Cheap suspension lift?

[ferretjuggler]

Get ready to cringe guys. Dumbass proposal coming up.
Imagine I was doing a ground up build on a FSJ wagoneer for example, and I wanted, say, a 3" lift all round.
What if I extended all the spring mounts on the chassis down by 3".
Like Fr & Rr fixed mounts, the Fr & Rr moving shackle mounts, and the shock absorber mounts too.
I know there's other issues like propshaft angles and steering linkage.
But I can't see any real reason it wouldn't work.
Maybe the spring mounts might tend to ground out compared to a normal lift kit, but I bet it would be a lot better than stock.

[imiceman44]

Get ready to cringe guys. Dumbass proposal coming up.
Imagine I was doing a ground up build on a FSJ wagoneer for example, and I wanted, say, a 3" lift all round.
What if I extended all the spring mounts on the chassis down by 3".
Like Fr & Rr fixed mounts, the Fr & Rr moving shackle mounts, and the shock absorber mounts too.
I know there's other issues like propshaft angles and steering linkage.
But I can't see any real reason it wouldn't work.
Maybe the spring mounts might tend to ground out compared to a normal lift kit, but I bet it would be a lot better than stock.

Much easier to do is a Spring over axle in the front and shakle flip in the rear with a 1" or 2" block.
The whole thing cost me less than $100 and I did it in one afternoon.
Messing with spring mounts for a moderate lift is not necessary on the FSJ.
If you want more then you will need a different approach.
By the way I didn't count the shock or the driveshaft cost since you have to deal with that with any lift, I didn;t need to do anything to the shafts but put new shocks all around.

[jeepjerry]

Get ready to cringe guys. Dumbass proposal coming up.
Imagine I was doing a ground up build on a FSJ wagoneer for example, and I wanted, say, a 3" lift all round.
What if I extended all the spring mounts on the chassis down by 3".
Like Fr & Rr fixed mounts, the Fr & Rr moving shackle mounts, and the shock absorber mounts too.
I know there's other issues like propshaft angles and steering linkage.
But I can't see any real reason it wouldn't work.
Maybe the spring mounts might tend to ground out compared to a normal lift kit, but I bet it would be a lot better than stock.

I have always had that idea also but have never tried it. I would just make plates to weld on and lower the spring mount hole down and then box it all in. Should be plenty strong plus you have stock spring ride quality. If you dont try it i might, but let us know if you do.

[ferretjuggler]

I'm gonna try it on a CJ7 first, I'm pretty confident at fab/welding and stuff.
I've got more CJ stuff than FSJ, if it don't work I can live with it.

[Tad]

Actually I have wheeled several times with one of our AZ members who did a very similar setup.
Sort of like this:
He removed the back rear FSJ hangers and flipped them over and used a shim to correct the pinion angle. Sort of a down, dirty and quick shackle flip.
He then lowered the front mounts by about 3-4" (or what ever it took to equal it out) on some box tube and braced it all in.
It's not an SOA/Shackle Flip at 6-7" but it wheels quite well.

I'm not sure what the suspension on a CJ7 looks like, probably real simillar to ours up front, but I'm sure it's very doable.

[ferretjuggler]

I don't want to confuse the issue, but....
I had a plan to build a 4 door crewcab J series pickup with a full 7' bed.
Due to circumstances changing I've got to put that on hold for a few years.
So I'm gonna use what parts I've collected for the project on one of my two SJ 4 door Cherokees (the rough one I was gonna hack for the pickup)
I got Chevy Blazer half ton GM axles, an inch or so wider than J10s.
Front axle is SOA with the spring pad cast into the pumpkin.
Rear is SOA but with narrower spring pad spacing than SJ, so I'm going to rework the SJ rear chassis to a springs under the chassis rails design to equal whatever lift I've got at the front.
I've had the measuring tape all over them and I'm confident it will work.
OK so this aint quite what I described above but the rear end more or less is.
I posted the thread just to see if the idea was a no-no, like:
"my buddy tried that and his chassis snapped in half"

[4x4fEvEr]

Get ready to cringe guys. Dumbass proposal coming up.

You said it not me. Bad idea. Unless you are building sgt.rock from Trucks and are gonna run 54" boggers with 6" lift springs sprung over? you would be way ahead with a liftkit. Only reason to do that is just tosay you did it. Hellcreek makes a 3" lift and bj's makes a 4" lift. Go that route its new springs, a better ride and way less work

but I bet it would be a lot better than stock.

What? As far as ride height cuz you still have wore out springs and lots of other problems associated with it. The back shackle hanger will be a real pain unless you inboard the springs to drop it. Just say no to dumbass ideas

[jsinajeep]

You said it not me. Bad idea. Unless you are building sgt.rock from Trucks and are gonna run 54" boggers with 6" lift springs sprung over? you would be way ahead with a liftkit. Only reason to do that is just tosay you did it. Hellcreek makes a 3" lift and bj's makes a 4" lift. Go that route its new springs, a better ride and way less work

What? As far as ride height cuz you still have wore out springs and lots of other problems associated with it. The back shackle hanger will be a real pain unless you inboard the springs to drop it. Just say no to dumbass ideas

I disagree, I done the 2"x4" tube welded to my frame and used the stock springs. Everybody that ride with me tell me how nice it ride compaired to the ones they driven with the 4" spring lift. That be my 2 cent worth. And it wheels real nice.

[jeepjerry]

I disagree, I done the 2"x4" tube welded to my frame and used the stock springs. Everybody that ride with me tell me how nice it ride compaired to the ones they driven with the 4" spring lift. That be my 2 cent worth. And it wheels real nice.

Got any pics of it?

[incommando]

www.ttfabworks.com

You will not be disappointed.

[1977cherokeechief]

You said it not me. Bad idea. Unless you are building sgt.rock from Trucks and are gonna run 54" boggers with 6" lift springs sprung over? you would be way ahead with a liftkit. Only reason to do that is just tosay you did it. Hellcreek makes a 3" lift and bj's makes a 4" lift. Go that route its new springs, a better ride and way less work

What? As far as ride height cuz you still have wore out springs and lots of other problems associated with it. The back shackle hanger will be a real pain unless you inboard the springs to drop it. Just say no to dumbass ideas

you beat me to it... but i was thinking that it is a good idea, cheap, easy, and quick, and can be really strong if built right.

i was thinking about something like that because i do not want to fork a lot of money for something that could get wrecked at any moment while on the road...