I may pick up a totally cherry 1984 cj7 today. It has the 5 speed. Stock suspension and tires etc...... . Question ,You have exactly 14 days to make it rubicon ready , what do you do? What is the quickest was to stuff 35's under it? I have a set of MT/Rs waiting. What gearing in the diffs ,for 33's ,and what gearing for 35's? with the 5 speed in it. What lift? Thanks for any info. D

Easiest way to fit the 35s is 4" springs, 1" body lift, add YJ or TJ rear flares and trim a little. To be rubicon ready I would get lockrights and one piece axles for the rear. If it was me I would hold off on the Rubicon and axle mods till you can swap axles. Any money spent on the stock axles is wasted money. Next on the list should be a 4 speed granny low truck trans.

exactly the info I was looking for on the lift. Do you know if I would have to lengthen the drive shafts ,for the 4" lift? I had pretty good luck ,with this axle combo on a cj5 with 33's. Are the housings weak? I know that you can buy strong ass aftermarket axle shafts to stuff into the 20 and 30 or ,am I mistaken?

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: I'm sorry I'm just thinking of all the money your gonna be spending! I also got a killer deal on a cj7 a few tears ago. an 86 for only $2500. that was about 8 or 10 thousand dallars ago

Originally posted by JIM3030
:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: I'm sorry I'm just thinking of all the money your gonna be spending! I also got a killer deal on a cj7 a few tears ago. an 86 for only $2500. that was about 8 or 10 thousand dallars ago

And how much of it is still jeep?:laughing:

EDIT: I guess I can answer the Qs...

4" sua and some trimming, you really need flares???

Lose the rearend, and pick up a scout 44, match the gears of the 44 in the front (or regear both) 4.56s will be fine for both tire sizes.

Might want the front of the scout too and either deal with the poor-ish steering or rotate the knuckles for the correct angle.

Weld the spiders and wheel.

No need for a DS with 4" springs.

Never gave a $$ budget so it is hard to give you specifics withought being off.

2 1/2 ranchos spring over will do it. cause you need longer line & drive line any way. but not put those 35's on til you axle swap some 44 axles or bigger.

Ok ,so the 1 piece model 20 shafts wont hold up to the 35's? Don't they make a beefier axle shaft for the 30 yet? Here is what I'm thinking , 4" lift ,1" body lift =clears the 35" Mt/Rs. Gears =4.56? What about 4.88s. The t-5 has like a 4.2something 1st gear the dana 300 transfer is a 2.63 or something low range. Are the 4.88's gonna be too low for the 35's? I mean ,with this tranny and transfer setup. Later comes the t18-A ,but then ,I'll be starting in second gear.

the shafts will hold up to 35" but the housing wont as far as the drive shaft you will have to lenghten with a 4" lift cause your slip yolk looses some contact and itll explode trust me of course you do have a T5 which is gonna explode any way but hey i ran my 20 locked for about 2 years till the tubes started to come apart on me so one thing if you do still have the 2 pcs shafts in there DONT take it off road or i gaurantee your tire is gonna pass you doing abot 25mph and the bummer is your drum and backing plate will still be attached heres a start a set of mosers http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=166706

A 20 w/ 1 piece shafts will probably be fine for 35's. I ran one through the Rubicon & such for 2 years with no problems, but you still have weak tubes. The new shafts will cost around $300 or for half that you can pick up a 44 from a Scout or Waggy or a Waggy 20. The Waggy 20 does'nt have the weak points of the CJ version.

Kinda the same deal in front. Spend about $650 for Warn shafts & bigger joints, or $250 for a Waggy D44. You will have to outboard the springs though.

Ideally, I'd say don't be in a hurry. You will spend more money for inferior axles. Go with Waggy F&R & do a SOA at the same time. Depends how bad you want to get on the trail & how much of an issue long term cost is to you.

For gears: 4.88 - 5.38 w/ OD, but when the T18 goes in you'll want the 4.56's if you want to drive freeway speeds.

4.88 will be 53.90 to 1 I don't think you'll have to worry about being too low. trust me keep the 33's on there. if you hit a beer can with only one front tire your gonna toco your tie rod. and it goes from there

look up brad on the board he is selling an adapter to mount a 300 to a 456. he even has a 456 but don't pay too much for a tranny they are a dime a dozen. he want $300 not bad at all that will get you going just keep the tires in the barn for a while. novak adapter will tell you how to redrill your bell housing to accept the 465 Thats what i did it wrks great. i'm at 119 to 1 it holds up fine. That and 4.56's and you'll be 78 to 1. later a 4 to 1 kit in th dana 300 and sweet

I got the adapter still, sold the tranny:D

I have basically the same Jeep.
I have Ranch 2-1/2” 1 “ body lift and no flares. I currently have 32’s and I don’t rub at all. With just a little trimming I could fit 33’s.

I have 4.56 (arb front/Detroit rear) and a T-18. I have run a Model 20 with one-piece axles and the stock front axle.

I have been on the Rubicon a bunch of times, and the only thing I have broken is a hub. I finally broke a u-joint on my last outing.

If you just want to drive down the trail, you don’t need a new front axle.

If you really want to be done in 2 weeks, Get a 2-1/2” or 4” lift, put the 33’s on and swap the rear axle for a Scout or even better a Bronco 9” axle. Put a lunch box locker in the rear and have fun.

Or find a used model 20 with one-piece axles.

Or wait and do it right the first time. :D

yall got it all wrong....if you only have 14 days to do this here is the easiest way.

1 - SOA on stock springs and axles. if your cheap enough you can do it for pretty much free. the drive shafts should still fit. mine did no problem.
2 - get the one piece axle kit for the 20
3 - lock rite the front and weld the rear.
4 - put on your 35's.....

here are a few pics of mine right after i got it done....mine is the one on the left.....very little rubbing with 35's, no fender trimming, and at full flex which is well over 1000 on a ~25* ramp...

another...

last one ill post...but i do have more if youd like to see them....

this is in Colorado...

Step one: Get a cage! Atleast get a good bolt-on cage. Then do the stuff to make the rig preform better. ;)

Ok ,soo what exactly would I need for the SOA? spring perches= Can I get those at like 4wheel parts ,or is it a special order deal? I imagine that I would want to use a dropped pitman arm=4" right? 1 spot that I'm a little lost on is ,the SOA should = about 3 and a half inches of lift ,depending on what size the axle housing tubes are ,right? I mean ,if some of you guys are having to do a 4" lift + a 1" body lift ,then how can you get away with just a 3and a half or 4" =with spring perch lift ,and 35"s? Also ,AGGIE ,it looks like your front springs may have a little arch to them. I just went and checked out the CJ and I did notice that the stock springs were totally FLAT. Probaby sacked out. Soo anyway ,is it just a matter of getting the spring perches and welding them on then ,a dropped pitman and some longer shocks? What else? I think that your jeep sits just right= I like the idea of the SOA.

If you have a welder and can fab (and you have some extra cash laying around) here is what I would do for a 14 day build up of a CJ7:

1. Find a Scout D44 rear, new brakes
2. Go SOA with stock springs * (see below)
3. Keep the D30, go with aftermarket shafts and late 70's 6 bolt hubs/brakes
4. Re-gear both axles to 4.56 or 4.88
5. Weld rear, lockright front -or- Detroit both (if you have the money)
6. CV rear driveshaft and square front (or new front if you have the money)
8. Swap to a MC2100 carb and do a TFI ignition upgrade (if you can to that in CA)
9. upgrade tie rod/drag link and diff guards.
10. Add a front hoop for a 6pt cage.

done

* - For the SOA, use stock springs, 4" drop pitman arm, longer brake lines and new shocks. I ran 34's on this set up with no rubbing and run 36's now with trimming.:D

My SOA netted a little over 4" of lift with stock springs, even completly flat ones.

Here is it with 33" TSL's and no trimming:
http://archiegallup.homestead.com/files/1103Bath/Bath11308.JPG

Here it is with Q78's (35.5") and 'some' trimming:
http://archiegallup.homestead.com/files/FRCfun/BoB/Prep/Painted.jpg

Both of these pictures show basically stock length shackles and no body lift. If you rub, lower you bump stops.

You can get perches from a lot of aftermarket places, I got mine from Rubicon Express (it wasn't worth the time to make them, they are not expensive).

My SOA cost $800 including the Scout rear with new brakes and the Tom Woods CV driveshaft.

Originally posted by cj51979
Ok ,soo what exactly would I need for the SOA? spring perches= Can I get those at like 4wheel parts ,or is it a special order deal? I imagine that I would want to use a dropped pitman arm=4" right? 1 spot that I'm a little lost on is ,the SOA should = about 3 and a half inches of lift ,depending on what size the axle housing tubes are ,right? I mean ,if some of you guys are having to do a 4" lift + a 1" body lift ,then how can you get away with just a 3and a half or 4" =with spring perch lift ,and 35"s? Also ,AGGIE ,it looks like your front springs may have a little arch to them. I just went and checked out the CJ and I did notice that the stock springs were totally FLAT. Probaby sacked out. Soo anyway ,is it just a matter of getting the spring perches and welding them on then ,a dropped pitman and some longer shocks? What else? I think that your jeep sits just right= I like the idea of the SOA.



it is actually closer to a 5 or 6" lift. if you figure that the old perches were about a inch or so off the axle, the ne ones will be about the same, then you add the width of the tube, and finally the width of the springs. that gives you around 6". you can get a drop pitman arm if you would like or you could heat up the one you have and bend it....just make sure you dont run water over it to cool it down. for the pearches you can either buy some 2x4x.25 square tubing and cut them out of that or 4WPW should have them in stock....they are pretty generic. as for shocks...i think mine rode better with out them. but thats personal preference. another thing you will need is extended break lines but you will need those with any other lift. one cheaper option you might want to look into is stock blazer lines. they should work abd if they are slighly too short then you can move the hard line on the frame. i am pretty sure that stock it sticks through the frame but you can move it and mount it below the frame. as foir the springs. they are stock springs. they are slightly arched. not very much though....



any more questions?

I say put some rocker protection on and run it as it is. A stock 7 can do the 'con. You just need to know how to drive. It will be terribly high geared, but it is possible. Take time to build the upgraded axles. You shouldn't substitute upgrades for driver ability. Learn to drive it stock and upgrade as you go. You will become a much better driver.

MHO.

Dont waste your money on the axles that are under your rig. Before upgrading I blew the shafts in my 30 twice, and I put alot of money into my corp 20 (summers bros solid shafts and detroit softlocker). The splines on the 20 shafts twisted and exploded the carrier. Now the whole things garbage and I was only running 33"s.

I ran Rancho 2.5" and 2 " body lift with 35's for several years(13). When I changed from RS5000's to RS9000's, I started stuffing the fenders.

Now, I have 4" and still have the 2" body lift, and I have plenty of room. I would go with a 1" body lift, and trim from there though.

As for axles, if you are not planning on going over 35's, you can keep the 1-piece axles and get some spare shafts for the front, or buy the Warn shafts for 297 joints, and use your stock axles as spares. Or wheel them until they break and then replace them.

I just sold my axles with the Warn shafts up front, and a full-floater rear, but they are good. I am just going to one ton axles. If you are not going over 35's, then this set-up will work fine, just remember what you have, and try to keep that gas pedal off the floor when you are not making it.

BTW, I also have been running a V8 with the T5 for 13 years, and everyone told me I would blow that up too.

Good luck, and keep on wheelin. NO matter how you are set-up.