Removing A Suspension Lift

As part of getting my steering problems sorted out, I want to remove the lift that was put on my new to me 63-66 cj5.

I’m new to the Cj thing. Can I just swap the old shackles back in? Also it looks like they put spacers under the transfer case mount as seen in the photos. Remove those also?

Thanks for the help.

 

Yes you can swap back the original style shackles. They are available aftermarket, either in the original silent block style or greasable. The springs look fine to me. If this were mine, after replacing the shackles, I would go to my local tire shop and get an alignment. They can only center the steering and set the toe-in easily; however, you want the printout from the alignment machine. That will tell you what the caster is. The caster and camber are welded-in to the front axle housing, being determined by the orientation of the knuckles wrt to the spring pads. Then I would correct the caster as needed using steel caster shims.

Some spacers are factory, some are added. One reason to add them is to reduce the rear driveshaft angle by lowering the transfer case. It would be worthwhile to evaluate the drive shaft angle first, and that's going to change if you replace the long shackles.

 

The spacers on the cross member are stock on a '67 with a V6. Without them, there may be clearance issues with the front driveshaft and the starter.

 

Note that worn-out king pin bearings (and - less likely - a broken front axle housing) will severely mess up the suspension geometry. If you are going to go through the knuckles (I would), do it before you check the alignment.

 

I don't want to hijack the thread but I'm faced with the same job in the near future and was going to start a thread as to the aspect of tie rods but maybe this will be of help to the OP. My question is when I look at the left and right tie rods in relation to the bell crank it would seem as though those tie rods would have had to been adjusted out to compensate for the longer distance created by the lift, If this is true should the tie rods be disconnected from each side before lowering it back to the stock height and then readjusted accordingly once the jeep sits fully weighted on the new lower shackles?

 

I’m planning on replacing the tie rods and bell crank and rebuilding the drag link and steering box because everything moves so much when you push/pull it. The steering wheel moves a good 6-8” and it wanders so badly its undrivable. Then I can have it aligned.

 

What about the knuckles?

 

Yes, ride height will change the toe-in. A popular upgrade is to replace the 2-piece tie rod with a 1-piece and either a Jeepster tie rod end that has a hole for the center link, or a 2-hole right knuckle from a Wagoneer/J-truck. The change in toe-in with ride height also has an effect on the road called "bump steer."

 

Looks like the bushing on the left front spring is wore completely out.

 

I’ll check them out, trying to make it drivable so I can plow my driveway this winter. More substantial work will have to wait for spring.