unstable driving... all over the place! scarry

that is exactly the difference. Those are built for the boxed 76+. They would have to be modified to work with the 72.

Pauldana, Do you have the 1 piece cast steering box mount or the cheap 2 piece stamped metal backets? The cheap 2-piece mount is the one that is known for allowing the steering box to move. The cast one piece that is on my 5 is rock solid.

 

All the '72-75 CJ models used the cast bracket. The later welded bracket won't fit.

True, the cast bracket is solid, but it too breaks - BTDT. I speculate it may also be rigid enough to make the frame crack.

 

Yeah, had to weld some frame cracks on mine. This is one place where the winch plate helps. It keeps the frame from flexing as much and redues the stress that causes the cracks.

 

1 piece cast.... having a brace welded on as well, attaching both front left and right spring/frame perch to each other, will post pic when done Tuesday... and will get the winch plate on in about 2 weeks... will report on change... p

 

I'm interested in how connecting the perches together works as well! That is one of the "upgrades" I was planning on doing. I do have the factory rame connector but I haven't checked for cracks. Where will they be? I did the shackle reversal and with the tires on the ground and no motor in I was still able to see the welded solid spring perches flex! I haven't driven it for testing though.....as you can see by my avatar I'm getting close though. Need to paint bumper and body to get finished.

 

Thanks to all who lent their knowledge to this post

I have been on the fence about cutting my losses with the jeep, sunk a couple grand into it making it run awesome and pretty much replacing everything replaceable apart from the body (next round of funds) but i couldnt shake the odd jeep and i dont want to go in the same direction issue. it was even worse in the snow, which is bad being the plow jeep. after all the steering components were replaced, still plagued. figured what the hell, it would only be a small chunk out of the wallet i would lose if it didnt work. first step, angle finder... bought the shims and some new u bolts, and it's like a whole new jeep

if it were to help all the people also at wits end the key factors other than replacing everything already were the fact that i swapped in a D30 from a 75, it was a mother to control at anything over about 30, and i think the key tipoff is the wheels not returning to center........ if this fits your bill try the shims. it's convinced me to keep the jeep.

 

We got a little caught up in some other projects both on the jeep and the vett.... will have the new mount done in about 2-3 weeks...

glad this thread helped.... i owned this 72 since new, so i went through a lot of 5h1t to get to this point..... got to be out of love.... anyway.. cool!atriot:

 

Would the addition of these shims now create a driveshaft angle situation for the front axle that would cause vibration? Being that the front and rear angles of the front shaft would be different.:?
Rick

 

It does not improve the driveshaft angle, but it's typically not a problem on the front axle. The front axle shaft is quite a lot longer than the rear. plus the front driveshaft only turns with the hubs locked in, thus only having occasional use.

Typically you only need a few additional degrees of tilt, and when it's right, it's back close to the factory spec. The lift will cause a larger angle at both ends, but the only way to deal with that and still have the Jeep driveable is to rotate the knuckles on the tubes.

 

That's good to hear. I was thinking that the typical Jeep wandering I have might be corrected with the shims as well. Just didn't want to introduce another problem.