1984 Jeep CJ 7/Time To Re-Work The Front Suspension

CJM1971

Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2017
Location
Raleigh, NC
Hey all, I have reached out a few times since I purchased this Jeep and the help has been great! I just recently finished dropping in a new 360 into this Jeep and it looks and sounds great. Going with the Flowmaster 50's was the right choice....nice low rumble and the wife isn't showing any signs of embarrasment when I fire it up in the garage. My next focus is the front end, and yes, I know it's an old Jeep, so it will never be great, but I believe it can handle a little better. I can already tell at first glance that the front shackles are both listing to the left if I'm standing in front of the vehicle. My first thought, since they are relatively cheap for this vehicle, replace the front leaf springs. Hopefully I'm on right path with this, but I wanted to reach out to my resident experts and get an opinion as to what my short list of new parts might be to make this a better weekend driver. Please feel free to share any knowledge you may have. A friend suggested taking it to 4 Wheel Parts here in Raleigh since that crew deals with stuff like this day in and day out, but I'm trying trying to lift it or modify it, just make it drive a little better.
 
I did the YJ leaf spring swap on mine and am pleased.

Unless your springs are bent/broke/bad, I would replace the bushings, new shackles and new shocks first and see if it improves.
 
Thanks for the reply, and when you did the swap, did you notice a difference in the play in the steering, and I know that will be there with any older CJ, but the death wobble is what I want to avoid.
 
You might be OK with your current springs. If they are in decent shape, I would keep them, spend some money on heavy duty shackles (no lift, that can mess caster up and cause goofy/scary steering) and poly bushings. Don't overtorque shackle or spring hanger bolts.
Biggest bang for the buck will be a steering brace that ties the steering box over to the passenger side frame rail
Rugged Ridge Heavy-Duty Steering Box Brace - 18021.02

I took mine off for some reason (maintenance, PS box swap maybe), then took it for a spin without...Big difference. Put it back on, no problems.

I also ran a HD steering box bracket, similar to this
Rugged Ridge HD Steering Box Mount - 18003.1
 
As usual.....all great advice, thank you. I might post a pic or two as well, that always helps, maybe someone will have experienced the same thing based on the pic
 
Another vote for YJ spring swap, heavy duty non-lift shackles and steering box brace. I have no issues with 35s with this set-up on my 8.
 
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