Suspension Upgrades |
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WildWilly48
Member Joined: 23 June 2018 Location: Windsor, CA Status: Offline Points: 16 |
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Posted: 30 Sep. 2019 at 3:48am |
I have a 48 CJ2A and I was wondering what resources are out there for mods to the suspension in regards to switching from leaf springs to coils for more flex while off road/crawling. Im open to any and all suggestions since I have been able to find no info online for anything like this that's been done, but I'm sure its out there somewhere. As of now I have some basic NAPA shocks and 2" Superlift leaf springs which are stiff as hell. Thanks.
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tamnalan
Member Joined: 08 Oct. 2013 Location: Port Orford, OR Status: Offline Points: 989 |
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I can't speak for the coils other than to say that for these cj2as, I've only seen that modification done as part of a complete handbuilt frame. Another idea might be to try to graft your cj2a body on a later factory chassis that already has coils.
Guys in this forum have very good success with leaf springs - check out jpet's Bam Bam! Jpet has done a lot of experimenting with custom leaf springs that he has a shop build for him. Simply removing a few leaves might help. I just bought a cj-5 rolling chassis with Rancho 5-leaf springs. I'm going to remove the two smallest leaves on each spring to soften them up, and put a cj-3a body on the chassis.
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Alan Johnson
1942 MB - "TBD" 1943 MB - "Lt Bob" 1950 cj3a M-100 x2 teardrop camper: https://forums.g503.com/viewtopic.php?f=141&t=201740 |
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merc_man
Member Joined: 22 Aug. 2010 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 44 |
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Do spring overs not work on these? I have seen it done on scouts but never seen a 2a.
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1947 CJ2a |
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nofender
Member Sponsor Member x 3 Joined: 10 May 2016 Location: Maryland Status: Offline Points: 2035 |
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Sure. they can work on a 2A. But it's neither easy or cheap to do correctly. The only way to really do it right is to build around a custom designed leaf pack. If you use the springs you have you could end up with 5 or 6 inches of lift, which in my opinion is way too much for an 80 inch wheelbase - unless of course you go to a wider axle. But that another whole can of worms. In fact a spring over will lead you down a general rabbit hole of steering mods, driveshaft mods, etc, etc. When done right its great. When done wrong its a dangerous misery. As for coils - I think the biggest challenge is packaging. With such a narrow axle with, there is little room to fit a coil. As mentioned the coils could require a custom frame or wiser axles to fit everything. I've towed around with the idea of coilovers. Much easier to package, and I think it would be pretty cool too have tuned coilovers on a relatively stock flatty.
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46 CJ2a rockcrawler
46 CJ2a - 26819 46 Bantam T3c "4366" 47 Bantam T3C - 11800 68-ish CJ5 |
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m38mike
Member Joined: 23 Apr. 2007 Location: Colorado High Country Status: Offline Points: 3796 |
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Wildwilly48, You might try removing one or two leaves from your Superlift spring packs to see if that gives you the flex and softness you're looking for. Besides the fact that it's a "no-cost" option, it keeps the appearance and road performance of the Jeep close to stock. If you have 4 springs take out the 3rd leaf. If you have 5 then take out 3 and 5. Keep 1 and 2 so the spring pack can carry the weight of the Jeep when you're standing on that corner on a steep slope. One caution to be aware of is that if the springs get too soft then the Jeep will lean a lot more when going around corners at higher speeds. Could lead to a roll over. That's not good.
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M38Mike
46 CJ2A SAMCJ2A 4?-5? CJ2A/3A/M38 Jigsaw 51 M38 Green Jeanne 52 M38 Blue Mule, 51 M100 Blue Mule Tale 52 XM38EV1 Electro-Willys, 52 M100 Juice Box |
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52 M38
Member Joined: 26 Nov. 2012 Location: New England Status: Offline Points: 1286 |
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What about Holbrookâs?
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Y2GREY
Member Joined: 14 May 2012 Location: Fayetteville NY Status: Offline Points: 98 |
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Hollbrooks are a great option if you can locate them. It all depends what you are after. I'm looking at flex so I'm SOA on the MB-5 and am running springs from Walcks. I run the rear springs on all 4 corners with 3 leaves removed bringing the rate down to 175 at 6 vs. 225 at 9.
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