spring over axle lift on a cj5 and cj7

[slinginink]

ok so newbie here, so bare with me, im just hoping to get some input..... i have a 77 cj5 with the 4.2 all stock and a 81 cj7, same motor nearly stock also. but i was thinkin about doing a spring over axle lift on them with the stock amc 20 with one piece axles and the dana 30 front....... could someone give me some pro's and cons' on this, there both only gonna be offroad and for the time being i dont want to run anything bigger than a 35. later they will get wider axles and gear;s with bigger motors but for the time being ima kinda strapped on money and want to do some more wheeling before winter.

 

[rielly]

SOA is a great way to lift your Jeeps. I've done it twice and basically used the Jeep tech pages as a guide. You going to want to get the flatter YJ leaf springs for smoother ride and less height. CJ springs are arched. That means you'll be running a 2.5" spring in the front. No problem attaching that to the rear spring mount for the front axle but up front you'll need the wider spring hanger (which needs to be mounted slightly more up front because the wide spring is a bit longer. This is very easy and outlined on the Jeep tech pages). 35's will be no problem. If you're going offroad it will be your front axle that's the week link... especially if you lock it. You'll be snapping the U joints. The larger replacement axle shafts should take care of this.

 

[rielly]

One more thing if you go 35's you'll have a hard time turning those tires without gears. I went 4:56 and probably over did it since I have a 4 speed. Should have done 4:10's