Help with lift amount on my CJ5.

Greetings, as some of you know I drove this 68 cj5 home last week and have been goofing around town in it. One thing that bothers me is the height. It's just a little too much for me to be hopping in and out of. I'm sure I could just deal with it as a summer time ride but in the winter with frost on the ground I can see myself taking a fall. I'm 6ft tall and the CJ is sitting on 31 inch tires. Can anyone determine if I could lower it a little bit to make getting in and out a bit easier. I'm also planning on installing some nerf bars with a built in step. I'm manly going to use this rig for running around town and light off road driving so I don't need a tun of clearance.

Profile shot. From the ground to the center of the rocker is 23 and 1/4 inches.

Here's the rear spring shackle. 4 inches on bolt centers.

This is the body mount just forward of the rear tire.

This is the rear most body mount that I could get a pic of.

This is the front shackle. 5 inches on bolt center.


So what do you guys think? Can I take down a couple inches and still run the 31's?
Thanks in advance.

 

My 67 cleared 31" tires no problem with stock shackles. There is a pick of it in the build section. "67CJ 2 years or less"

 

Put some stock length (or at least shorter than what you have) shackles on it. Too long of a shackle (like 5 inch) will cause problems in driveability. Get hold of McRuff for some quality custom shackles.
Is that a cracked weld I see on your front shackle mount? If so, get that fixed.

Don

 

FWIW I've been 6 foot tall for 40 years and have been hopping into lifted Jeeps for 37 years and never fell. I like the stance.

 

Don, I think that's just the way the shadow is playing of the shackle mount. I'll take a wire wheel to it and check it out. Also as far a driveablility this little guy is all over the road. The bell crank has a tun of slop in it and needs a rebuild. But, Im going to go with a power steering set up forward of the axle so I'm just not going to for too far with it till I get it put in.

mortten, I took a spill at work two weeks ago on some ice so that's why it's on my mind. I like the stance too and wouldn't mind going a bit bigger on the tires but I have a few short people in my life who would need a step ladder to get into the CJ as it sits now.

If I get some stock length shackles would that just be a bolt on deal, or would I need some axle angles adjusted to go along with it?

W68

 

With the stock shackle length, you might want to remove any existing angle shims. Check the u-joint angles, Harbor Freight sell a cheap magnetic base weighted protractor that I used.

Don

 

lynn, I'll probably go with all three, take it down and inch, add some nerf/step bars and a paracord grab handle to give myself as much contact between me and the rig getting in and out. No physical limitations with me or my family, but I really don't NEED the Jeep to be as high as it currently is.

djbutler, I have one of those angle finders from HF. Could you point me in the direction of correct shaft angles?

W68

 

From what I understand, the goal is to have the angles on the pinion shaft and the transfer case output shaft match. You should be able to achieve this on the rear driveline, but probably not on the front driveline. Every Jeep I have seen has the front transfer case output shaft at an up angle, and the axle itself also has an up angle. It is not so much an issue with the front axle because the only time the driveline is turning under power is when the Jeep is in 4WD (assuming you have locking hubs) and is likely turning pretty slow. So, even with mismatched angles there won't be a severe vibration induced from the angle mismatch because of the slow RPM. The front axle shims I think are usually placed to restore the front wheel caster angle when extended shackles are used.
The rear is another story, it will be turning at high speed on the road and an angle mismatch will cause a vibration.
Take a look at Tom Woods site, it has a good explanation of the u-joint angles desired.

Don

 

Ca

Can you repost your photos please? I am working on lifting my Jeep and would like to see your example. Thanks!

 

You may have to wait for the links to catch up.