Soon the YJ will be coming home after a nice summer of wheeling in Northern Michigan.

The plan is to continue to update with a SBC swap, NV4500 and Atlas TC. All of which are sitting and awaiting install.

I have already started the axle swap. Can go with a 8.8 or a D60 in the rear and a trussed and girdled D30 or a D44 in front.

If the axles are being changed then it would seem to be the time to consider a SOA or Coil Spring conversion.

Can any one help a relative newbie on the advantages/disadvantages of modifiying to SOA or Coils ?

Thanks

Coils will flex nicely and will cost you an arm and a leg to set up properly on those new axles.
Leafs wont flex as much, but are cheap and simple.

With SOA there can come problems with axle wrap in the rear. you'll have to build some sort of traction bar or something to counter act this. Leafs are tried and true. I find them real simple and can flex very well in a SOA application. Then with coils you'll get better flex and prolly a softer ride. I was SOA with my YJ for a while and just recently rebuilt it with a 4-link rear with coilovers and SOA front. It's the best of both worlds. With the 4-link i dont have to worry about the center pin snapping fun of axle wrap and the front flexs really well with Full Traction 0" springs.

So if you have the time/money to go with coils, it may be a worth considering. Otherwise going SOA f/r with leafs can be a very good setup when done correctly.

I'm going to coils on my new YJ project because, while my SOA slightly stretched YJ can run most of the Hammers no problem, it sucks ass on steep ledges where you need some wheel speed to get you up. It hops too much and if I can't crawl it in most cases I'm not getting up it. Sometimes the "Moab bump" works, but not always :)