Can I take a leaf out myself?

Yea what -----^ he said,
As you may know I'm trying to get my CJ5 to have a smoother ride. I don't know if its my tires or what but it seems my *** end is a lil' lower than my front end so I was thinking of removing two leafs from the front springs and only one leaf from the back. I'd hate to have to take these suckas into some spring shop that would charge me an arm n a leg. It can't be that hard is it? Also you suppose I should throw some grease in between each leaf or anything? Okay again thanks a ton.
CH

 

You can remove the short leaf(ves) and noticably soften your ride. But, removing too many of your shorter springs will result in dipping, therefore an unsafe driving condition. (Better alive, than comfortable!) Your rear end being lower than your front is one of those *mystical* situations that just happens with vintage jeeps. New springs usually correct the problem. I would NOT suggest you getting a respringing job done, since metal fatigue can seldom be reversed - actually never.

BTW...I hadn't had an opportunity to welcome you. So, welcome from the Upstate of South Carolina! This is a great forum, with a lot of good information and good people. In fact it's almost like a family gathering. You'll find that everyone is considerate of others and enjoys even the casual conversation and friendly *ribbing* that occurs from time to time. Additionally, that *consideration* encompasses our choices of topic content and language expression. Just as a reminder...we try (and I must admit the operative term is *try*) to keep our topics and language clean and appropriate.

Again, welcome and I hope you grow to love this place like I have!

 

Ok thanks,
No my springs are way too stiff, I think this 4x4 place sold me truck springs or something. So I guess I'll remove a couple "short leafs" from the front and only one short one from the back. And I'll add the Rancho 9000's... that should take care of it. Oh ya and throw on some new ProComp MT's. Thanks for your reply
CH

 

Hello CH -
Which springs do you have? '74 CJs came with either standard (5 leaves) or heavy duty (10 or 11 leaves - don't recall exactly) suspension. IMO the HD springs do not have an objectionable ride... as long as you have a nice, soft tire and don't run too much air pressure.

In this case, you can't have it all, at least with the stock spring placement and chassis design. The stiff springs give you more lift, but they also control body roll. A soft, tall spring, mounted far inboard as on your Jeep, would increase the possibility of rollover on the street, especially with wide tires.

What are you unhappy with - bump stiffness or rattling your fillings out, or what? Tires with flexible sidewalls will remove a lot of the harshness. Plus, Jeeps are pretty light, and you don't need much air pressure on the street. Sparky (?) suggested looking at the tire wear pattern to determine the proper inflation - maybe he will comment here. You can go to the 5-leaf springs, but you may not be happy with the ride height. Other, more drastic steps are possible, such softer springs combined with outboarding the rear springs, or maybe wider axles. Better seats are another possibility; that topic has been discussed a lot. I had some Bostroms and liked them a lot, but they are both expensive and not widely available.

hth

 

I dropped my pressure down to 20 lbs for the street to soften up the ride in my CJ5 Rough Country 2.5 Lift Kit. The way I do my pressure is to park on flat smooth concrete take two letter envelopes to use as indicaters and lower the pressure till all 4 tires make the same foot print on the concrete. You can slide the envelopes into the tread to see if they are the same since weight will make a difference on how much you need in front or rear. Some 4X4s I have done in the past have had 5+ psi difference between the front and rear due to engine weight. I have ballanced tires this way to correct over and under steer to allow me to 4 wheel slide instead of fish tailing or front end drift. You can check all 4 sides of the tread for contact and know for sure if they are equil and sitting the same in the foot print of the tire. Worked for me. Mark

 

You can buy a new spring center bolt. We had them at the Jeep dealer - should be able to get them elsewhere. Use the new bolt to draw up the leaves, then cut off the excess with a hack saw. You should be able to buy new spring clips too.

You can grease the leaves, but I've read that oil/grease will affect the temper of the steel (yes, it sounds wierd, but it was a spring manufacturer that claimed this). The mechanics at the Jeep dealer used to squirt the spring packs with a mix of motor oil and solvent to stop squeeks. You can put plastic shims between the leaves to stop squeeks and make them slide better. These are available commercially, but you could probably make them.

 

Ok cool thanks again,
Have a look at these pics ... maybe you can spot something grossly wrong with how I put this together ROFL
CrossHair
http://www.wideopenwest.com/~kpasque/sideview.JPG http://www.wideopenwest.com/~kpasque/frontview.JPG http://www.wideopenwest.com/~kpasque/rearleft.JPG
http://www.wideopenwest.com/~kpasque/frontleftspring.JPG <----(this pic shows how colorful my "rust-paint" came out"
http://www.wideopenwest.com/~kpasque/motor.JPG
http://www.wideopenwest.com/~kpasque/rearleftspring.JPG

 

Looks fine to me. The conventional wisdom says to always use new u-bolts (though I've broken that rule in the past, with no obvious consequences). I'd chop the ends off of the u-bolts so I didn't smash them on a rock later.

 

I installed a 2.5 " lift on my 64 and had a very stiff ride. I removed the smallest (bottom spring) and it made a huge difference in ride quality.

 

Try different shocks before you remove a spring. I changed to rs9000s and it made a big difference.

Karl

 

Yea I pick up my Rancho 9000's tomorrow, Damn they expensive!! Hope it works
CH

 

I wish I could go "gonzo" with this jeep and off-road but its mainly for driving around the city. In the condition its in now I'm sure I'd break down in the middle of bum$#$egypt. Its just this long trip to Minnesota that worries me. I'm trying to make it a dependable smooth ride; I pick my Rancho's up today. And we'll see how they help but next I'lll get new ProComp or BFG MT's. I have to do whatever it takes to make this more dependable and looking better. I have roughly a month to smooth out the wrinkles, you know I'll show progress.
Thanks Lynn,
CrossHair

 

The center spring pins are available at NAPA in a couple of diameters and lengths. This gives you the nub that centers the spring pack into the axle seats.

 

Update for ya, today the old pearl jeep is at the spring shop. I had already put on new Rancho 9000's a couple days ago to no avail. I mean my springs are so stiff that a new shock absorber won't do any good. But just found out the spring shop told me that the rear springs are okay , its the fronts that are all screwed up (too stiff that is). Uh, the jeep sits a lil too high in the front so they say they'll take a leaf out; should feel a whole lot better. http://www.wideopenwest.com/~kpasque/sideview.JPG
And they're putting on these new Pro Comp MT's. Thats about it for now... but its coming along and I'll post a lil pic for your amusement. But again plz do not look too closely at the pic you may get rust in your eyes.
CH

 

Make sure the bolts on the shackels are not overly tight and binding on the spring and/or perch.