lifting a CJ-5

anyone here ever lift a cj-5 to have more than 38 inch tires if so i was wonder how you did the drive shaft angle for the rear sine the gap for the drive shaft is so small?? :twisted:

 

custom drive shaft is what you might need along with axle shims to get the angle right again. you can do a body lift as well as a suspension but be carefull not to go to much on the body lift as this moves the radiator away from the fan and gets scary on a 5 cuz of the center of gravity is higher with such a short wheel base

 

Opinions on this might vary, but I'd say you shouldn't put tires nearly that big on the stock width axles and the stock wheelbase, that would be way too tippy. Since you're already going to need bigger axles to handle the tires, you can go to wider ones then. And if you stretch the wheelbase, you get all the driveshaft length you need. You're going to need a new driveshaft with a CV joint in the rear at least, and maybe the front too.

 

61CJ5 is exactly right. If you do this with stock axles, track width, and wheelbase (it is doable) you will end up with a very cute but useless jeep. What you are wanting to do will require a totally custom frame and suspesion to be safe, strong, and reliable. Please don't destroy another vintage cj5.

JB

 

well 181 i dont plan on destroying it cause im positive its not gunna be destroyed im looking at it as a child its my baby and ill be sure to let you know when im done to prove it to you thanx

 

We put a set of 38's on a project M38A1 I have, just to use as shop tires so we could roll it around. It looked kind of like a mini Bigfoot - just like 181 says - "cute but useless". It definitely didn't look safe. BTW -we've since decided the Jeep is more suitable as a parts donor than for restoration.

 

IMO anything over a 35 is a waste.. and heck 35 is pushing it.. I went with 34's but they measure to a 33...


BUBBA

 

IMHO anything larger than 33's doesn't really give you any more trail capability. In fact it will usualy give you less trailability. The only thing 38s would be good for is deep mud and thats it. I have a buddy that had a cj-7 with 38s on it and my cj-7 with 35" tire could go more places than he could. In fact I didn't see any more trail capability when I went from 33s to a 35s.

 

I say build what you will be happy with.

I am running 35's. 38's would have probably let me get out of this without a winch. It all boils down to what you want. My Cj was built to run 35s. The lift and axle gear selection were based on that tire size.

 

It depends what you want to do with the jeep. If you do lots of rock crawling or mud then the bigger tires make a difference. For just the average trail riding, it doesn't matter as much. It's a whole lot of extra effort and money to get those tires to work though, so you have to decide if it's worth it or not.

FWIW, if I were to do it over again, I would sell my jeep complete, because all of the parts are worth money that way. I'd find just a body to buy, and start with that, because that's all I really used anyways.

 

well mud is what im building her for and hopefully some trails if i made it wider and longate the wheelbase i think itll be good and with a bigger engine itll be running like a dream and hopefully still be able to be street legal all i know is that its gunna be a long time for it to be ready my dream right now is just to get it running on 33's