SOA conversion

I've got enough done that I thought I'd post a few pic's of my SOA conversion. I had hopes this would be done, but as with all things Jeep, I've had a couple of set backs.

Here is the jeep up on Jack stands. The wheels are off the ground so you get a good idea that I didn't have a lot of droop.



Grinding off the original perches turned into much more of a job than I had expected. I have a "Blue Wrench" but not enough experience to use it on my axles. I spent more than 6 hours cutting, grinding and cursing at the four axle perches.



The welds on some of the perches extended half their width! That's some good penetration!

Here is a picture of an old perch next to the MORE anti wrap perches for the Dana 30.

 

The Shackle reversal (done by PO) is an early MORE kit that used YJ springs. Mine were flat! With very little spring left in them. I had the original '73 springs in the rear. They too had seen better days.

I elected to swap both front and rear with 2.5 inch Rubicon Express (RE) SOA springs. That required new spring hangers for the rear.

Here are the hanger I made (just tacked together).

First the front hanger (for the rear springs)



And here is the rear hanger (for the rear springs)





(sorry . . . phone pic's)

 

Yesterday I bolted everything together to get an idea of ride height and fitment.

set the front pinion at -3 degrees and tacked perches on D30 . . .



Spring perches, U-bolts . . .



Spring hangers . . .





Here is where it will be when it's done . . . I still need to have everything welded and painted, then I need to reinstall my gas tank, rework my emergency brake, replace brake lines and fix steering.

 

Sorry . . . don't know why those pic's didn't turn the right way????

 

Thanks Jim . . .

I started to put this thread in Builds then move it to here . . . I'm very OK with it in either place.

 

OOPS! Missed a photo . . .

HERE is where ride height should be when done . . .

 

Had a friend weld my spring hangers . . . They look great all cleaned up. Hope to have them welded to jeep next weekend .

Here are a few shots of the front spring hanger for the rear springs




Here is the rear spring rear hanger . . .

 

Looks like your CJ-5 is half Willys Wagon or truck. Very unique.

 

Darn fine spring hangers. Did the dude want to sell a couple of pair?

 

It was a cooperative effort . . . Not bad for a veterinarian . . . I just don't trust my welding enough at this time to be welding my suspension parts

I made the forward hangers out of 3 X 3 X 3/8 steel tubing, the rears from 2.5 X 2.5 X1/2 steel tubing and 1.75 X 3/8 tube. This weekend I hope to get everything back together and ready to weld to the frame and axles. I'm hoping to have the bracket to attach my torsion bar to the rear axle ready as well.

 

Well . . .
I've been waiting on parts (OH, that never happens!)
I'm waiting on U-bolt plates for the back . . . oh, and shock mounting tabs. I could have made them myself by now.
Last weekend was bad for me anyway, I saw patients and saw emergencies and the rest of the family was out of town so I had to care for the critters.

Parts Mike says they will be here today!

I got bump stops and shock mounts . . .





I'm hoping that these will get me in the ball park.

 

Looking good !

 

I've made some progress but have been hampered by life's little responsibilities. My anniversary one weekend, my Wife's birthday and Mother's Day and then my son's conformation and now my daughter's birthday all while working and on call for emergencies every other weekend. From the last week of April to the first week of June is always a challenge for me!

Meanwhile I've got everything tacked in place and ready to weld (I'm going to let someone with a bit more experience than me do the final welds), my drive shafts are done (pic's to come), and my anti-wrap bar mostly fab'd up.

Thanks for asking, Pic's by Sunday!

 

Very cool, you're doing a great job! Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

Hey,,,what are the part numbers and price on the Ford upper shock mounts?????

I tried getting some but the parts counter guys at my local Ford dealership (Shamaley Ford) are next to USELESS!!!!! They have not been able to locate ANY of the parts I needed during my project.

 

I have some sitting in my garage for my jeep as well, PhsycoJeeper. I'll look on them for the part number on the sticker that's on them. There are two different ones, and the ones are twice as spendy as the others. I had a '97 F-350 that had them, but they have four smaller bolt holes, and those are the spendier ones. So I asked the parts guy to look up (I think it was for '92 or 93 F-350) and then when he pulls it up on the computer it shows a pic of the part, and make sure it has two holes. I think it's like 40-60 bucks for the two of them, total. Try that if you wanna try getting some today, or I can try to remember to look for a part number tonite.

 

I had the same problem. Got the "deer in the headlights" look from the guys at the parts counter and the "without a year and model we can't help you . . . " answer.

I'd say get them from Parts Mike. Here is the item on their site.