1974 CJ5 leans to left?

I have a 75 cj5 that ive resurrected from the car graveyard in my backyard. Its running pretty good, drives pretty good, everything seems to be working, BUT the WHOLE body seems to be leaning to the left... a noticeable amount... Any ideas where to start with. I know the axles were slightly crooked but were straighted and everything was perfect after that. When it was PARKED in the backyard, it wasnt crooked... so basically it got crooked while sitting there doing NOTHING. haha.... yeah... doesnt make sense to me... Any help would be appreciated.

 

Welcome Dirtbiker...
Yeah...many Jeeps have "the lean", some to the left, some to the right. It can be a few different things. On my CJ3A, it was just a sagging leaf spring. In my CJ5, it was body mounts. See if you can tell if it's suspension or body.

 

JMO - if you can live with it, do.

Certainly saggy springs and worn or rusted body mounts can make the Jeep lean. McGC is right about that... however...

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.

hth!

 

thanks so much... sorry for not doing a search... i am still new to this forum and it didnt occur to me to do a search... next time though, I will.

I'll go look around and see what I can come up with to fix it based on your ideas... Thanks for all the input!

 

mine leans to the right. seems to of happened all of a sudden. Could it be a bad shock?I measured the bottom half of them and the one on the right was maybe an inch less. mine seems to bottom out alot easier on that side.(passenger)

thanks,
nathan

 

Mine leans to the left most of the time, but after some 'wheeling trips, it sit's level or leans to the right. No rhyme or reason, just seems to be one of those things

 

mine leans too.... R)

 

Sometimes, but not necessarily. See above.

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.

 

yep, mine leans to the left,if you are standing behind it.it used to bug me but,its a jeep thing.

 

Mine has a noticeable starboard list. It didn't change after new suspension and body mounts installed. Jeep seems happy enough.

 

Mine leans to the left side, I don't notice it really until I turn the to the right sometimes and it just sort of stays leaning left for abit until it I drive out of it. Sort of a delayed recovery to level back out.

I'm in the middle of looking at the best possible lift kit for a 1 or 2" inch left. I'm hoping that the new springs and shocks will be resolve the issue.

 

Mine's had the left lean since I can remember. I just put a new 3" lift on and it is still there. Oh well.
Maybe I'll get boared one day and work on shimming the body mounts.

 

I am in the process of doing a complete CJ5 frame restoration. I have measured the frame every which-way possible. I know for a fact that it has never been in an accident.

These frames were far from perfect, right from the factory. My frame measured 1/2" of difference ( = 1/4" out-of-square ), corner-to-corner. I fixed that.

The frame rails are parallel (elevation-wise), except that the left side kicks up 1", just after the rear arch. It's almost like one arch didn't get bent as much as the other.
I'm going to cut my frame, there, make them even, and re-weld. That stuff bothers me...plus, that would definitely contribute to a lean.

The center-to-center spacing of the spring mount brackets were 1/4" different, side-to-side, also (probably to make up for the frame being 1/4" out-of-square!). I made them both the same. There were other small things, as well....

Here's a link to my frame restoration, in progress...

http://jeep-forums.4wd.com/showthread.php?t=36592

 

Very impressive. Makes me want to spend more time in the garage! Or try the buzz-box TIG you posted. The welds look great, even without cleanup.

 

Thanks, Tim. Coming from you, that's quite a compliment!

I'm usually in the shop on Saturdays, if you're ever coming to RI, let me know, and I'll give you a TIG lesson!

Rich

 

When I replaced my original from the factory springs with new stock ones, we discovered that the dealer anti-lean shim had been installed on one of the rear springs. The springs were replaced because they were pretty much worn out, and the driver's rear was bent. But the jeep sat level, even with the worn and bent spring.

When we put in the new springs, there was some discussion as to keeping the shim with the new springs or not. I decided to keep the shim in there, figuring I would more than likely have to take it out, but I wanted to see what would happen.

Wound up being the right choice. The jeep with the new springs sits within 1/8" of level, just like with the old springs.

Go figure.

 

So what Im understanding is all jeeps lean. Some left some right some front some back. However can shims fix this?

http://s384.photobucket.com/albums/oo289/Kingaircj/monkey%20creek/?action=view&current=_IGP1279.jpg

 

jeeps lean, yes.

shims can fix it, sometimes.

body mounts, springs, shims have all been adjusted to attempt to fix... even then.... jeeps still lean.

unless its a dangerous mount, call it character and move on.