Soa???

[battleship]

SOA seems like a good way to get a 5" lift what are the pittfalls of said lift I know Alot of people say they are bad but why? Changing the steering geometry should'nt be much different than a 4 inch lift at least as I see it. Please let me know where my thinking has gone astray.

 

[jeepy]

Nothing wrong with a soa. But on a CJ5 or other short wheelbase vehicle, getting the rear driveshaft angle correct can lead to even more modifications. Personally, I would not do it on a CJ5 without adding wheelbase, or switching to a high pinion rear diff.

Aside from that; On the front end, just finish the job correctly and switch to true high steer. Also make the extra effort to correct your caster.
On the rear end, add a traction bar or other device to eliminate the axle wrap you will probably get.

Doing a soa is seldom just a quick way to gain height. But if done well it will result in a better ride, and better suspension flex than your standard lift springs.

 

[CoreyYoungCj577]

The big things on SOA is that they look and seem very cost efficient when you look at the small pictures but really the big picture is that to do them RIGHT they are costly and like previously stated a CJ5 will cost you even more because you are 11 inches shorter on the frame then a CJ7 , honestly i would go with a nice 2.5 BDS lift and some 33's for a nice ride and good look.

 

[MtHo0dMaster]

Spring over axle lift for Jeep CJ 5, CJ 6, CJ 7, CJ 8, Scrambler Some stuff to check out!!

 

[Saddle Tramp]

Read this from JP first. Spring over was all the rage once but as often is the case what looks good on paper loses some of its luster once all the actual condition are known.

http://www.jpmagazine.com/techarticles/suspension/154_0906_spring_over_versus_spring_under/index.html

 

[jeepy]

Read this from JP first. Spring over was all the rage once but as often is the case what looks good on paper loses some of its luster once all the actual condition are known.

http://www.jpmagazine.com/techarticles/suspension/154_0906_spring_over_versus_spring_under/index.html

Just read that article. Some of that is a load of .
#1. If you come up with the correct springs and do a decent traction bar, you won't wear out the springs any quicker than many spring under lifts.

#2. You can make a traction bar that won't bind and limit articulation. Just because they can't figure it out doesn't mean you can't.

#3. They recommend shorter shocks to keep their driveshaft from binding! What kind of bonehead engineering is that! First of all, they didn't build it properly and they created a problem with their driveshaft angles. Then to fix it they put on shorter shocks that limit the travel they were after in the first place. C'mon now. Hopefully these guys don't have a shop and don't work on others vehicles.

#4. Last of all, they talk about cost. They say we think we can do it for $4.00 and a case of beer. Then they add in the cost of a welder and other tools to the cost of the project and act like it will cost over $1000.00. Sure, they are exagerrating a little, but if you are resourceful and do you own work which any good Jeeper would. You can pretty much control how much you spend.

 

[pwrwgn]

I have a Jeep sprung over on 35's and so does my son and both perform excellent off road and have good on road manners as well. Done right a SOA works well for many reason mentioned above.

That said, you need to really think about why you want to lift your Jeep and what you want to accomplish in the end. The lift itself could be cheap compared to the final cost. The general reason to lift is bigger tires. Bigger tires will hurt your on and off road performance if you don't change gears to make up for the increase in diameter. You can get by with 4.10's if you have a 6 or v8 and limit yourself to 33's. Anything bigger and you need to go 4.56 or 4.88. With 33's the axles are very marginal if you play hard off road ( I have had to winch onto the trailer after a day of playing in the dessert). You can buy Chrome moly axles for a Dana 30 , but then the weak link moves to something harder to fix on the trail. The same can be said about the AMC20 or Dana 44 with 2 piece shafts. Upgrading to Scout or Wagoneer axles is the next step. Add 3-500 for the pair of axles, and about 300 each to regear them if you can do it yourself. You will want a locker for at least the rear, add another 4-500. You probably need to buy a carrier anyway since the split on Dana 44 carriers is 4.10.

If I had it to do over again I would probably build the same Jeep, but I like building as much as wheeling. If you go into it with your eyes wide open and spend the money to do it right SOA works well, but it is not a cheap way to lift.

 

[hippscj5]

ive got a 81 CJ5 . sprung over , the rear drive shaft is too short, any possible donor vehicles to swap