What are the benefits of staying SUA as opposed to going ahead and doing SOA?

Is a SUA design worth the added stability over the SOA design considering the loss of flex w/ the SUA?

What setups are all of you :D SUA fans using?

SOA just seems so expensive since I do not have a welder. Plus I want a stable rig w/ little axlewrap and decent road manners since I have to drive up and down a mountain to school everyday.

When I do my suspension, I also plan on doing a swap to full width Dana 44s.

Originally posted by big4294x4
Is a SUA design worth the added stability over the SOA design considering the loss of flex w/ the SUA?

How does an SOA flex any better than an SUA (keeping the same springs)? I have not figured that one out!

One of the engineering nerds explained it about a year ago. Something about the moment arm is longer in a SOA, giving it more leverage.

Bah.

The down and dirty reason is the extra 4-5 inches of clearance.

I am a fan, I run RE 4inch wrangler springs on my cj5 with the u-bolts flipped and it gets plenty of flex with out the head aches of theaxle wrap that they all seem to fight, also nice on the amount of side hills that we run!! but seems all sua's get flamed 'round here..

I'm still SUA under my YJ... Waggy 44s f&R. I'm not under any illusions that it'll out-flex an SOA rig, and I realize that many of the following points I make can be engineered out of an SOA setup through the use of anti-wrap bars, hi-steer, etc., but speaking generally, here are my reasons:

1. Lower center of gravity.
2. Less body lean on side hills and when cornering.
3. Absolutely no wheel hop.
4. No spring wrap problems.
5. No bumpsteer.
6. Front tie rod/tie rod ends somewhat protected by springs.
7. Brass collar where Ox locker cable enters front differential cover protected by driver side spring.
8. Feels safe on the road. (Not exactly a popular thing to say around here, but true, nonetheless.)

Like I said, all of these things can be dealt with in a good SOA setup (except the center of gravity thing).

I run RE XD 4.5-inch springs with heavy duty Conn Ferr extended shackles, JKS discos, and a mild body lift and I clear 35s with absolutely no rubbing. It rides at least as smooth as any SOA Jeep I've ever ridden in and while it doesn't flex quite as good as an SOA, it flexes pretty darn good.

I also somewhat mitigated the under-spring clearance problem by using all the tricky mounting hardware (Dynatrac U-bolt reversal kit in the rear and JKS B-3 U-bolt plates in the front).

Where I wheel there are very few rocks anyhow, so articulation is not as important as it may be in other places.

Jake

Thanks alot. Most all of the wheeling that the rig will do, will be in NC and TN mountains, so stability is a major concern around here since there are alot of slippery, off camber sections.

Stability! You aint wheelin unless you are up near a butt pucker factor of at least 8 or 9. You know, when your a** cheeks are so tight that......
AND, it does ride bette3r on the street, if that's what you wnt to do.

"What setups are all of you SUA fans using?"

I talked to some old timers and they said that their set up is 4:11s with powerlocks, truetrack tires, model 18 tc and a T150.:flipoff2:

Call me nutz, but I like my on road stability of my SUA setup. Im running pro comp 4" springs, with a 1.25" body lift, TJ rear flares, and hacked up front fenders, running 35's with no rubbing. Im actually considering staying SUA for the time being since my yj is my daily driver up and down a mountain road everyday... As far as flex is concerned, my SUA setup isn't anywhere near as nice as a SOA setup, but thats what lockers are for... :D Heck, Im still trying to decide if I want to invest in some 6" Alcans to stay spring under because of stability, and then go SOA down the road. Just my opinion.
Scott

I'm running a SUA right now on my CJ-7. It's a Pro-comp 4" lift. I love the front, but the rear sucks. I get axle wrap, no flex, etc. Yes the Pro-comps were VERY stiff for the first year of daily driving, but have relaxed quite a bit, and now are 4 years old. I've " lost" about 1" of lift. It sees trail duty only now.
To get the most out of the front, I ditched the sway bar, built custom shock mounts and run the long ranchos. I can still hit the bump stops, and droop is extreme. The shocks are my limiting factors. You can make them flex!
Like I said, the rear sucks, I took the shocks off to test flex, and MAYBE got 6-8" of travel, total. Looking to three link/coil the rear.

Greg M

A well built spring over is the only way to go. It drives great on the street and will out perform most spring under systems on the trail. With spring under there is too much stuff hanging down to worry about especially if you do Hammers type trails.:beer:

Originally posted by Jakesteramalamajama
1. Lower center of gravity.
2. Less body lean on side hills and when cornering.
3. Absolutely no wheel hop.
4. No spring wrap problems.
5. No bumpsteer.
6. Front tie rod/tie rod ends somewhat protected by springs.
7. Brass collar where Ox locker cable enters front differential cover protected by driver side spring.
8. Feels safe on the road. (Not exactly a popular thing to say around here, but true, nonetheless.)



Wheels hop (3) and Spring wrap (4) are really the same problem, and there are a lot of springunder rigs out there that have springwrap problems. Bumpsteer (5) is a symptom of poorly designed or stock steering components on a lifted rig. If you keep the stock stering parts you will get bump steer when you lift the vehicle weather you lift it SUA or SOA.

This being said I AM a fan of SUA. SUA rigs are very stable and can very often climb really well. I like SUA rigs, but I am running coils in the rear and SOA on the front, and have no plans to flip the springs under the axle.

Originally posted by scramblin
"What setups are all of you SUA fans using?"

I talked to some old timers and they said that their set up is 4:11s with powerlocks, truetrack tires, model 18 tc and a T150.:flipoff2:

Close - but they're 5.38's and a T18 ;)

BTT.. Im curious if anyone else has any opinions on this one....
Scott

here is 1 way of looking at it your SUA goes better down the street and my SOA goes better down the trail

I feel the main down fall of SUA is ground clearance and that can NOT be fixed.

It's advantages can all be applied to SOA if its engineered right.

For a not so serious offroader SUA is very simple and effective. Just more work to get over the reeally tough trails.

silly enough as it is, the best sua yj springs i have ever used are super lift. they flex amazingly well for what they are. pro crap and skyjacker suck in this department. but, soa out performs them all if built well.

I have my own ideas, but I want your knowledge from overall experience. How would you all engineer a good SOA setup?

Also, are the heavy duty Wagoneer springs from JCWhitney military wraped, and how do they ride on the road in a lighter vehicle like a CJ?

It just depends on what you plan to do with the rig.. If its just a wheeler, SOA is the best way. Now if its 90% on highway, I'd say SAU... But a correctly setup SOA should handle close to a SUA, IMO :D

Originally posted by big4294x4
Thanks alot. Most all of the wheeling that the rig will do, will be in NC and TN mountains, so stability is a major concern around here since there are alot of slippery, off camber sections.

you can be from kansas and stability is still the major concern. SUA is still :rainbow: my DD is a grand wagoneer and the first mod i did to it was a SOA. my bet is when you really get out and wheel your rig on something more dificult than a graded dirt road then you will relize SOA is the way to go. :flipoff2:

what ever happened to wheel what ya got? I have SUA in one jeep and SOA in anothere! I prefer SOA, but do what you can afford. If you are unhappy with it change it later, it isn't like you can't change it back.
Just my opinion...

NO SOA is a way of life:flipoff2: :rolleyes:

This conversation can go on for years. Like every thing they have pros and cons. SOAs have to be set up right to work right and last. And a lot of people who have done SOA wont go back.
You have to deal with things like these on SOA and SUAs,
Sprung weight
unsprung weight
steering angles
Bump steer
CV Shafts
Traction bars
etc,
I think one of the reasons people like SOA is its sometimes cheeper and they can do it there selfs. yea you get better ground clearance than SUAs, but if you put longer springs on a SUA you will get more travel. A arked spring ( not a out of control ark) will out travel a SOA anyday.... Believe it or not, I still run SUA, on a 86 CJ7, with 6"alcans, 9" long shackles F/R, and there mounted to the top of the frame. Ive been known to out twist a lot of TJs, ( not the long arm kits :D ), but the rest. I'm only saying that a good SUA job will work good. As for runs, like the hammers. One thing to remember is you can have the best of everything, but if you dont know how to use it or drive it, than whats the sence. The driver is 90% of it. :D