Safety First...

[JimsCJ5]

Hey Gang,
As I stated in my Intro I recently purchased a 1979 CJ5 for my son to drive back and forth to school on country roads where the speed limit never gets above 35. I am looking to make it a bit safer vehicle.

I plan on checking all the suspension components and returning it as much to stock as possible. It has what I believe to be a SOA lift and 31" tires. The stock swaybar is still there. Does the SOA lift decrease the stability at all or is it fine? I Purchased a set of stock steel wheels for it (15X7 I believe). What else should I be looking at? The PO told me it has HD springs but I am not sure if that is plus or a minus for what I am looking for.

TIA,
Jim

 

[Peanut Butter]

In general, anything that lifts a vehicle up raises its center of gravity and thus increases the instability. That being said though there are ways to make a mild lift more stable. Usually a SOA conversion raises a vehicle about 4 inches. Taller tires can add to that. If your Jeep has a SOA conversion, going back to stock tires may increase the instability. A wider, not necessarily a taller tire would help with this. A 15x7 wheel is very narrow. The same tire on a 15x10 wheel would make the tire spread out more with more surface contact and increase the stability. But there are limits to this.

Now my opinion. Without spending the money to reverse the SOA conversion, I would go to a 15x10 wheel with a 32x11.5x15 tire for the best stability. Make sure the bushings on the sway bar are fresh, and possibly add a rear sway bar. Other wise you will need to reverse the SOA to go back to stock wheels and tires for better stability. The other possibility would be to change the axles to wide trac instead of the narrow trac that are most likely on it. But more money too. Hope this helps some, Rod

 

[Jimbos76cj]

Looking at your pics it doesnt look SOA to me. But Im also looking at it through a horrible comp screen.

There is no reason for a SOA with 31" tires on a CJ5 . IT will be to tall and top heavy. CJ5 's came with narrow track axles which also contribute to thier ease of rolling over. For a 16 yo daily driver I would leave the sway bar on it to help decrease body roll.

Next thing I would look at would be
A) wide track axles from a 83 and up CJ.
B) Rims with an offsett that would help get the tire alittle further out from under it to make it more stable
C) wheel spacers. Alo of folks dont liek that option but if you buy a quality spacer, install it and torque/retorque em appropriately they work very well.

If it is SOA and the steering is not set up with high steer knuckles then that will also cause alot of bump steer.. some thing you dont want an un experienced driver dealing with.

To better advise some pics of the front end would be great. Some thing thats close enough to see all the steering parts but wide enought to include at least the edge of the tires.

If it is SOA I would look into 2" springs and going back to SuA.

 

[cj7inthetwigs]

Agree with jimbo, I don't mean any harm but some pics of suspension would clear this up.

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[Old Dog]

Agree with jimbo, I don't mean any harm but some pics of suspension would clear this up.

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What they said

 

[JimsCJ5]

Thanks to all that replied.

Here is a pic of the suspension. I may have been wrong about the SOA lift...


This is the first time I have looked at it closely since we have it hidden at a neighbor's house. Right away it looks like I could replace the sway bar bushings.

 

[cj7inthetwigs]

Looks like a SUA...thats good I think so the wider yj springs would be alot better as mentioned..go ahead and replace bushings,springs,shocks...someone else can chime in about the other parts and ways to check....probably all factory which means replace

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[harleydragon]

looks stock to me..I would look it over..If it all looks good and drives good,I would run it

 

[johnnyreb]

I would think hard on replacing ALL suspension bushings with poly's

 

[deadfeat]

Looks like a nice CJ5 . I would if it was my son...

1. Brakes. Make sure they are 100%

2. Front end. Ball joints, tie rod, sway bar and drag link bushings. Rubber is fine. Poly is good but no t a big deal for near stock ride. Steering should have little play and track well

3. Inspect steering shaft. Make sure its Solid.

4. Seat belts. Consider adding 5 point harness and seat upgrade.


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[PaRenegade]

Wide track axles from a 83 and up CJ.

Slight correction... it's 1982 and up for the wide tracks.

Yes, that suspension pic does look stock. You didn't say how it currently rides? It's probably just a combination of worn parts if it rides odd.

 

[Jimbos76cj]

Slight correction... it's 1982 and up for the wide tracks.

Yes, that suspension pic does look stock. You didn't say how it currently rides? It's probably just a combination of worn parts if it rides odd.

Thanks.. I thought it was 82..

 

[JimsCJ5]

Thanks All
The PO said he went thru the suspension but I will do it again anyway and brakes are at the top of the list as well although they seem to work just fine. I specifically looked for one with front disc brakes.


As far as how it rides... It's hard to say since I don't have any CJ experience. I have only driven it once but it seems to me to be a little "twitchy" especially when I first started out. It was an hour and a half drive home and at the end of the drive I was a lot more comfortable but I want to make it as safe as possible for my kid. I plan on spending a lot of time with him in parking lots getting him used to it. He's driven the bronco before so he is not altogether unfamiliar with short wheelbase vehicles but the bronco is far from stock.

I understand about widening the stance. I'll have to look into that. How much wider are the 82 and up axles? Could I get the same effect with wheel spacers?

Good advice too on the belts. My wife is insisting on a 3 point at least but maybe a 5 point harness would be better still. Funny... every car I drive only has lapbelts and she never seems to worry about me

 

[cj7inthetwigs]

A lot of folks like to put disk on the back also...although you may sleep better, I wouldn't believe a single word the PO told you...kids somehow make the world turn around them,lol...really glad you got your son a cj to tool around in..

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[PaRenegade]

The wide track axles are 4" wider I believe and the front slightly less, maybe 3". Can't tell you exactly off hand.
You said it was a bit "twitchy" but it was you first Jeep driving experience. That may have been just the normal reaction. Jeeps do drive a bit different than most vehicles due to it's narrow tread width and short wheelbase. So it may drive fine, for a Jeep, and you just weren't used to it initially. Do you have any friends who own a Jeep? (Not any Jeep vehicle, I mean a Jeep Jeep CJ-*) They will be used to it's unique handling characteristics and can get a better feel for you on it's condition.