Next project; tweaking the front suspension.
Several things have been piling up to do:
1) finish going to all Johnny Joint suspension links
2) mini-skids
3) diff cover to match rear
4) stance adjustment
1) My front UCA axle side bushings may have been original 1997 units. Even if they weren’t, the bolt size was slightly smaller than the 7/16” hole in the Savvy front upper arms. Also, my JKS HD track bar came with a poly bushing on the axle side and, chasing ever better steering, I decided to change all 3 to Currie Johnny Joints. The UCA joints are CE-9102K for the 7/16” bolts. The track bar end is RJ-305301-102 and fit perfectly in the JKS HD bar.
JKS:
View attachment 378380
Currie:
View attachment 378379
The UCA mounts were a little more work. Removing the old on driver’s side:
View attachment 378367Old vs new:
View attachment 378368
Installed:
View attachment 378369
Now for the passenger side. After cutting the 10 ga. tower, the new piece doesn’t sit flush because the angle of the tower isn’t 90 degrees to the axle.
View attachment 378370So some contouring with a 40 grit flap disc ensued:
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better:
View attachment 378372And welded in:
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Thanks
@AndyG for the idea to plug weld the back
.
Painted and installing the bushing removed to prevent over heating while welding:
View attachment 378381
2) I‘ve had these mini-skids on the shelf for ever. So since I had the welder out, on they go (I ground these because I wanted them smooth but also my welds were ugly
)
View attachment 378376
3) Next, the new Dana/Spicer Dana 30 diff cover and lube locker went on to match the rear. A good opportunity for cleaning:
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4) Last, and really requiring the most thinking, this TJ has always had a rake since I bought it in 2019 w/ the po’s 3” lift. Originally, the spring ride height was 11” rear and 15” front, so the rake was like the factory angle. After the hind end project recently, the rear got higher (either due to weight reduction in the rear and/or sandblasting and powder coating the rear springs which may have stiffened them?) Which ever, the rake was much more pronounced (+1.5” tire to fender rear vs front):
View attachment 378350
So I decided to go to taller springs in front and got Currie 9132F (supposedly 4” lift). However I got 5.5”; They that took it from 15” to 17.5” at ride height
(rake to squat
)
View attachment 378351So I tried Currie 9132F1 springs (they list them as 3”). That worked. Now it’s at 16.75” (4.75” lift) front and 12.25” rear (4.25” lift) with a full tank.
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Looks level and tire to fender is a uniform +/-7.5” at all 4 corners. Clearance is increased; ground to T-case skid is 17.5”
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New front shocks were also in order to better utilize the extra free length of the Currie springs. Here are the 3 springs. Left to Right: original 3” spring (19“ free length), Currie 9132F spring (22” free length) and the 9132F1 spring (21” free length)
View attachment 378355
My TJ is light (about 3500#). This makes it difficult to set the ride height right in the middle of shock travel (I end up with more up than down). My current shocks were Bilstein B5100 24-185257. They have 9.12” travel and are 24” at full extension. However the original 19” free length springs would unseat by an inch at full droop. I decided to bump up travel only a little with Bilstein 24-188180 which have 9.65” of travel and are 24.63” at full extension. With these shocks, the Currie 9132F1 springs come within about 1/2” of their free length at full droop. I did consider the longer Rancho 5000x 55255. They have 10.73” travel and is 26.53” at full extension. However, the Currie 9132F1 springs don’t have enough free length to prevent unseating with those Ranchos. Here are the previous and slightly longer new Bilsteins:
View attachment 378363
Note, Bilstein also makes another shock with the same specs as the 24-188180 (9.65” travel, 24.63” ext, 14.98” comp). It’s the 24-185429. It has stiffer valving and is apparently for TJs with long arms.
Suspension cycling shows I’m leaving about 1” of shock travel on the table with bumps set to tire at fender:
View attachment 378364
At present therefore, I have 5” up travel and 3.75” down travel in front. In the back, its 4.5” up and 3” down).
Once ride height/stance was satisfactory, it was time to reset the front pinion angle/caster and adjust the steering. At the new ride height, I had to adjust out 1 degree of caster bringing it from 5.2 degrees to 4.2 degrees to put the front pinion angle (9.2 degrees) within 1 degree af the front driveshaft angle (10.2 degrees). I set the toe at 1/8” in. Note: earlier in this thread, I measured my caster incorrectly and came up with a higher number (7degrees). The error was not ensuring the angle cube was perpendicular to the axle when sitting on the upper ball joint. It’s pretty touchy and therefore a difficult measurement to do.
View attachment 378365
With all adjustments done and everything lubed and torqued to spec, a test drive showed improved steering feel which I attribute to the new Johnny joints and no noticeable loss of stability with increased ride height and decreased caster. Also no vibes and looks better.
View attachment 378366
Done. For now…