floor to bottom leaf spring hanger 12-3/4"

Passenger side front floor to bottom leaf spring hanger 12"

Driver side front floor to bottom leaf spring hanger 11-1/2"

Driver side rear floor to bottom leaf spring hanger 11-3/4"

More will follow as I get things done in the coming days.

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[Manic Mechanic]

New mounts in engine moved back by 1/2-3/4 of an inch.

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[Manic Mechanic]

About 2.5 fingers width between firewall and valve cover. Also plenty of clearance for the pinion. Next up fix the skid plate since it no longer lines up.

Then the suspension work begins

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[Petescj]

Nice. So looking forward to this. Here's to everything going smoothly.

 

[Manic Mechanic]

Nice. So looking forward to this. Here's to everything going smoothly. [emoji482]

So far so good. Very minimal issues considering what I had to do

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[Manic Mechanic]

So I started my afternoon by modifying my already modified Transmission skid plate. Now my engine and Transmission are fully bolted in and in the correct location.

Then I moved on laying out my parts hardware and prepping for the suspension installation.

Removal of the old was vastly more involved than it should have been. I did some heating, cutting, cussing and prying. Finally got one side out but I can't install yet as I have some bolt holes to fix that the rear spring hanger attaches to.

Stay tuned for more updates. Hopefully tomorrow I will have the rear done.

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[KRUPP]

I’ve been laying under my Jeep a bit this week, starting the Transmission transplant. I noticed a couple things…
Your Motor Mount Brackets; I didn’t see the stiffener bar that goes from left to right motor mount bracket. It goes horizontal, but has a bend in it to clear the oil pan, and it attaches beneath the nut on one of those lower bolts going through the frame.
Honestly, I’m not sure the Jeep even needs it, but it’s curious that yours appears deleted.

Also, I think there’s supposed to be a heavy wire ground strap at driver’s side motor mount bracket too. Yours may be grounded somewhere else though.

 

[Manic Mechanic]

Not all Jeeps had that bracket. Even if mine did originally it's been long gone.

As far as the ground straps I have mine grounded else where and in a few different places.

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[KRUPP]

Kinda what I was thinking. Just curious.
Looking good.