SOA options

I recently bought a comanche and I'm looking to sit at about 4 inches of lift. I want to get rid of the dana 35 so whatever i swap in will most likely be sprung over. I understand i will need new perches and shock mounts.

from what ive heard though a sprung over setup will net close to 6 inches of lift. i'm not really looking to go that high so what other options am i looking at as far as a rear setup for around 4" of lift?

SOA gives about 5" of lift most people go 6-6.5" up front so it sits level.

Soa with a 5" lift will be close to the factory rake so for 4" you need to only lower the rear by an inch.

Just remember that SOA height varies depending on things like spring condition,axle used,perches used,ect....... so you won't know for sure were your at till you do it.

:agree: you could probably swap around some leaves in your spring packs to bring the back end down an inch or two

unless your planing to do some serious offroading SUA is fine. even with moderate offroading. ive got 4.5 and love the ride height but i do get serious offroad and those spring plates act like damn graders/walls. so if your just cruise'n trails, stick to spring under and youll have the height/look you want

You need to figure out which axle you want to use first. For measurement size, if you stick with the Dana 35 and do a SOA, you'll get ~5" of lift (assuming the springs aren't sagging. You can swap in a set of 2wd rear leafs and that will lower it an inch. The other option is XJ shackles, they drop it about 3/4" to 1".

If I measure from the bottom spring to the top of the axle , it's exactly 4.5" . With the perch , that adds another 1" . It's 5.5" of lift no matter how you look at it , 2wd or 4wd . Maybe some variation in height due to perch choice . The 4wd just sits 1" higher due to the springs , they both gain the same lift .

I'm doing a SOA with a 2WD , I'm gonna use the stock XJ shackles to lower it down a little more . I want about 4-4.5" too . I'll have an exact comparison measurment on that tomorrow .

Well In my SOA in this summer I want to try to stay at about, to keep the front lift relatively cheap... However I am also picking up some teraflex shackles on the cheap, so Ill probably try making some hybrid leaf packs with XJ springs so there will be little to no arch.

Might not be good for load capacity though

Your really not gonna save much going 4" vs 6" at that point pretty much all the same parts are required.

Your really not gonna save much going 4" vs 6" at that point pretty much all the same parts are required.

4" vs 6" would require steering modifications , done properly . I'm hoping at 4-5" , the ZJ upgrade will do . I hate bump steer with a passion . I have the WJ conversion on my ZJ with a OTK track bar . On the rear I raised the axle mount for the track bar , no bumpsteer

I do have one question though , what is everyone using for spring plates ?

I never noticed on the XJ what's there , but , appears that's where mine will come from . Just thought I'd bring that up :)

If I measure from the bottom spring to the top of the axle , it's exactly 4.5" . With the perch , that adds another 1" . It's 5.5" of lift no matter how you look at it , 2wd or 4wd . Maybe some variation in height due to perch choice . The 4wd just sits 1" higher due to the springs , they both gain the same lift .

 

I'm doing a SOA with a 2WD , I'm gonna use the stock XJ shackles to lower it down a little more . I want about 4-4.5" too . I'll have an exact comparison measurment on that tomorrow .

You would need to use limiting straps. If you let the axle droop all the way down with XJ shackles, the shackles will angle so far forward that when weight comes back on the axle they flip up in the forward position: NOT good. I was thinking of doing the same thing once, and tested this. The XJ shackles are just not long enough to handle the change in distance between the end points of the springs from fully drooped to fully compressed.

Your really not gonna save much going 4" vs 6" at that point pretty much all the same parts are required.

 

4" vs 6" would require steering modifications , done properly . I'm hoping at 4-5" , the ZJ upgrade will do . I hate bump steer with a passion . I have the WJ conversion on my ZJ with a OTK track bar . On the rear I raised the axle mount for the track bar , no bump steer

I ran stock steering at 6.5" with no problems and no bump steer,currently I've been runnning YJ steering with no problems

I do have one question though , what is everyone using for spring plates ?

 

I never noticed on the XJ what's there , but , appears that's where mine will come from . Just thought I'd bring that up :)

yup. i bought new perches, ubolts and shock mounts but grabbed the spring plates from an XJ.

Your really not gonna save much going 4" vs 6" at that point pretty much all the same parts are required.

 

4" vs 6" would require steering modifications , done properly . I'm hoping at 4-5" , the ZJ upgrade will do . I hate bump steer with a passion . I have the WJ conversion on my ZJ with a OTK track bar . On the rear I raised the axle mount for the track bar , no bumpsteer

 

I do have one question though , what is everyone using for spring plates ?

 

I never noticed on the XJ what's there , but , appears that's where mine will come from . Just thought I'd bring that up :)

I ran stock steering with an 8" lift without issues with all the stock brackets on the axle. There was a drop down track bar bracket on the frame end with an aftermarket track bar but everything else was stock.

If youve done a SOA can you please post pics for those of us who have yet to do it or are trying to figure out how to set it up :waving:

Thanks -Nick

p.s. I'm currently in the middle of doing mine, I plan on using MJ shock mounts on top of the perch and sandwiching it between the leafs.... adam from Motion Offroad confirmed you would need shocks in the 3-4.5" lift range or 17" collasped and about 29" extended

OK , so the XJ shackle is an issue with full flex , nice to know when I do the full conversion . This should work ok for me as it's a 2WD and just a street truck . Next winter gets the full 4x4 swap

Mnkyboy , the inverted 'y' design on our steering defllects the toe-in on every bump . I know it can be ran at some higher lifts , but , I hated it on my lifted ZJ . I can't see how this will be different . I'll try it , no saying I'm gonna like it though . lol . My roads are about as smooth as some of your trails :nuts: I'm gonna upgrade to the ZJ steering anyways , I have it there , but it's just a stronger design to what we have now .

8" Garvin ??? Man , jeep worlds are so different . I got 7" on my ZJ long armed and you wouldn't believe how many ppl say that's too high . I don't think it's too high , heck , I love the way it sits , drives , and wheels . I can't wait to pull it out again this summer :D

SW , thanks for confirmation :thumbsup:

OK , so while on the rear suspension topic , another question . Hell Creek . There's a 4" spring kit on there for $160ish , is that just an add-a-leaf ? or full leaf pack ?

BTW , thanks for all the info , I'm still adapting my jeep knowledge to the MJ , lol .

It's going to be VERY hard to get ~4" of lift with SOA using MJ leafs. You'll have to use FSJ leafs or a Hybrid XJ/MJ pack (MJ main with XJ others). Even with a 2WD MJ pack your going to net 5"+ of lift.

As Marcel mentioned, using XJ shackle's don't work very well. The only way would be if you had a boomerang style shackle and the only one's I know of are JKS and RE, with the JKS one's giving about 1" of lift over the factory MJ shackles. TNT customs use to make one that would be stock height (MJ) but I don't believe they are producing shackles anymore (they now use JKS one's in their kits).

You also have to remember that SOA height will greatly vary on the axle itself (size of the tubes) as well as what set of perches you use.

A note on the steering. Just because you "can" doesn't mean it's correct. At 6.5" of lift you really should address the steering issues using the factory inverted Y setup. I can stack 2 sets of 2" coil spacers to get a 4" front lift, but that doesn't mean it's the best thing to do.

Going SOA in the rear using a factory MJ pack (both 2WD or 4WD) you'll get it to look "level" with a 6.5" front coil. If you like the raked look a 4.5" coil will work but most likely you'll be "butt-high" (can show you a pic of our MJ with SOA rear and 4.5" RE front coils if you'd like).

In reference to rear shock lengths. I'm one that would rather run my lower shock mounts on the bottom so I can run a longer travel rear shock. I'd gladly give up 2" of ground clearance close to the tires to be able to run a 4-5" longer travel shock. We run a 12" travel shock in the rear setup this way (photo below). Shock length EXT/COL will depend on how you have your lower shock mounts setup.

Here is a photo of our wheeling MJ. Running an AMC20 axle with Rockcrusher perches on factory 4WD MJ packs.

Motion , thanks for your input :thumbsup:

OK , so with a spare XJ just sitting there , I could still mock up the springs to achieve my goal .

I could get Rusty's 4" spring pack , but @88lb , shipping to Canada is $120 alone :ack:

I'll give Motion's plan a whirl . MJ main plus XJ others . See how that works out . That would be fine for now until I can see my way to pay $400 for rear springs and do it right . Might as well try it out and see what I can get , I have the parts already :)

Mnkyboy , the inverted 'y' design on our steering defllects the toe-in on every bump .

I realize that but I went from stock y link to Yj steering which is more of a crossover design and does not change toe in as the suspension moves and didnt notice any difference in how it reacted to bumps.

I wonder if its a ZJ thing, I helped a guy do a 5.5" LA on a 97 ZJ and it did handle strange compared to my MJ

I rode in a ZJ with about the same lift as my MJ, so the front is pretty much the same. The ZJ made me seasick from the @$$ end moving side to side as the suspension articulated.

That's a great benefit to owning an MJ we have leafs that offer great stability while still being long enough to give great flex.