New Springs

Great. Looks like a good set up. Did you have to do anything special to make shackles fit or go on?

 

I appear to be missing something. To my knowledge, BDS does not make flatty length springs. To use BDS CJ springs on a flatty frame, you will have to reposition (welding required) both the spring and shackle hangers on the frame. You may even need to make a new rear cross member to give you enough "meat" to mount the rear shackle hangers and the front shackle hangers will be partially on the bumper. This is more work than the Holbrooks required as you only needed to move the spring hangers with those.

 

Maybe these?
2.5" Lift Kit | 1953-1968 Jeep CJ Series CJ5, CJ6, M38A1 | 402H | BDS Suspension

 

To state the obvious, those are CJ5/6 springs and will require the modifications of my above post to use with your flatty frame. The available off-the-shelf spring selection for flattys is much more limited than for the later CJ's.

 

Meh. Sounds like too much work to be worth it. I guess I’ll go with stock springs. Thanks for the info.

 

No modifications at all to make the shackles work. They’re built for the early CJs with the 1-3/4” wide springs. I think you can still find the Con-Ferrs used or NOS occasionally on eBay.

 

Hello Bob - nice Jeep. Do you have any tire rub with that setup?

 

Hi Matt,

Honestly, I’m not sure. I haven’t been able to take it out on the trail yet with the new springs. I would guess there might still be some rubbing on the rear inner fenderwells.

 

Not all those Con-Fer shackles were well made. I bought a set in the early 70's and they were basically trapezoidal. The bolts were parallel but there was a good 1/4" offset from one end to the other. I just ended up making my own and they are still on my 3B almost 50 years later, only slightly modified from their original construction due to using larger diameter bolts and needing a bit more clearance for my front shackle hangers.

 

Great looking rig. I just bought a 66 CJ5a and going to install a 2 1/2 lift as well. I was going to go with Rough Country, but after this thread I think I might be going with BDS’ lift. Do I see a steering stabilizer underneath? Mine doesn’t have a stabilizer and still has the Ross steering box.

 

Yeah, it does have a steering stabilizer on it. It also has manual Saginaw steering.

 

I did the skyjacker softride 2.5 on my 66 and I I like it. Kind of wish I had gone a bit taller but the ride quality is much better.

 

I just posted a link to flatty springs in classified. Not mine just FYI.