Springs: Which Springs Provide The Softest, Most Forgiving Ride?

1970 CJ5 - I need to find the softest most forgiving ride I can for this CJ. Right now it is lifted and I need to solve that. For trails, I'd be willing to increase the ride height a bit, 1-2" if I had too. Are the stock 860 pound springs the way to go or, should I have Deaver racing or someone else make springs. I am interested in any opinions you folks can muster.

 

There will always be a trade-off between body roll and spring stiffness. You can go very soft, but the Jeep probably will be undriveable on the street. With the springs as far inboard as they are, they need to be stiff to control body roll. The more height, the more roll... so increasing the ride height seems like the wrong approach. My advice - just don't have unrealistic expectations. I have the BDS 2.5" kit, and for me, with nice soft radial tires, the ride is fine ... for a Jeep.

 

I agree with timgr, I have the YJ conversion from RR and have 6" BDS spring under and the ride is great, even going down the street. It performs really well off road too.
Just my .02.

 

I have some 11 leaf 2.5 inch lift springs of some sort and they ride like an empty dump truck. It's pretty harsh. I've been debating YJ springs or coil conversion

 

love my bds

 

Question if one is using a Dana 30 front axle on a 1971 CJ5 do you get the BDS kit for 72-75 or 69-71?

 

You will need the 69-71 springs but the ubolts and front spring plates for 72-75. The 30 has a larger axle tube od than the 27.

 

And another very happy owner with the 2.5" BDS suspension. Running 23575R15 tires.

 

A longer, wider, flatter spring is better........but where do you put it in a short wheelbase vehicle? Coil over shocks will allow the best tune-ability overall but in either case leafs or coil , a tune-able sway bar needs to be added to control body roll while on pavement..........weighing each corner of the vehicle and having custom springs made is a step in the right direction.............but , everything is still a compromise.........one guy loves this spring the next guy this spring but as always there is no two vehicles and driving styles that are alike..............suspension and getting that perfect ride are only limited by how much time & money you are willing to invest to get there.

 

I used custom built springs 4" lift from Alcan Springs for my 82 CJ5 I liked them. Road way better than the Rancho I had on at first. The set cost me $659 several years ago.

 

I'm running 5 inch lift with all corner coil spring. I run wide track axle. But with a sway bar it ride very well and i don't have any more body roll than stock CJ5

 

I run 4" lift wrangler springs on my CJ2a with NT d30 up front and a FF D44 in the rear. It rides on 35" tires. The springs have high arch and are stiff. The body roll is not bad at all. It rides like a jeep, not a car. To do it again, I would almost certainly go coil up front and flat wrangler SOA in the rear.

 

YJ Old Man Emu Conversion is the best leaf spring setup for CJ's.

 

I'm replaced my rough country springs on my 73 CJ5 with SkyJacker SoftRides. God it rides nice now and didn't cost me an arm and a leg... rode like a turnip truck before. I highway commute now at 65mph and it's really nice.
-Troy

 

I have the BDS springs as well and they ride great.

 

In the past I've had very good luck with custom packs. Atlas Suspension (atlassuspension.com) is heavily involved with 4x's and offroading and probably with a few minutes of talking can help with springs (progressive or mini packs) that "soften" the ride" but will have the backbone for safety in corners.

 

A few different ideas:
First, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Holbrook LongLeaves. They require moving spring hangers, but not really a big deal. Great articulation, 3" of lift and a soft ride.
On my last jeep I put the longer rear-end early cj5 springs in the front and reversed the front shackles. I used McCoy 1" springs, SPOA front and rear. It flexed great and had a soft ride for about 5.5-6 inches of lift. The SPOA took a bit of simple engineering and fabrication to set up correctly but the articulation was a game changer and I discovered that obstacles I had to negotiate around before I could just drive over with the added height and flex. I'd consider doing it again. Some folks use the RS9000 adjustable shocks to try and stiffen up a soft ride for the highway.

 

That's a great spring package......have used them myself in the past and do work quite well off road........w/ a hard top or high center of gravity vehicles on the street a sway bar w/ disconnects calms down that roll........Although moving spring perches is not that big of deal , for some that is a daunting task and perhaps why most venture towards a direct bolt in replacement.

 

There are so many options, but remember op primarily wants the softest ride and to go toward stock height (or, at most 1-2").
I'be been around plenty of lifted jeeps and can sympathize with the desire to drop height and soften ride. This even though I'm close to 6'2", and 60 years young...