RE springs . . .

[SenorCole86]

I was looking around the RE website the other day, and noticed that the 2.5" lift kit for the CJ uses 2.5" YJ lift springs. I always thought that YJ springs were flatter than CJ springs, so how could the same spring provide 2.5 inches of lift for both the CJ and the YJ. If I'm not mistaken, I could run their 1.5" SOA springs SUA for 1.5" of lift and be fine, correct?

 

[redrooster]

Sounds like some conflicting info there. CJ front springs are narrower than YJ springs. The YJ's will not fit in the hanger or shackle.
I have converted mine to YJ springs in the front. Much better than the old CJ's. YJ rears will work on the CJ.

 

[GaryMB]

RE makes a shackle that lets you mount YJ springs on the front of a CJ. I havn't heard of YJ springs being flatter, but who knows...with the wider spring design maybe the springs compress less under the weight of the vehicle and thus don't need as much arch to them? The 1.5" soa springs are designed with a reverse eye specifically for soa applications so that the spring does not go into a negative arch and thus does not fatigue as easily in soa applications, a common problem with soa factory springs. However, there should be no problems using the 1.5" springs for sua, they should still yield 1.5" of lift...

 

[SenorCole86]

how would the 1.5" SOA springs flex in and SUA application? Would the reverse eye kill the flex normally seen in RE products or should I not worry?

 

[TwistedCU]

The reverse eye springs won't fit on your CJ's front end without modifications or these conversion shackles:
http://www.rubiconexpress.com/Products.aspx?Pn=1941&Vid=E706663097727.
Not sure about the lift height, I'd email RE on that one to be sure

 

[redrooster]

I would agree on e-mailing them. They have addressed the width issue on the shackle end, but you still have to widen the fixed hanger end. How do they address that?

 

[SenorCole86]

I can widen the spring hangers and shackles no probem. That's not an issue. I was just worried about the ride height and flex. I'll email RE about the ride height, what about the flex though? How will the reverse eyes affect flex?

 

[TwistedCU]

How will the reverse eyes affect flex?

They flex great and being SUA shouldn't change that.

 

[GaryMB]

The reverse eye just makes a more durable spring...both in sua and soa, and should yield good flex in both applications. It's not necessary in a sua setup, but won't hurt. The fixed spring hangers on CJ's are already wide enough to accomodate 2.5" springs even in the front, if you look at the bushings on the back of the front springs you will notice that they extend an extra .5" on either side of the spring, where if you were to use normal bushings you could use YJ springs in the front without modification. All you need are those special shackles that RE makes, or you could even move those extra wide bushings to the front shackle hanger and just use a regular 2.5" wide shackle in the front. This would not be as stable as the RE shackles and not a great idea for a DD, but would provide better flex through more lateral movement much in the same way that revolver shackles work.