Idea for Correcting the Lean

In the past I posted a thread concerning my 1974 CJ5 listing to port (leans to the left). I know others have experienced this problem. I have been living with it but this past weekend while washing the vehicle I had an idea. I thought I would run it up the flag pole and see if anyone salutes. First, the difference between the right and left is .75 inch in the front and 1.19 inches in the rear. I am wondering if I increase the distance between the mounting holes of the spring shackles on the left side by approximately 1.00 inch would this help the lean?

 

i dont mean to sound like a complete tool, but do we know WHY it leans?

 

Just put bigger tires on one side....

Or let some air out of the other side....

 

it's a jeep thing ,,,, I'm over it

 

All vehicles lean a little when the springs are broken in. Unless its lean more than a couple inches I wouldnt worry about it.

 

:uwop:

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This is a problem with leaf sprung vehicles in general, and CJs in particular.

Back in the day, Jeep had a kit to fix vehicle lean. It was a block and pin to go between the axle spring pad and spring on the high side of the Jeep. The dealership installed a lot of them.

On the front springs, lengthening the shackles will change the caster angle. May not be significant, but it will change the suspension geometry.

You could try swapping the springs side to side, and see if that changes the lean.

 

I was under the impression the early 5 lean was due to the offset of the engine/tranny and t case to the drivers side..

 

Yeah, I think my fix will be to go with new aftermarket springs. That should work for awhile anyway.

 

I swaped springs and then shocks and it still leans .I gave up and it bothers me no more .... my springs are very soft and it shows up but only sometimes more so with a full under seat tank of fuel ,,,,right now it's level-ish...but I have seen it look WAY out like 1 1/2"

 

It sat pretty level after I installed the Rancho 2.5" lift springs without the block.

that's because Rancho springs are really stiff

 

I think you guys are spending too much time on pavement. Off road, who would ever notice or care? R)

 

Pete's right always park on a lump

 

At some point I was going to try repacking my leafs. When I do this I'm going to round-off all the sharp edges at the ends of the leafs and put really thin Delrin strips in between each leaf, at the least the upper 2-3, before I reassemble them.

I suspect they just have too much resistance to movement in the packs to return to the proper stationary position on their own I exit the vehicle. I've noticed my lean follows the side I get out of the vehicle from although its worse on the drivers side. But it does do it on the pass. side too.