Suspension TOO Stiff

Is it possible to be too stiff?? Seems the CJ5 I just bought is by far a much more stiffer ride than any other jeeps I've owned......

 

well, the earky cj5 has 1.75" wide leaf springs and some, like my jeep, have the HD spring packs with 10-ish leaves. they are bound to ride hard with that set up. if you want to soften up the ride there are 4 places to lokk for changes.

1. Install new, softer springs possibly with a lift kit, or do a wrangler spring coversion.
2. remove one or two leaves from your existing spring packs.
3. install new shocks
4. lower tire pressure

The short wheelbase dosent help either.

of course your CJ appears to have many modifications, so who knows what you have going on there.

 

Thanks..........I was considering new shocks.......

Yeh........that is certainly another issue........I'm still tinkering with everything that the previous owner did to it.

 

Check the shackles also, if they are to tight it won't flex.

 

another thing that will cause a stiff ride is a frozen up shock, had this happen to me, and yes you can have too stiff of a suspension, it wont let the jeep flex when it needs to, my A1 rides like a tank but it was suposed to, military used these jeeps to carry alot more weight than the civi mine is getting newer springs, and my back will be getting a softer ride

 

Don't have any idea.........no name is on the shock.....

I'll take some measurements and check things out.....I was told they are new......

 

My 64 CJ-6 had 7 leaf springs in the front and 9 leaf in the back. Yes, it was stiff ride but I understood that the suspension was standard. Heavy duty would have as many as 13 leaves.

 

Shackle angle can have an effect on ride as well. If they are vertical it will make it ride rough.

 

When it comes to shocks I just put on a good grade of "Cheap" gas shock. I just use the specs from the FSM and find one that fits. It works for me. Another but not cheap way to soften the ride is Holbrook springs http://www.holbrookspecialties.com/ excellent results.

 

I checked the tire pressure and it had 60 psi.....they are Michelin X 38"s.........so I dropped it back to 40 psi.......and it made a big difference......

I believe the shocks are Pro Comp......they have been painted.

Front shock


Rear

 

I am going to go out on a limb here, Members please chime in if I am way off track (-:

I am looking at the pic of your rear axle, it looks like some leaves have been removed from the semi elliptical spring pack, This is causing the spring to flex beyond its design intent thereby changing the dynamics of how the spring flexes with a load.

As shown in the pic, When the spring flexes under load it will actually get shorter as opposed to longer, When flexed in this way the spring will pull the bottom of the shackle inwards.......actually lifting the vehicle. This would have the same effect as having the shackles rotated back under the vehicle past vertical on a full spring pack. Spring packs set up to flex this way ( that I have seen ) do not use a shackle set up but rather a slide on the free end.

I cant see the rear shackle set up in the pic so with regard to the above comments I am assuming the stock one was used.

If so I think this could be the root cause of your rough ride. If you drop that in a hole hard something will have to give........

 

I agree with the above( from the front pic what does the other shock do?)to ditribute the load on the bolt a little you could weld another plate to sandwich the shock.heyand maybe drop to a max of 30psi.and just curious what does your rear pinion angle look like???

 

1st thing 40 PSI is still to much in a light weight Jeep.
I only 20 PSI with 33"s on a YJ. I had a cj5 on 33 and only ran 12 psi. Take a piece of cahlk and draw a line across the tread blocks drive a straight line for 10'. Check the chalk, if it's only rubbed off in the center still to much PSI let some air out and try again toill it is off across the tire.

2nd the spring pack on the rear looks like it's reverse arched, could be a photo trick.
If it is the spring is worn out. It would have a goofy effect on the handling etc.

3rd Those look to be full size truck axles.

 

Looking at those springs reminds me of the reverse arch ones that Chevy used on the front of their 74 and up 4 WD trucks.

 

it looks as if the shock in the first pic is attached to the steering arm on the gm dana 44 axle you have I guess it acts like a steering stabilzer thoses shocks look to be just monroe truck shocks I agree with the post before this , it looks like your front and rear springs are off a 73 to 87 chevy truck .These would be front springs with a negative arch. It looks as though they have add a leaves to those springs and if I remember correctly these ride pretty stiff on a 1/2 ton truck so they will make your jeep ride rough. Your Jeep looks like it was set up for rockcrawling your front spring set up looks to be 3/4 elliptic. Post some more pics if you can.

 

I was told the axles came from an 85 Dodge........they were
-Dana 44 -8lug(4.11Ratio)
-Dana 60-8lug(4.11 Ratio)

I was also told the leaf springs looked worn out and would need to be replaced......

I'll get some more pics later......

Thanks for the help!!!

 

Suspension too stiff? just think how it is in a 1 Ton Truck. 10 leaf heavy duty 3/4 ton rated front springs, and 11 leaf, heavy duty 1 Ton for the rear. the tires bounce more than the suspension moves...


DOAH! >>>>> Such a BAD idea...