SOA conversion

[Snitty]

1046846

A buddy of mine is very interested in a spring over conversion... I agreed to help him. I have most of the process down, did my research, and think it will turn out alright. Its a 92 wrangler 2.5... Has anyone done such a project? if so... is there anything I should keep in mind here???? thanks ahead[addsig]

 

[Tug-n-pull]

1046850

I am not able to help you sorry but I would like to know more as this project goes on. Please keep us informed as the progress goes, what problems you run into, and some before and after pics if posible? Thanks in advance for any and all help Tug[addsig]

 

[far_right]

1046859

ive never done one or had one done, but from reading stuff the back is fairly easy, but i think the front can get hard w/ steering and stuff, somewhere i read that when doing a soa you should go ahead and do a crossover steering setup, b/c it would work better than just a droped pitman arm.... [addsig]

 

[1bigmf]

1046860

hello , snitty i have done a few and one on my 91 YJ if you need something let me know... it is way easier thatn it looks ... all you are really doing is just moving the axles ,, adding longer brake lines ,, dropping the trans ,, putting on a drop pitman arm ,,

and then you have to do something to your drive shaft ( add an inch or sye ) he can use the one yall have now but just as a temp .... if yall have not bought the lift yet ,,,,, you might thinck FULL TRACTION suspension ..... www.full-traction.com they have a new bolt on style that works well .... my soa is a rubicon express which means you have to weld and fix you own pinion angles.... fulltraction also has a better steering set up ....... hey if you need more help u can e-mail me @ ramonassociates@aol.com.....

oh get some tall jack stands

real tall

this lift will make him a monster

4.10 gears /2.5motor/soa/ he should flex about 1000 or 950 rti .... i did with 35s as my tires

do i love this stuff.... i'm pumped and it's not my jeep ,, but thats just me and thats why i do this.....one more thing it only takes 6 hours to a day ...

[addsig]

 

[Snitty]

1046883

We'll be making our own spring perches and skidplate spacers. The only things we won't be making are the driveshaft and the pitman arm. so.... how much should the skidplate be dropped... and how much of a drop on the pitman should we go with??? thanks a load[addsig]

 

[RayOvac]

1046951

Go SYE and CV shaft for the rear....I wouldnt even dream of just lowering the case for an SOA. I mean you could but I dont think that the results would be that good. I did a regular 4" lift on my YJ and lowered the case about 1 1/2inches and it works but I still have some small driveshaft vibrations around 25mph. An SOA is gonna give you about 6-7" so you are definetly gonna probably have to go CV in the back and your front will have to be lengthened about an inch or so. My front shaft is just barely long enough for my lift. Pitman arm I would guess about a 4 inch drop...you might just have to see after you get it lifted about how much drop you need to get the angles right...I have heard that a pitman off an XJ works quite well for this and as they are numerous in most junkyards so locating one for cheap ought to be easy.[addsig]

 

[1bigmf]

1046979

the lift is 5.5 inches u will only want to lower it an inch ..... i ran with my driveshaft 1" longer for a year with 7" of lift ... no real prob,,, it did not feel stock but thats what you get when you go that high..... for the pitman arm 4" is all you can get and that will work....on your rear you should fab a traction bar or you will get axle warp ... i lost a lot of rear yoke due to this and it's not cool but you live and learn.... when tilting the rear make sure it is not straight at your slip yoke let it sit a little below ... this will help in the long run ,, on your u-joints and keeps the bad vibs out

good luck ... hey are you going to use it for rock crawling ???? if so you might want to fab new shock mounts .... u know make them sit up about 4 or 5 inches up so rocks won't hit them ... i lost some shocks to rocks

u can look at a traction bar et up at samsoffroad.com i made the one i have out of my old trac bars oh yeah you won't need those ,,, it's a YJ

let me know how it goes[addsig]

 

[Snitty]

1046982

Well... we started the process today... we didn't do much, but his shock mounts were broken before... so we made some up a while back. Both upper mounts in the rear and one rear lower mount broke.... We are looking to find the best way to fab these up... We have what seems to be a quite sturdy upper mount fabbed. We welded those together tonight. We will be welding them onto the frame tomorrow, as well as getting started on taking the rear apart. I think we'll be making the new lower shock mounts integrated with our new spring perches, not quite yet though. I guess we're kinda doing the shocks as we see it suitable. Tomorrow we'll be shopping for a pitman arm from the junkyard. We'll be in the planning stage for a few hours once we get the axles out to find the best perch design and shock mounts. Because we are putting the axles under the spring, there is more of a chance of axle wrap, so we'll be designing a traction bar to elimitate that. And because we are going so high, we will be doing some sway bar modifications or fabrications. I'll take pictures and keep you guys posted on the progress. Snit[addsig]

 

[1bigmf]

1047123

the sway bar can stay the same u just use the right plate for the left and the left for the right and put them on top.................... perches and shock mounts can be made out of 2"x2" tubing .... make them aboud 6" long no more or less .... for the shock mounts just notch out one side (where the shock goes) and round the other for the axle ... the just place them on top.....

like i said before if you want to talk just drop me a line e-mail me at ramonassociates@aol.com anytime ..... good luck

[addsig]

 

[Snitty]

1047166

We got a good chunk done today. We have the entire rear lifted. I wanted to start in the front, but the owner insisted on the rear... so i guess we have to mess with all the steering junk tomorrow... We have yet to install the shocks in the rear, we have the upper mounts welded in, and the lower mounts are made up but not in yet. The sway bar in the rear didn't want to let go of its bolts so he got angry and cut it in half. It needed to be extended anyway, so we'll patch a piece of pipe in there. He thinks his 32 inch mudder looks small in the well... so he wants to throw on 38's.... I told him to wait and reconsider. I'm really pleased with the whole process so far. The drive shaft situation isn't the best right now, we're trying to consider the most inexpensive way to go about it. Its going well... I think the biggest problem is going to be thinking of a way to back the jeep OUT of the garage now that the jeep sits higher than the garage door after the lift. We'll get it out, deflating the tires and removing the shackles should do it. If not... I guess the roll bar is getting cut. I'll keep you guys up on whats going on.[addsig]

 

[Snitty]

1047208

Today we started on the frong.... Spraying everything with WD-40 last night helped a lot. The only thing we could not get apart today was the pitman arm. That nut is a tenacious little monkey. Hopefully after a night of soaking the nut(which we forgot to do last night), it should ease up.... if not.... the torch will help. We also made some upper shock mounts/adapters today for the front, so we can use standard eyelet type shocks. This is a MONSTEROUS lift. It does make the 32" meats look tiny. The best part is the price. So far, the lift alone (not including shocks, pitman arm, and driveshaft mods)... it has costed us a total of $0.00 for parts. Now is where the money comes in... when we need to modify the rest of the vehicle to make up for the added space. Tomorrow we will be doing the pitman arm, brake lines, breather hoses, T-case lowering, shock installation.... I think it should be finished tomorrow or the day after. I like it.... Up, Up we go. I'll keep you guys in on it.[addsig]