Springs and Shocks

Springs and Shocks Related Articles

Springs and Shocks FAQ

  1. My Jeep leans to the driver’s side, is this normal? What can I do about it?
  2. My Early CJ-5 has a shackle reversal on it. I thought that civilian Jeeps all came with the traditional setup of the shackles under the front bumper?
  3. What’s a good description of factory Early CJ-5 Shackle Reversals?
  4. Anyone know a source for shims that fit between the spring pads and springs on an early CJ-5 to change the pinion angle?

My Jeep leans to the driver’s side, is this normal? What can I do about it?

Learn to live with it, is the best advice.

Timgr (who worked at a Jeep dealership in the 70’s writes:

Even brand new Jeeps, fresh from the factory, would lean. Brand new everything, and they leaned. Still more of them leaned within the warranty period, even within a few thousand miles. Jeep had a “lean fix” kit for warranty repairs of lean. It consisted of a spacer block and longer u-bolts that you’d install on the high side of the lean. Of course, this reduces the wheel travel on that side.

So, IMO, it’s normal and not really a problem – mostly cosmetic and doesn’t affect performance. Unfortunately, it really bugs some people. I’m telling you this because, after you check all the possible problems, you may not cure it. At least one person on the board here replaced his springs hoping to fix a lean, and it didn’t go away… so there’s some risk of going on a snipe hunt for causes if you try too hard to fix the lean.

Don’t assume. If you suspect the springs are unbalanced, you could swap them side to side. If the lean changes, then you could buy new springs or try tweaking the springs somehow. There have been cases where the owner swapped the springs, and the lean was still there, in the same direction.

Jeep swapped a lot of springs under warranty to try and fix lean, until they came out with their lean fix kit. The kit contained a 3/8″ block of steel and centering pin with longer U-bolts. You put the block between the spring and the axle pad on the high side and it lowers the high side. Works, and it was cheaper than new springs. I’ve got one of the blocks around somewhere, but I don’t know if I can find it…

If your Jeep doesn’t lean more than an inch or so, I’d suggest you ignore it.

My Early CJ-5 has a shackle reversal on it. I thought that civilian Jeeps all came with the traditional setup of the shackles under the front bumper?

According to the CJ-5 Factory Service Manual CJ-5’s up to serial number 44437 came with the shackle reversal from the factory.

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What’s a good description of factory Early CJ-5 Shackle Reversals?

Merl Howel responds with this info based on his M38A1:

Hmm, good question. I know the early CJ-5 had reversed shackles like the M38A1, but don’t know if they were exactly like the M38A1’s or not. The A1 basically has the spring hanger in the front, and in the rear there’s a hole through the frame (no hanger at all). The thing I don’t like about this arrangement is that if you *don’t* have longer shackles in the back, the main leaf of the spring pack slaps up against the bottom of the frame on full spring compression. That and the front end points down a little compared to the back, I think because the CJs with shackles in front had a hanger below the frame in back, and the shackle hanger in front is also below the frame. When I used a standard shackle on the back of the front spring the front end pointed down a little. I’ve since replaced my front shackles with ones that are about 2″ longer than stock (made ‘em myself) in order to level the Jeep a bit.

Anyone know a source for shims that fit between the spring pads and springs on an early CJ-5 to change the pinion angle?

A place called TrailQuest offers then for later CJs and YJs, but, of course they are too wide for early springs.

NAPA may have them.

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