suspension help!!

[Dan86CJ7]

so i bought this 86 CJ7 back in sept. and the springs have never sat right...i have replaced w/ a 4" kit new shocks,springs ect..no matter what i do the sit slanted..rears kit outward....all of the mounts are welded to the frame and think this is where my problem is? all look off...also the R/F spring hits the center of the shackle which i know i need new ones..are the certain type for military wraps?....Im hoping some of you cj guys can take a look at the pics and maybe point me in what the best repair is...can take as many pics you may need...sorry for the cell pics...tks

 

[jasonmark1993]

Looks to me like you have the wrong shackles on there. Or maybe the wrong springs. Or at least that spacer/support in between the leaf spring eye and frame mount are too big. Something isn't right with the shackle/spacer/spring. Its a little hard to tell in the picture but I've never seen the upper shackle mount be a different width than the leaf spring eye. If that is the case I'd suspect that the springs are wrong.

Confirm you have the correct springs; guessing you do since you already replaced them and the problem was there before hand.

You can order some new shackles pretty cheap and they'll come with new bushings and everything you need. I'd get all four. You can get stock length or longer for a little lift.

Those definitely look aftermarket and appear longer than my stock ones on my 73 but your year may be different.

 

[Dan86CJ7]

i ordered no lift when i picked up those..they were supposed to be heavy duty rugged ridge..deff ordered the correct ones..have rechecked..doesnt mean wrong ones shipped!! they have never looked right also the L/R isnt as bad...are there ones for military wrap springs?just cant think of what the best attack is...unless i got wrong parts from rough country? but it all seemed ok when i was installing...tried to play w/ them today, but the frame mounts look welded off,also broken bolts...here are 2 of the fronts

 

[Torxhead]

From what I hear, by the time AMC got to building the '86, the tooling was pretty worn out. This placed the axle spring pad distance wider than it should be. If you take a tape measure and measure the center distance between the spring pivots, spring pads, and spring shackle mounts, you should notice that they are not all the same. It can be compensated somewhat by using a combination of the oem style shackle bushings and the aftermarket ones since the collars on the two are of different thicknesses.

 

[mtnwhlr]

It almost looks like from the 2nd pic that you have front springs on the rear. Your fronts are not as wide as the rears by a half of an inch.

 

[Dan86CJ7]

well i deff. have the 2" springs in front and the 2 1/2 in rear...i dont think anyone could screw that up....on the sring pad issue, i have heard this before...I did buy a set of axle from i think a 82or an 83..if i remeber right they were first year wide track....for the internals..so i was gonna try and swap out housings...i would just swap in/out but they have 3.54s and i have 4.10s so iw ould have to swap over all.problem is this is my DD so time to down will be tough...thanks for the advise guys...ill tell you the frame eyes look a bit off but tome dont know if its enough to cause this much....any shackle advise/recommendations?? are they specific to military wrap vs non?

 

[Dan86CJ7]

so was out today sitting in front of my jee waiting for my wife and i was looking at the front shackles...the one thats hitting the leaf spring wrap.....come to find out when i measured the plates they seem to be shorter on the side hitting? keep the ideas coming appreciate all the help...will respond if i have any luck

 

[Dan86CJ7]

From what I hear, by the time AMC got to building the '86, the tooling was pretty worn out. This placed the axle spring pad distance wider than it should be. If you take a tape measure and measure the center distance between the spring pivots, spring pads, and spring shackle mounts, you should notice that they are not all the same. It can be compensated somewhat by using a combination of the oem style shackle bushings and the aftermarket ones since the collars on the two are of different thicknesses.

what exactly do you mean mix of stock and aftermarket?

 

[jasonmark1993]

the shackles will not differ based on whether you have military wrap or non springs.

I still think it appears that your frame shackle mount is a different size than the leaf spring eye. It appears to me that the shackle is having to clamp down tighter at the leaf spring than at the top.

Do you still have the old springs so that you can measure them?

I would measure the frame side and leaf spring eye for width and they should be the same. Its possible to order aftermarket shackles that are stock height, but you still have something going on there. The picture where the spring eye is touching that support bar/spacer is something that may be caused by a worn bushing. The weird angles the shackles have had to assume may have caused so much wear that the holes are now elongated allowing the spring to move further up towards the frame.

While it is possible that some of the tooling may be a little off causing some variances from the factory, your jeep didn't make it 25 years like this.

I've seen split year vehicles before where it may be called an 83', but there was a change in mid year and you got the later year xyz parts.

Most likely, you just have some mismatched parts here; just gotta figure out which ones are wrong.

 

[Old Dog]

I agree the bottom looks like it's pulled way in for some reason both front and rear. Either something with the springs, bushings, or shackles. But for some reason they are a different width. My guess would be you have the wrong bushings.

 

[jasonmark1993]

I think wrong bushings is possible but wouldn't it have to be too wide of a bushing at the top? The bushing should never extend much more than 1/8" past the width of the spring eye. I keep looking at the pic of the rear shackle but I can't see the detail of the frame side shackle mount/bushing to see if the bushing is too big.

On the other hand, it appears to me that the spacer/support in the shackle is setting the shackles too wide for the leaf spring.

I think the spring is too small/narrow for those shackles. It looks to me like the shackle is fitting the frame mount correctly.

So is the shackle wrong (id like a better pic of the frame side mount) or the spring wrong?

 

[Dan86CJ7]

i do have the springs that were on there when i bought it...the kit i got was for 82-86 cj? came w/ all new bushings,ect. i replaced all frame eye bushings prior to kit install.. i installed the kit probably less than 3k on it...so confused..i will look for my camera and take some more pics...better pics may help...i keep looking at r/r shackle...1 plate is straight other looks bent to make up for kicked out spring but from where??i dont know if lift is wrong...but what could you do about it this far done the road?

 

[jasonmark1993]

I think you have the same problem all around but it shows the most on the right rear.

The support/spacer is obviously longer than the spring eye so those two can't go together. That is why the shackle bar is leaning in at the bottom to meet the spring.

So is that the only wrong part? If that piece is the same width as the bushing/mount that is welded to the frame, it would be a safe bet that the spring is wrong.

Take a picture of the front mount of the rear spring. If the spring fits in there correctly, I would expect you have the correct springs.

Something is mismatched, you just have to figure out where. It really sounds like you have the right springs.

Might just be easiest to order a set of shackles, compare/install and see where you end up.

 

[Dan86CJ7]

so here is 1 pic of thr l/f main eye and the 2 rear...i do think the spring are correct...looked closer and it does seem if the bushing on shackle end my be worn down to spring on 1 side...so first im gonna grab all those out of the old springs as i just replaced front and rear bushing right before ordering lift....will report what happens...probably install tomorrow after work






in the r/r pic you can see ho off the rear shackle is!!

 

[Dan86CJ7]

so if i go and buy shackles after swapping out my bushings.....what do you guys recommend for some shackles??

i did remember i had these but think i may have pitched a rear...they came on thwe jeep...didnt seem right...that is why i got the Rugged ridge...but they seem to suck!!!.what do you think

 

[jasonmark1993]

Maybe its just a case of wrong bushings in the back; are those tapered leaf springs?

Hopefully someone else that is more familiar with your year will chime in.

That front mount looked aftermarket to me until I saw the factory looking rivet holding it to the frame.

EDIT:

I just looked at the right rear but from the front, and it really looks like just the support/spacer is too big.

I bet you could take the shackles off, cut the spacer to the right length, and hammer the sides back flat.

 

[Dan86CJ7]

idk about the spring..they are rough country...got the bushing from my old springs...we'll see what i can do after work tonight...$$ is tight so between what i have hope i can do some thing temp. if it has to be....tks for the help

 

[jasonmark1993]

10 4

Let us know what you end up doing.

As long as the shackle sides drop down to the springs perpendicular to the axle and while the sides remain parallel, you should be ok.

 

[Dan86CJ7]

the bushing did help alot...will try and take pics...some were pulled into the spring or worn? odd just put this lift in not long ago...the thing i am noticing now..the shackle plates seem to be drilled of..making the bolt go in crooked...i guess thats what u get for 30 bucks....so nice shackles are in my future....just need to find which ones are good...tks all

 

[Dan86CJ7]

so here are the pics after i put the new bushings in...sit a bit better but not 100%....these shackles are !! holes seem to be out of line so bolts dont go in straight got this out come by switching plates around....RR is still wierd, poss. on frame end??so i think if i get some top quality shackles..should take care of most of it..just dont know which to go with and funds are tight....this is gonna have to doit for now. tks all!