I competed in a local jeep show this week and after spending 100% of my time on my engine and body I was very disappointed when I entered the RTI competition and finished dead last reaching 38".

Does anyone have advice on what they think will make my suspension the most flexable for rock climbing, etc.? I currently have a 78 CJ-5 with 4" Rancho Suspension lift and 3 in Rugged Trail body lift and 35" MT Bear Claws. You can view all my mods here: http://www.midwestjeepthing.com/member/memberride_display.asp?rideid=552

I appreciate your advice, I would like to know what other people have experienced and what RTI score to expect with the suggested suspension changes.

Thanks!

1.flatten the springs out a little (pipe bender)
2.Home made revolvers
3.pivot blocks
4.and just to be a bad A$$, go duel shackles
:flipoff2:

Depends on how crazy you want to get....

You could go all custom and do coil and youd have amazing flex...or you could get some waggy or f150 springs instead of regular CJ lift springs. Also consider a springover with YJ springs...thatd work pretty well, or even a spring over with stock CJs...

There are many options here...Im not a fan of leaf springs, but you can definitley make them work and have seen them work really well.

i have a 82 CJ7 SOA on stock springs(soon to use 2.5") and 35" BFG MT's. I can ramp a little bit over 1000 with this setup. i say get stock cj rear springs all the way around. i wouldnt go with the YJ springs cause they are too soft and are at a negative arch from the factory. i know several guys that have had to replace the YJ springs after only a few months of use.

just out of curiosity....how do you only get a 38 on the RTI ramp....this means that you can only pick a tire 1.2" off of the ground before you lift the other side. hell you couldnt even have one tire on the curb and all the others on the ground.

WTF? ramp scores? unless your a professional ramp chump, who cares what the # is. do some searching(use the search button) on the subject of flex, i'm sure you'll find all the info you need.;)

I got the left front tire 38 inches off the ground at a 23 degree ramp angle before my right front started spinning and smoking. The TJ's there were getting around 70-80 inches off the ground with their coil setups.

As far as being a chump, I am using the ramp as a fairly adequate indactor of my jeeps ability to climb over rocks. I have spent the last two years restoring this thing and have not done much rock climbing and after witnessing the ability of the TJ's I saw to climb over 4 foot tie walls in the parking lot, etc. I do not feel comfortable about my suspension setup anymore and wish to upgrade it as well. I know engine wise, none of them can compete with me with their inline 6's. I could search the forum, but then what is really the point of having a POST function? Are we just to use this forum as an archive spending an exhorbinant amount of time researching past posts to find a valid thread pertaining and relevance to my questions? Or simply post and get answers in under 5 mins?

Work smart, not hard my dad always said.

Dude, its more the extra 10" of wheelbase they have than the coils.

Ya, you are probably right. I guess this is where I am heading.

Dana 60 Axles (Stronger Drive Shafts, Heavier U-joints & 10" extra Wheelbase from my current 84" WB)

Spring over Axles 5" lift

And Ill move my tires up from 35" to 40" and let some air out of them like all the rock climbers were doing which seemed to help a lot.

What else? Any reccomendations?

I think I am going to do what this guy did, check it out its pretty cool.

http://www.rockcrawler.com/readersrides/showcase/november01/index.asp

The Checklist
The following is the checklist of things I would change while the "Taxi" was torn down, and what the modification was intended to correct. I also tracked my spending to determine how much the whole project cost.

Lengthen the Frame 19.5" and the body 20" - Room for 2 rows of back seats (for the kids) and extended wheel base for added stability, better ride, and a longer rear driveline to allow for more lift. By extending the body more than the frame, the rear tires would fit into the wheel well better on compression travel.
Roll Cage - Pull the OEM roll bar and fabricate a true, DOM tubing cage from windshield to tailgate to protect the occupants. Why? Because, Darnit!, I'm worth it!
Repaint Tub - Fix the newly-painted tub due to the required body work.
Spring over axle conversion (SOA) - More lift to keep the skidplate and gas tank from being rearranged by rocks and better ride and articlulation. New front axle spring hangers would be manufactured to move the front axle forward 3 inches to increase the wheelbase even more, to a total of 106 inches.
Dana 60's Front and Rear - I am sick of worrying if and when I will blow up another axle stub or u-joint and want a lower gear ratio in the axles. I chose 6.17's as the best compromise between pinion size and low gearing.
38.5 inch Swampers would be bolted onto the axles to allow better ground clearance than 33's on the stock axles.

Rubicon Express - Spring Pads and Shock Mounts $50
· Local Steel Yard - 18 GA sheet metal, various .25" plate $75
· Local Paint Supplier - Bondo, Primer and Paint $50
· Time @ estimated rate - 100 hours @ $45.00/hr $4500
· Local Driveshaft Shop - Lengthen front and rear driveshafts $150
· Extra used fold and tumble rear seat and rear belts $60
· DOM tubing for rollcage $150
· Dana 60 Axles / Gears / Lockers / Install Kits $1250
· Used 16x38.5x16.5" Swampers and Wheels $772
· Sam's Offroad High Clearance Steering Arms $300
· Miscellaneous Costs $65

Total Estimated Cost $7,422
Cost not Including Estimated Labor (I did all the work except driveshafts) $2922
Cost for Lengthening Only (without Estimated Labor ) $475

Dude use the search button...trust me. They are so many ways you could go that noone could tell you the right way. There is no ONE right way. Plus noone wants to type out info thats already on this board.

:laughing: And Ill move my tires up from 35" to 40" and let some air out of them like all the rock climbers were doing which seemed to help a lot. damn thats some funny shit.:beer:

DON"T DO ANYHING!!!!!! If you actually went out and drove it you wouldnt have ask what will make it works better because you would see the problems as you encountered them

Originally posted by Wish4YJ
Dude use the search button...trust me. They are so many ways you could go that noone could tell you the right way. There is no ONE right way. Plus noone wants to type out info thats already on this board.

Some of you seem to have plenty of time to tell people to SEARCH though! :flipoff2:

Personally I'm SOA'ing and axle swapping my CJ.
I have stock springs, and 2.5" lifties to choose from, I'm going to SOA it with the lift springs as Aggie did, see how it goes from there, and mix and match leafs, or find some different ones all together if it doesnt work out.

Alot of this stuff is making an educated guess...going out and actually trying it out either on a trail, or on a ramp (whatever you want to do) and refining it from there. Ramp9ing is NOT the be all end all of rig function.
A rig is only as capable as its driver.

Good luck and hopefully more people will want to share their EXPERIENCE after you do a search.
:flipoff2:

MJ