spring over axle

what are some pros and cons?
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I think you can do the best with a well thought out spring-under lift. Just my 2 cents. I've ridden in one spring over jeep that was not well thought out and it was one heck of a strange, bordering on scary, ride.

 

just getting started with jeeps. allways had fullsize chevys and fords. I definitely appreciate all input. thanks
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I have a SOA, done before I bought the Jeep. Personally, I like the looks of it. Seems more trailworthy that way but that doesn't mean SUA aren't!!!!

One con is it drastically raises the center of gravity.

 

I'm soa.

If you are looking at SOA for a cheap easy lift, look elsewhere. It takes alot of planning and careful building (or rebuilding) to get it right. in the end, it ended up costing me as much as a lift kit, and took 3x as long to install. There are alot of writeups on the internet, read a few of em.

Its advantages are that it flexes really well off road, and saying that you did your own soa gets you respect from other jeep guys.

the street manners are not as good though. If i drove my jeep on the street more, I'd probably go to a good sua lift, but for the tiny amount of street this jeep sees ( < 20 mi/yr) i'm fine.

If i were doing it again, I'd probably still go soa unless i planned on more street driving.

 

I have heard one downfall to the SOA is that the springs will sag more after use vs. those in a SUA application. But I have seen springs sag in both cases with heavy usage. I agree with the DR. on this, a well thought out SOA will give you excellent results with little trouble. Be sure to flip/replace the spring centering pin in the process.

 

There is more to a soa than just putting the springs on top of the housings. There are steering issues, spring wrap issues, driveline angle issues on a short wheel base, etc.
SOA can be a good way to go but it's a lot more work and time than most people think to do it and make it safe. Generally more expensive in the long run too. Remember, Chev's, etc were designed that way with all these things in mind by engineers.