CJ to YJ Spring conversion

[bspencer]

heres a quick over view of the CJ to YJ conversion i done on the front of my CJ this week.....



Today I started swapping my front 2" wide CJ springs to a set of 2.5" wide YJ springs.
CJ lift spring and shackle

YJ spring and conversion shackle

I added a long leaf just under the main leaf to both yj packs hoping not to lose any lift from what i had.... the RE conversion shackles that I got from www.swissmountain4x4.com look stout and i think they will be great as long as i dont bash them into anything.....ive been used to running short shackles and not having to worry much about hitting them.
new shackle vs old OEM shackle


I started by jacking up the passenger side to remove the tire then jacking up the frame with my hi lift to take pressure off the spring..

unbolted the shackles,main eye , spring plate,shock and disconnected the sway bar.

picked the spring up and the leaves just fell out!!..... center pin was shot....
springs out

anyways put on the yj spring... replaced the bushings in the shackle hanger with the greasable ones that came in the shackle kit.... bolted the main eye.. then hooked the shackle up bolted it etc......

I had a pair of XJ spring plates to use since these springs are wider than my originals... got it on... figured up how i was gonna mount my shock and lower swaybar link.( post about them later)
swaybar link mount

put the tire back on and dropped it back on the ground...... I pulled out the tape to check the differences.....well the yj packs are WAY soft and one side is now over an inch lower even with the 1" lift shackle but man is it soft!....lol

im gonna do the other side later this week when i have time before work since im not off any this week..... i think ive came up with a decent way to mount the shock to the axle tube and will let me run a better shock
lower shock mount

[bspencer]

BTW my tierod and draglink was changed today!

the ones with the added "support" had gotten mangles and I swapped them out today after i finished up the spring swap........

im now adding TJ flares as well

[bspencer]

heres a pic of one side done and the other side not...... kind a side by side comparison