OK, here goes. I want more flex out of my front end. The rear does what I want, but the front barely flexes past the "sitting still" position.
http://webpages.charter.net/deenwally/images/front%20shock%20mount.jpg
I am thinking a few things are to blame.
Sway bar has no disconnects at this time.
shocks may be too short.

One of my thoughts is to add sway bar discos. I am under the impression that I need to retain the sway bar because I do a lot of highway and this is my DD. (If I do not need it, let me know...)

I am wanting to move the shock mounts from the bottom of the axle to above (as in the picture above).

I am also wanting to clean up the rear axle by moving those mounts above the axle also.

Now, before anyone pipes up with "why modify a d35?", let me address this.
I want to learn how to wheel. I drive with finesse, and that is the way I like it. I do not feel like I have to have 500 HP to run my YJ when a 2.5l does just fine. I have a D35 and I plan on upgrading to atleast an 8.8. But, this is what I have for now. That, and I want to learn how to work on my rig and do some of my own fabrication. What better way than to fawk up a D35 in the learning process. If I mess it up, then I upgrade sooner.

Here is my thoughts and ideas on this also.

http://webpages.charter.net/deenwally/images/Rear%20shock%20mount%20setup.jpg

(also, sorry for the size, I am just figuring this whole thing out.)

If you have any ideas on what I should do and what I should not do, let me know. But try to remember, this whole thing is a learning process for me. I would like to hear from the wise ones, not the wise a$$e$. I made sure to post this in newb.

Let me know what you think. (in the pic, the funny lines at an angle are the shocks. The other line will be a new shock mount between the frame rails.)

THe sway bar is the big killer in the front, and I wouldnt recommend moving the lower mount unless you plan on moving the upper mount as well, the new rear shock mount looks like a pretty good idea.

well from the pics it is hard to see what lift you have if any or if those are stock springs. My sugegstion, is to get or fab some disconnects, since that is definitely limiting your travel. With stock springs, moving the shock mounts alone, you will mess up your shocks quicker, since you will screw up the travel and compression, unless you are planning to run shorter shocks, or use bumpstops that will limit compression on the shocks.

For the rear, your design is fine, again, you will need longer shocks, and redo d35 mounts. I have been driving my rig on the road with no trac bar or sway bar, so your call, it just takes more time getting adjusted to it, and my rig is pretty tall.

I would recommend starting to plan for SOA and get it done easier and better.

Good luck

Gui

I bought some long travel shocks for my WJ and gained 8" of down travel in the rear, and 5" in the front. So like the last guy said, I would not mess with the front mounting points.

Swaybar is your major item. Stock YJ springs themselves will flex pretty well - you'lll just shorted their life by letting them go into negative arch. I ditched the Panhard and swaybar on mine. Flexes great, but would NOT recommend for a DD.

dont forget that when moving the angle of the shock reduces the dampening effect, so some firmer shocks would be in order

Well, I have a 3.5" lift (not sure make of the lift, got it used).
The front shocks are for a 2" lift or less (just barely longer than stock).
The rear shocks are skyjacker nitro shocks and are long enough as is, but I want to clean up so clearance issues. I figured that they are WAY stiff, so adjusting the angle will make them a bit softer. They should be plenty long enough.

now, onto bigger issues. What is negative arch? Is that when you flex so much that the one tire is completely off the ground?? Or the other way around, where you stuff so hard that it bends the wrong way? (Yes, I be a newb....getting used to the terminology of this whole thing.)

I have acquired discos tonight for a good deal (Free is still a good deal, right??) from a friend that threw the sway bar out. I no longer have front or rear track bars. Here are some flex pics of the rear.

http://webpages.charter.net/deenwally/images/12.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/deenwally/images/26.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/deenwally/images/21.jpg

(hey, alright, finally figured out the whole pic thing...)

Jeeps are so cute when they're small :)

Disconnect the sway bar and retest your flex. If you're still not happy, disconnect your shocks and retest. Obvioulsy you're gonna have to bring some tools to your test site to disconnect/reconnect stuff, but you'll know what it *can* do without the limmiting parts.

Yeah, it is small, but with the axles I have, I can not go much bigger.

Anyhow, my test site is at my house. I have 40 achers (yeahactually acres, but you ever worked 40 of them??) plus 10 acres of BLM next to me.

Ever notice that when a solution is presented it actually seems like fairly simple logic? Thanks SodaBoyYJ

You removed both front & rear trac bars???

Definately get swaybar disconnects - disconnect for flexing and reconnect for highway usage.

Front?
1) Longer bumpstops
2) Ford shock towers
3) Measure measure measure - to get the appropriate shock length to meet the size of your suspension lift but not bottom the shocks out. Bump stops should always hit first.

If you're still not happy with it - get lockers. :smokin:

Rear?
My rear-end doesn't flex as much as I'd like it to either - just haven't done anything with it cuz it rides nice and lockers make a big difference, no flex needed really.

Since you plan on putting an 8.8 in - I wouldn't do anything with the rear shock set-up until after you put the 8.8 in.
If you change things now - you might end up re-doing everything later. Why waste the time, money, and effort???

I've always wanted to do this:
http://www.4x4wire.com/tech/suspension/killersua00/rearshocksin.jpg
The exhaust is right there and I haven't had any time to look at it closely to figure out a solution. I'm not sure I want to sacrifice 'dampening' by putting the shocks at such an extreme angle either.

I have a very flexy YJ on 35s, and i'll tell you how i got it that way. It has stock axles swapped out but that doesn't matter; still applies to your problem. I don't post pics but trust me people have swore a YJ couldn't flex that much. They were wrong.

Keep in mind that if you want a lot of wheel travel, you may sacrifice on road ride in some cases.

Ditch the sway bars. I took mine off long ago and never put them back on. It sways a bit around corners, but nothing dramatic due to the spring under Rubicon Express springs that i have.

Heighten the front shock towers. Ford suggestion was a good one.

Take off the leaf packs and grease the heck out of the bushings all around. Put them back in, but don't crank down on the shackle bolts, just snug them. Use locktite to keep it safe.

I angled my rear shocks like the above picture; on a light jeep the sway is minimal but more than stock. Articulation is better because the shocks don't bottom out any more.

I have revolvers on the rear. Some hate them. Some love them. I've never had an issue with them.

If you don't/can't take the time to do all this, at least grease everything, take off the sway bars, and u r in bidness! :D

Looks like my cheap a$$ needs to spend a few bucks this memorial day weekend and get new shocks and towers, and ditch the swaybar for a trip around the block (I live on a big block, about 8 miles round trip...)

I greased everything when I put it together. That should not be a problem.
Thanks guys, I will update on Monday if I get to it.