cg45acp
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2009
- Location
- kernersville
just aquired a mid 70's stock cj5 with 304. I would like to start this project as cheap as possible. what do you think i should to start on first? Oh, by the way i would love to have 35's.
CJ5 project
- Thread starter cg45acp
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2005
- Location
- Stokesdale-Greensboro
1976 is the first year for the last generation CJ-5....how mid 70's are you talking? Welcome to the Jeep thing
Go over the frame and look for rust, address that first. Then I'd make sure the steering is tight, brakes good, etc. MAke sure your base Jeep is good before throwing all sorts of mods on.
For 35's, you'll probably want 4.10s in the axles. Early-mid 70s have Dana 44 axles, maybe a D30 up front...76+ should only be AMC20 rear, D30 front. Changing gears is the best time for lockers and axleshaft upgrades, if your wallet can take that hit all at once. Being a mid 70's CJ, you probably have 3.55 gears, thats not gonna be good with 35s, might be OK with 33s.
Being a CJ-5, you won't want to lift it too much...you'll need 4" springs to fit 35s. Are you planning on wheeling the snot out of it, trailering it, or more of a mallcrawler with weekend trail duty?
Go over the frame and look for rust, address that first. Then I'd make sure the steering is tight, brakes good, etc. MAke sure your base Jeep is good before throwing all sorts of mods on.
For 35's, you'll probably want 4.10s in the axles. Early-mid 70s have Dana 44 axles, maybe a D30 up front...76+ should only be AMC20 rear, D30 front. Changing gears is the best time for lockers and axleshaft upgrades, if your wallet can take that hit all at once. Being a mid 70's CJ, you probably have 3.55 gears, thats not gonna be good with 35s, might be OK with 33s.
Being a CJ-5, you won't want to lift it too much...you'll need 4" springs to fit 35s. Are you planning on wheeling the snot out of it, trailering it, or more of a mallcrawler with weekend trail duty?
lockedup5
overcompensating underachiever
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2008
- Location
- Burke County (Hildebran)
First start by posting it for sale in the for sale section and then go the vehicle for sale section and buy something already built or mostly built. Unless you have deep pockets, plenty of time, tools, and know how I say go for it. I built my CJ-5 pretty much from scratch and it's been alot of fun. Lot's of people will say the wheel base is too short but I've put mine alot of places that long and wide won't go.
As far as building it to wheel mine had 4'' lift and 35's and also a 360 that ran good (on flat ground) then I added in this order:
-stock amc 20/d30 3.54 w/ arb lockers already installed
-home brew air compressor for lockers and air tools
-CB radio
-Hi-lift
-8274 warn winch/home brew winch plate
-T-18 four speed/20 case
-Beadlock wheels
-Home brew beefy/longer spring shackles
-home built rock sliders
-1-1/2'' wheel spacers
-Home brew diff protectors
-full cage
-propane
-hand throttle
-Alloy USA solid axles in rear
-on-board welder
-Hydro assist steering
These are the things I can think of right now. I did some things kinda out of order but I really wasn't planning on getting into wheeling like I have. Things kinda just snowballed after my first trip to Mt. City. Short of trussing the amc 20 and installing alloy front axles I've built mine all I'm going to. I've got two boys growing up and I need a four seater in the next 1-2 years. Ask anyone I wheel w/ they'll tell you I beat the snot out of my 5. Some are amazed I don't break more than I do. I've been wheeling 2 1/2 years and have only had one wasted trip due to breakage and that was a wiring issue. If you want advice on things I've done or not done or things I shouldn't have done just PM me and we'll talk.
As far as building it to wheel mine had 4'' lift and 35's and also a 360 that ran good (on flat ground) then I added in this order:
-stock amc 20/d30 3.54 w/ arb lockers already installed
-home brew air compressor for lockers and air tools
-CB radio
-Hi-lift
-8274 warn winch/home brew winch plate
-T-18 four speed/20 case
-Beadlock wheels
-Home brew beefy/longer spring shackles
-home built rock sliders
-1-1/2'' wheel spacers
-Home brew diff protectors
-full cage
-propane
-hand throttle
-Alloy USA solid axles in rear
-on-board welder
-Hydro assist steering
These are the things I can think of right now. I did some things kinda out of order but I really wasn't planning on getting into wheeling like I have. Things kinda just snowballed after my first trip to Mt. City. Short of trussing the amc 20 and installing alloy front axles I've built mine all I'm going to. I've got two boys growing up and I need a four seater in the next 1-2 years. Ask anyone I wheel w/ they'll tell you I beat the snot out of my 5. Some are amazed I don't break more than I do. I've been wheeling 2 1/2 years and have only had one wasted trip due to breakage and that was a wiring issue. If you want advice on things I've done or not done or things I shouldn't have done just PM me and we'll talk.
mmcj7
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
- Location
- yadkinville
Welcome to the cj family. Figure out what you want this jeep to do for you. I'm not a fan of the cj5 but its only because of my size I owned several and the all were fun to drive and wheel, but the cj7 works better for me. Year model is important because from 1970-1975 are pretty much the same parts and from 1976-1986 Cj5 & cj7 are the same except for the wheel base being about 11"longer on the cj7. I'm running 35's on my cj7 with a 3" body lift(that I'm not a fan of) and a 2"spring lift on the stock 3.54 gearing. It killed my gas mileage when I went to the 35's and I could tell a big differance in the horsepower to the ground.
The price of gearing and axle shafts can be scary unless you have deep pockets but look around the for sale section guys are always going to full size axles after up grading their amc20 & D30. I bought a complete axle set with 4.10 gears,lockers and 1pc shafts for $300. There is tons of cj info on this site and build threads so sratch around a bit. Good luck
The price of gearing and axle shafts can be scary unless you have deep pockets but look around the for sale section guys are always going to full size axles after up grading their amc20 & D30. I bought a complete axle set with 4.10 gears,lockers and 1pc shafts for $300. There is tons of cj info on this site and build threads so sratch around a bit. Good luck
Schardein
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2010
- Location
- Camp Lejeune, NC
There is a HUGE difference in mods required/handling/performance between 33" and 35" tires on a CJ.
If you have the time/money/know how, have a lot of experience wheeling, and know you want 35s, you may want to plan the build with that in mind. If not, you may want to plan for 33s and see how you like that.
For example, my CJ7 with a 2.5" Rancho spring lift would fit 32x11.50s with no rub and work great off road. When I put on swaybar disconnects, all that did was let the front tires bend the front fenders at full stuff.
Adding poison spyder front tube fenders and slightly longer shackles gave me enough room for 33s.
Cutting the rear fender opening for TJ flares, adding one inch body lift, gave me room for 35s. But lets not forget the front and rear dana 44s with 4.56s, new steering box mount, new steering linkage, brake system mods, new dual diaphragm booster, longer lines, bumpstop work, u-bolt/spring plate mods, etc to handle the 35s. Still, my handling, performance, and mileage all suffered with 35s. My Jeep is a daily driver, and I have a set of 33" all terrains that I run on the street, and 35" BFG muds I run off road, so I've done numerous back to back comparisions. There is a big difference. If you plan on trailering it, then don't worry about it. For a daily driver, you will probably be happier with 33s.
My personal opinion is stock CJ axles are good to 33s, above that require upgrades. A lot of this depends on how you drive though.
As someone else mentioned, 1972-1975 CJ-5s are almost completely different than 1976-1983.
As far as lift, sure you could go with a 4" spring lift, but ride and flex will suck.
Spring over axle is the other option, and will be more work/more money than just going the small spring lift/small shackle lift/small body lift to get clearance for the tire you want to run.
If you have the time/money/know how, have a lot of experience wheeling, and know you want 35s, you may want to plan the build with that in mind. If not, you may want to plan for 33s and see how you like that.
For example, my CJ7 with a 2.5" Rancho spring lift would fit 32x11.50s with no rub and work great off road. When I put on swaybar disconnects, all that did was let the front tires bend the front fenders at full stuff.
Adding poison spyder front tube fenders and slightly longer shackles gave me enough room for 33s.
Cutting the rear fender opening for TJ flares, adding one inch body lift, gave me room for 35s. But lets not forget the front and rear dana 44s with 4.56s, new steering box mount, new steering linkage, brake system mods, new dual diaphragm booster, longer lines, bumpstop work, u-bolt/spring plate mods, etc to handle the 35s. Still, my handling, performance, and mileage all suffered with 35s. My Jeep is a daily driver, and I have a set of 33" all terrains that I run on the street, and 35" BFG muds I run off road, so I've done numerous back to back comparisions. There is a big difference. If you plan on trailering it, then don't worry about it. For a daily driver, you will probably be happier with 33s.
My personal opinion is stock CJ axles are good to 33s, above that require upgrades. A lot of this depends on how you drive though.
As someone else mentioned, 1972-1975 CJ-5s are almost completely different than 1976-1983.
As far as lift, sure you could go with a 4" spring lift, but ride and flex will suck.
Spring over axle is the other option, and will be more work/more money than just going the small spring lift/small shackle lift/small body lift to get clearance for the tire you want to run.