EJP NEWS EJPer o` the Letter WORST STUCK / MOST CARNAGE

Vol. 2, Issue 3
Steve Simkovic (ErieJeepSteve), President
Brett Skinner (gp_man), Editor
EJP NEWS
Bill Moses (XJBill), Vice President
send submissions and comments to [email protected]
EJPer o' the Letter
EJP MEMBERSHIP
Looking to become a member? Trail
ride with us sometime, and if you like
what you see, join up.
ON THE CALENDAR
10/7/06 EJP Competition Run
10/12/06 - 10/15/06 4th Annual
Halloweenie Run- CANCELLED
11/26/06 EJP Member Meeting
12/16/06 EJP XMAS Party
EJP GET TOGETHERS
Watch our website of weekly get
togethers (One Way Inn, BWW, etc).
We usually have a few at an Erie
resturant or pub.
PROMOTE EJP
See a Jeep that catches your eye?
Wonder if that person knows about
EJP? Check out the flyer on the web
site - perfect for sticking under a
windshield wiper or handing to a
stranger. Print 'em out and store 'em
in the glove box.
Bob (97TJ) Burrows' 1992 Cherokee (XJ) Laredo. 4.0 HO Engine/AW4
Transmission/NP231 Transfercase. Dana 30 front and Chrysler 8.25" rear axle. 5
inches of lift, extended lower control arms, discos, Goferit tie rod flip. 35" Cooper
STT on Cragar 397's soft 8s.
WORST STUCK / MOST CARNAGE
Well, as I predicted last issue, there is a lot to pick from this
time. I had to judge the cost, the pain, and the amount of
'stuck'. I deceided on Steve's transfercase cracking. He
broke it during the Rausch Creek trail ride.. It seems a
certain leaf spring center bolt gave up and let the front axle
slide back, shoving the drive shaft into the transfercase. I
say Steve should add control arms ;-P
Copyright 2004-2006 Erie Jeep People. The Jeep brand, models, images, and logos are trademarks of the DaimlerChrysler Corporation. Erie Jeep People is not affiliated with the
1
DiamlerChrysler Corporation.
Rausch Creek Trail Ride 9/22/06 - 9/25/06
Steve carnage: new dents and trashed softtop from a flop, axle ujoint and
shaft, bent spring, broken spring centerbolt which allowed the axle to
push back which drove the front driveshaft through the transfercase and
cracking it in two.
Hanging like Tarzan
I'm not sure who this is, cool XJ.
Randy carnage: paint
damage, minor rocker
damage to tub
Sean carnage: two
broken shock mounts,
bent TRE. He drove it
home.
Rick carnage: hole in
oilpan, bent spring,
bent/dented rear diff
cover
Copyright 2004-2006 Erie Jeep People. The Jeep brand, models, images, and logos are trademarks of the DaimlerChrysler Corporation. Erie Jeep People is not affiliated with the
2
DiamlerChrysler Corporation.
Jason carnage: scrapes and
scratches
There's Ernie and Trevor, where's Woodsy?
Mark carnage: Best top tire carrier broke one of the main bars,
Axle isnt bent, a drivers side front rim, driver side lower
control arm bolt at the axle was extremly bent which made all
look outa wack. The axle shaft is still together but the u-joint
that blew was only 3 days old w 6 mi on it !! Passenger side
front fender and hood latch.
Carnage Creek Strikes again …
Well, we've tried to cut more trails out there
and the Creek got us. Pete busted a Yukon D35 and
one of Dan's U-joints exploded. Bill got sucked into the
mud and couldn't keep air in one of his tires.
And to top it off, Ray
(who missed the trail
cutting) crushed his
windshield at Tom's
trails.
Copyright 2004-2006 Erie Jeep People. The Jeep brand, models, images, and logos are trademarks of the DaimlerChrysler Corporation. Erie Jeep People is not affiliated with the
3
DiamlerChrysler Corporation.
CJ SOA
A tech write up by RickB
After my abused 2-1/2” lift springs finally gave up the ghost at Jeepfest 2005 and bent, I decided it was time to take the jump
and join the big dogs and convert the CJ to a SOA suspension. I always knew this was the suspension that I wanted, but I
couldn’t justify it until the old springs were not usable. The SOA with stock springs will net you about 5-1/2” of lift and will
give the axles the room needed to move up and down for ramp scores of 1000+.
The first step I took was research. The internet has many write-ups on doing SOA’s on CJ’s and YJ’s. Almost all of them
recommended using stock YJ springs because they are basically flat and have a soft ride. Luckily, these are plentiful and
usually cheap to acquire. These are probably the cheapest part of the conversion. The rear springs on the CJ are the same
width, so no new parts are needed. The front springs on a CJ are narrower and shorter than the YJ’s. The fixed spring hanger
for the CJ’s front spring is the correct width because the CJ front spring uses a wide bushing. It is the shackle end that is not
compatible. I used rear spring hangers because they are the correct width and cheap. The spring hangers on the shackle end
needed to be moved to accommodate the longer YJ springs. The original ones were welded to the frame, so I ground them off
and rewelded them in the correct location. I used greasable polyurethane bushings in the ends of the springs and shackles.
The next step was to weld on spring plates onto the tops of the axles. In the rear, I knew I wanted to go with a CV style
driveshaft, so the spring plates get welded onto the axle so that the pinion is pointing 1-2 degrees below the transfer case
yoke. Careful measuring is required to eliminate rework. I measured off the wrong spot on the pinion and ended up grinding
them off and redoing it. The front axle is easier to set up as the new spring plates get welded at the same angle as the old
ones. The hard part on my conversion is that on a D44 front axle, the spring plate on the differential side is incorporated into
the cast steel housing of the differential. I had to do some grinding on the diff housing and special fabbing for a custom
spring pad that was the same height as the other side so the CJ would sit level.
After getting the YJ springs installed and the CJ sitting back on its tires, I noticed that the springs were much too soft and I
could rock the CJ with an easy push on the side of it. I am not running a sway bar, so this added to the ease of rocking. I
decided that add-a-leafs would help out and I took the springs back off the Jeep and installed 4WDH add-a-leafs for a YJ.
This stiffened up the ride so that I could still not run a sway bar.
The next things to consider are drive shafts and shocks. Both of the old ones were way too short. Again, this is something that
you must measure carefully. Driveshaft companies will build shafts to your specs, so if you get it and it is too short or too
long, it’s not their problem. You will need three measurements for both the drive shafts and shocks, resting height, full
compression, and full droop.
Copyright 2004-2006 Erie Jeep People. The Jeep brand, models, images, and logos are trademarks of the DaimlerChrysler Corporation. Erie Jeep People is not affiliated with the
4
DiamlerChrysler Corporation.
The new front driveshaft bolted right in, but the rear CV style shaft required a new transfer case yoke to accept the CV joint.
When I did the axle conversion last year, I changed the axle shock mounts from the stock CJ location on the spring plates to
brackets on the axles, but the rear axle required new brackets to be fabbed.
Brake hoses also need to lengthen over stock if you don’t want to rip one off when the axle starts to droop. I had already taken
care of these when I did the axle conversion last year. Chevy Blazer hoses have the right fittings and are long enough to let
the axles get to full droop.
The next step is the steering. I have a D44 from a Wagoneer that comes stock with an inverted Y style tie rod and drag link.
This made the drag link hit squarely on the springs in the new SOA configuration. After much deliberation, I decided that a
Hi-steer setup was the route I wanted to take. The first step is to change the steering knuckles to a flat top design. I used mid
70’s Chevy truck knuckles and had them machined flat and drilled and tapped for the new steering arms. I then bought the histeer arms from PartsMike. This came complete as a kit and included the conical bushings, studs and nuts. I also got the tie
rod end kit from PartsMike to maintain the inverted Y steering setup.
The new steering arms are longer than the stock length, so it pushes the tie rod forward and it interfered with the pitman arm.
There are a couple of options to take to correct this. One is a pitman arm from a mid 90’s Dodge pickup. This proved to be
hard to locate, so I went with a modified pitman arm from PartsMike. He starts with a stock YJ arm and grinds the splines for
the steering box so that it can be installed in the correct position for a CJ.
Once all these parts are installed, then you can measure for a new tie rod and drag link. I gave Willysrule (Gary) from the
EJP forum and ordered heavy duty ones. Again, measure carefully for the lengths. Cutting them shorter is not much of a
problem, but making them longer is not an option, and the tubing that he uses is not cheap.
The last hurdle that I encountered was when I tried to install the new tie rod and drag link. Even with the shorter pitman arm,
I still had major interference of the pitman arm and tie rod. I then had to buy a new steering box bracket from M.O.R.E. that
moved the steering box forward by 1-1/4”. This solved the interference problem, but now required the steering shaft to be
lengthened. I did this in the same manner that is required when a body lift is installed.
After finishing the SOA, it ramped a 980 at Jeepfest and could have been over 1000, but the emergency brake cables limited
the axle droop in the rear.
The final thing to consider is limiting spring wrap and wheel hop. This winter, I plan on fabbing and installing some sort of
ladder bars to take care of this.
Copyright 2004-2006 Erie Jeep People. The Jeep brand, models, images, and logos are trademarks of the DaimlerChrysler Corporation. Erie Jeep People is not affiliated with the
5
DiamlerChrysler Corporation.