cj5 direction

[nathan kackson]

Hey heres the skinny.
1977 cj5 SOA lift. AMC 304. A lot going on since I bought this project. I hit the gas which lifts the left front (driver side) and veers right. When I let off gas drops front driverside then veers left. When I say lifts and drops you can visually see this rise and fall in the front end. I'm not stomping on the gas to get these results. Now when Im in 4X4 hubs in improvement but not gone. Any direction would be helpful. Guess the question is suspension? Front or rear? Frame? Help

 

[TerryMason]

Welcome to Jeepz.com
How do the motor mounts look?

 

[eric m]

Hey heres the skinny.
1977 cj5 SOA lift. AMC 304. A lot going on since I bought this project. I hit the gas which lifts the left front (driver side) and veers right. When I let off gas drops front driverside then veers left. When I say lifts and drops you can visually see this rise and fall in the front end. I'm not stomping on the gas to get these results. Now when Im in 4X4 hubs in improvement but not gone. Any direction would be helpful. Guess the question is suspension? Front or rear? Frame? Help

I'm going to guess poorly done spring over lift.

 

[nathan kackson]

Welcome to Jeepz.com
How do the motor mounts look?

Oh terrible. I did overhaul on body mounts did a lot of welding all the way around ignored engine mounts. Thanks have some on the way. I will let you know how it turns out.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Might need to stiffen the rear springs or consider a rear swaybar. SOA is a lot of lift for a skinny short CJ5.

 

[nathan kackson]

The ride itself seems very stiff. When pushing on bumpers very little to no give at all.

 

[69jeepcj]

Im leaning towards agreeing with Eric M. If the motor mounts don't fix it, can you post a couple pics of your front suspension, from just below the bumper so we can get a good look.

 

[nathan kackson]

Pics

 

[superj]

How's the alignment?

You are going to have steering issues because the rod from the steering gearbox to the passenger knuckle. As your suspension flexes, that bar is solid and the wheels have to turn since the bar doesn't move. If the suspension is stiff, then your rear axle is rolling. Fix that axle roll (axle wrap) and see if it helps.

 

[superj]

Oh ya, your springs need replacing. They are worn out

 

[nathan kackson]

Thanks for the responses! Okay so I canceled my motor mounts tore into those today and I was surprised they were descent shape not cracked or even oddly shaped when pulled off. Guess I'm ruling out mounts but happy I got that out of the way. Now springs I considered since they were some what stiff and kinda a stout ride they were good. Compared to a spring that was warn would give you more of a aftershock or kinda a boat motion after a bump. Correct me if I'm completely misunderstanding (corrective criticism is strongly supported for my learning). Before investing in springs could I rotate them around and expect diffrent results? Also would the new springs take care of axle wrap. I do agree that there are far better steering options out there but for now the zlink has to be part of project. If I get new springs will I need to change perch angles? To throw in another wonderful find today my steering box is leeking. Just pointing this out incase this has a possible cause of pull. Don't really feel like its in the steering wheel itself tho.

Okay found frame repair on rear passenger side (rhino lining is not that cool) it's roughly above rear axle. The weld job/ repair job seems iffy. Could this be a reason for rise and fall upon ecelerating?

 

[69jeepcj]

It appears to me this was a incorrectly done SOA. I think your front spring pads were welded on with the incorrect angle, In your last two pics it looks like the steering arms (what your tie rods bolt to) are tilted towards the ground, they should be more straight out. Straight out probably isn't going to be the correct angle you need, you will have to use a angle finder, I think the correct angle is somewhere around 5-7* but don't hold me to that. Something else I see, is it looks like your spring bushings are gone, this will contribute to your problem too. Another thing I see is your shackles, they are just two flat pieces of steel, there is no middle support helping to control lateral movement, a H type shackle would help a lot as would a steering box brace.

 

[PoliceMonkey161]

Based on your photos, I argee with 69jeepcj with regards to the front axle or really what we are getting at is your caster angle. One of your photos shows the angle meter at 10 degrees negitive caster (front axle rotated forward). You ideally want 5-8* positive caster (axle rotated the other way). But this does not explain the drivers front lifting under accelaration, negitive caster will give you horrible steering and a wandering effect at speed.


Your wheel hoop (for lack of better term) is likely a combination of everyones imput. My guess is, without driving your Jeep and seeing the flex, the high center of gravity caused by the SOA job is flexing the rear leaf spring and is leading to an uneven distribution (transfer) of weight. If it where me (and it is not), I would get rid of the SOA setup or at least have it corrected and upgraded my suspension to include the traction bars that "Bounty" mentioned.

 

[nathan kackson]

OKay serious input instead of trouble shooting a bunch of little odds and ends and dealing mainly with the soa problem. Should I just purchase a actual lift kit sua and start right?

 

[superj]

I would say yes but I have minimal experience on that stuff

 

[nathan kackson]

Thanks for all input either direction I go I will still update with progress, trouble shooting and more questions. Keep jeepin

 

[69jeepcj]

If it were me, I would go back to a spring under lift 4" keep us updated and good luck.

 

[PoliceMonkey161]

If it were me, I would go back to a spring under lift 4" keep us updated and good luck.

X2 on this..... The SOA is a fools game for a daily driver or even a recreation vehicle. If the engineer 's at AMC, Chrysler or whoever wanted it that way, they would have made it an option. You'll appreciate the designed ride! But keep in mind that it was not design to be a Shelby.