CJ that needs some help

[chilidipper]

Just bought my first jeep a 85 CJ7. It has 142k miles. It has a 4" lift on it and 32's. The suspension (leaf springs) is tired and needs an complete overhauling. I looked at some threads on the site and found a few different opinions. Before I start spending moneyt on this I want to have a clear plan of what I want to end up with.
I would like to do agressive trails rides, very light rock crawling. I am pretty hard on equipment and will need a suspension system that will hold up.

As far as cost goes- i do not mind making the investment, but want to make it once if possible.
Question
SOA pro's and Cons?
Reverse Shackles Pro Cons?
Four Link is it worth it?

[NAILER341]

Just bought my first jeep a 85 CJ7. It has 142k miles. It has a 4" lift on it and 32's. The suspension (leaf springs) is tired and needs an complete overhauling. I looked at some threads on the site and found a few different opinions. Before I start spending moneyt on this I want to have a clear plan of what I want to end up with.
I would like to do agressive trails rides, very light rock crawling. I am pretty hard on equipment and will need a suspension system that will hold up.

As far as cost goes- i do not mind making the investment, but want to make it once if possible.
Question
SOA pro's and Cons? [COLOR="DarkRed"]save your money, too much trouble for not too much benefit[/COLOR]
Reverse Shackles Pro Cons? [COLOR="DarkRed"]also not worth the money. causes strange things to happen with your suspension in the rocks[/COLOR].
Four Link is it worth it? [COLOR="DarkRed"]what is "it"? 4 link works great if done correctly, but it does cost. you have to decide what you want to do with your rig, and decide how much money you want to throw at that old jeep to make it do what you want it to do.[/COLOR]

start by wheeling your jeep as it is to see what it can do.
if all you have in mind is "aggressive trail riding" and not much in the way of rocks, you may have just saved yourself a lot of money.

do a ride along with someone to Johnson Valley, and see if this fits into what you want to play on.
if it is... you can skip all the silly stuff and get right into throwing the big bucks at your old pile of a jeep and beef it up

[OU812]

X2! Drive it for a while and see what is working and what is not. People have been driving stock CJs thru the desert for 30+ years. I would bet that your Jeep is already capable of doing %90 of the runs posted here. If you hurry you can still sign up for Roger's Johnson Valley Tour. I will be there. It would be a great place to see what that CJ can do. Also you can see Roger wheel his CJ on 31s.

[Ol Man]

I have had my 85 CJ7 for years. It has 4" lift with 1" body lift for 35" tires. I also have a shackle reversal. I built it a long time ago and I have gotten much more hard core. If you are going to stay mild, I would say continue with the spring under setup. SOA can be fairly expensive and takes a lot to make it right, especially if you can't do all the work yourself.

Now, before I bought my FToy I considered what it would cost to take the CJ to the next level. It is a lot of money to four link and put some decent axles on it. I have a friend right now who is doing that and the costs are significant and he is doing most of the work. A pair of Dynatrack axles with all the good stuff will run around $12-15K.

I would continue to use the Jeep (might put at least 33s on now) and see where you want to go with this whole thing. Once you figure where you are going, then you have axle gears, transfer case gearing, transmission choices, etc. It is not called Just Empty Every Pocket for no reason.

[chilidipper]

All good advice! The springs are 142k miles warn and saggy. it makes her a bit squirrelly in turns.

[Commandoman]

I had an 85 7 years back. If I did anything I would get rid of the carb. They are prone to flooding on step inclines at slow speeds which is when you need throttle control the most. I kept having to double foot the peddles just to keep from stalling. I know there are few high dollar injection set ups out there but I would give Howell a look first. Lastly inspect the axle tubes etc. The model 20 out back is prone to tube rotation if I remember correctly. they're not the strongest set up. But run it anyway. If you bend or break it then go for something with a little more beef. There are tons of lifts out there and they're very affordable. You probably not need much more the a 2.5 to a 4" lift but like everyone says, put some miles on it first and decide later what your needs are.

http://howellefi.com/customer/produc...cat=280&page=1

[dirtman13]

All good advise. I would replace the springs with a new set and run it for a while to see if any of that stuff is actually needed. I'm running RE 4.5" YJ springs and I'm happy with them (for now).

As for your AMC20. I'm still running mine and have abused the $#!t out of it. Weld the tubes to the pumkin housing and put in some one piece axles and it will work fine.

[kdoubleu105]

ya as far as the carb goes ditch it, i put a howell kit on my 79 cj with the 258 love it insane how much better it realy is