D30 install

I just mentioned last week when I asked about shims for my D30 that NAPA carries centering bolts.

AFAIK you still need to use the stock spring plates.

 

Shocks in front or behind the axle on the 30? I thought they were different mounts for a D30 on a later Jeep? This is from a long time ago a discussion Lynn had in a previous version of the forum that may no longer exist, if my memory serves me correctly.

 

Mine are both in front on the 27 and on the 30 in my drive.

You move the upper shock mount location to the rear of the axle as well?

 

Eddy, hope my PM explained things...
ECJ5s should have the shock in front of the axle. Starting with the intermediates in '72, the shock was moved behind the axle, The D30 spring plates will not work unless you move the upper shock mount... this likely involves rerouting brake lines.
The D27 plates should work for you, just like they did with the D27 that was in before. These should locate the shock in front of the axle, assuming stock configuration.

As I said in the PM, I'm running JKS B2 skids, but they are designed for '72 up. To use these, they require machining (drill & tap a big hole) to match the upper shock mount on an ECJ5.

 

Eddy I didn't get the batteries last night Batteries and pics tonight for sure!!
Meanwhile, see my pic in Dondo's thread here:
http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28482
This shows my install of the D30 using the D27 spring plates, before I got the JKS skids.

Here's a pic that shows both the upper and lower shock mount (again, the lower is the D27 spring plate). You can see they are configured to fit the shock in front of the axle.

 

Here are some pics of my JKS B2 skid plates. These are 1" thick, nuts are recessed on the bottom so the bottom has no protrusions. All the holes were in the right location, except the lower shock mount. In these pics you can see where the new hole was added for the shock mount stud and the original hole filled with a bolt.
In a couple of these pics you can see the installed 5 degree shim, and my extended bumpstops as well.
Sure looks a bit different from when I did the nice clean install... R)

 

Phalanxx... looks like Eddy covered you on my PM...
I'll post it here for posterity in case anyone else is interested in making JKS skids work on an ECJ5...
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Hey Lynn, what spring mounting plates did you use when you did your D30 swap? Thanks Eddy


Good question Eddy... and there's a long story that goes with the answer
Probably the easiest thing to do is to use the D27 plates. You might have to slot a couple of the holes.

You can't use intermediate plates, because the intermediates have the shock mount behind the axle, while ECJ5s are in front of the axle... which takes me to my story

When I did my swap, I knew I wanted spring skid plates. I did some research, and decided on JKS B2 skids, 1" thick solid steel. Yep, will fit all CJs from 1955 - 1975. I confirmed that with the owner/president of JKS, he assured me these will work, even though I was swapping axles. So the skids arrive, the bolt hole locations are perfect... but the stud for the shock is set up behind the axle So I called JKS, spoke to the boss, asked him if there was a mistake in machining. He got back to me after checking... No, they are all made this way and should fit...
Enter the ECJ5 board guys... where I learned that all ECJ5s have shocks in front of the axle, all intermediates and later have them behind the axle.

JKS wouldn't give me a break... they said send them back... or switch sides, weld up and redrill the ubolt patterns... or move my shocks to the rear; bad idea, would need to relocate brake lines... GRRRRR... I studied them for a bit, took some measurements, then went to a machinist co-worker here at work. The stud for the lower shock mount was a thread-in deal. I gave him the plates, asked him to drill and tap a hole in the front of the plate exactly like the one in the rear. He agreed there was enough room/stock to do it... did it overnight and charged me $10 I stuck a bolt in the rear hole.

JKS now advertises these skids for '72 up. I told him to make them all with 2 holes, one front, one back, so he could cover all the years... I guess he didn't see that as viable.
I like the JKS skids. They are expensive, but are pretty cool if you have a way to drill and tap the big hole required for the lower shock stud.

Perfomance Accessories makes spring skids... I don't know if they have anything designed for an ECJ5 with shocks in front of the axle... I'm running their spring skids on the rear.
HTH, let me know if more questions
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