79' CJ5 spring over help.....

[littlesdrag]

I am a new jeep fanatic. I just bought a 79 Renegade with the 304. Would everyone out there give me your thoughts on doing a spring over and adding a 2" body lift. The main thing is it safe then performance. It's gonna be a around town driver(furthest trip will be to the deer lease 45 min). As I said I'm new so if there's some do'z and dont's I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for your time

 

[eric m]

A spring over would be a lot of lift for that wheelbase, if the plan is a lot of road driving that could get downright scary...my dad has a '73 with a 2"suspension and 31x10.5o's...it could clear 33's. If your looking for looks and still want to drive it SAFELY...I'd recommend keeping it low and stable.

 

[littlesdrag]

What type of lift did he use(add leafs?). The only reason I was wanting to get it as high as I can get it, is because where we hunt gets VERY muddy and ruts are bad. What do y'all think of just adding a 2" body and 33" tires?

 

[xjmarc]

I personally am not a fan of body lifts due to linkage issues and would suggest a spring lift. Spring over will give you roughly 5" of lift but stock springs don't tend to like the setup and steering can be a bit tricky. What size tire are you trying to clear?

 

[superj]

i think a 2" bl and 33's would be cool. a buddy had a jeep like yours and he had 33's on it. not knowing anything about the jeep, i could not help at all with the set up other then he had 33's and there wasn't lots of clearance for the tires in the wells. we went through everything though. if the tanks could make it, we tried it.

 

[littlesdrag]

Well I wanted 35's but Would be very happy with33's with some fender well clearance.

 

[flatie46]

I think 33's would be a better choice. The 5 is so short it don't take much tire and lift for them to seem taller than they really are. Also the 33's wouldn't take away from your gearing as much.

 

[eric m]

What type of lift did he use(add leafs?). The only reason I was wanting to get it as high as I can get it, is because where we hunt gets VERY muddy and ruts are bad. What do y'all think of just adding a 2" body and 33" tires?

It's just a plain jane 2" suspension lift I don't rember what brand...it's been at least 9yrs ago. Tho knowing the shop that did it i'd assume it was B.D.S. His jeep had 31's on it with no lift (and sagging springs). I'd think you should be able to clear 33's with amild lift and maybe some fender trimming/flares if you get into any rubbing.

 

[jps4jeep]

my last cj (77 narrow track, v8) had a OME 2.5" lift with the 2.5" springs in the front. it was the best lift kit for ride quality I have ever driven or riden in for a Jeep. This particular jeep was just a put around town jeep and ran 35" tires.

 

[littlesdrag]

I'm starting to figure out this jeep thing is addictive! Bought my wife a Sahara unlimited and we love it. That's what got me wanting an older jeep.

 

[big_o_tom]

A 2 1/2" should clear 33's, then if you want or need to go higher put a 1 or 2" body lift on it for 35's. A cj-5 is definately more tricky when lifted. Ive seen a lot of spring overs done on them and cj-7's to. You could do a spring over and run 35's easy. Some say that theres more axle wrap when you do that but Ive never had a problem with it. Most of the 4x4 trucks come from the factory with a spring over and there just fine. Just do some research and firgure out whats best for you. I like spring overs but a lifted cj-5 with 35's may just be a little iffy. If you go that route do it right and get used to driving it before jumping in wide open!

 

[littlesdrag]

Thanks man I'm starting to lean more towards the 2.5" and a 1-2" BL. What I hear from a lot of people is that these lil CJ5's will go just about anywhere.