Spent a couple hours in the garage last night. Originally, the Jeep sat on 3" springs. I've always liked the stability of a low rig with a wide stance; super stable, super predictable. Looking at how everything was sitting, I knew this wasn't going to be enough, especially if I wanted to drive at any kind of speed off road. I came across some 2" coil spacers for $free.99, and threw those on last night, along with some front bump stop extensions. They definitely gave everything a little more room to move. Will it be enough? only time will tell. I need to get this on a ramp, trim the fenders, and set the bump stops up.
I also bolted the wheels up so I could see how the backspacing looks, and I think its going to be just right. I pulled out the stock front axle shafts with the 1480 u-joints, and replaced them with F550 shafts with 1550 u-joints. yea, the 1480s most likely would've never given me any issues, especially on 37s, but for like $330 shipped, the F550 shafts not only give me a stronger u-joint (~30% stronger at the ears and joint), but also a TON of turning radius. (I'm going to hold onto the 1480 shafts for spares as well). You can get around 50* of usable steering angle before the shafts start to bind. That being said, I'm going to have to limit that. I don't want to have these operating at max angle, since that's when they'll be at their weakest, but also, because I will have to basically remove all the sheet metal from the front half of my Jeep to get full steering range throughout the full range of suspension travel. I do have a 10" PSC hydro assist ram that I'll get around to setting up eventually.
And then, there were shocks. I doubt anyone who knows me will be surprised that this build will be getting some Falcon shocks. Since Falcon doesn't make a ZJ specific shock for some reason (lol), I'm going to have to make something else work. The front shocks are going to be a tight fit; I'm still trying to figure out how to fit a piggyback shock in the stock location that doesn't interfere with the coil, and isn't severely limited on travel, due to mounting locations. The rear is a bit more open, but still not great. This pic shows the rear drooped out to the point that it will have dropped a coil by this point. The upper mount is stock, and the lower shock eyelet is sitting on the axle tube. The lower mount will be below the axle tube, hopefully not so low that its a rock-grabber. However, the upper mount is still in question. I want to move it up higher into the wheel well, but i do not want to cut into the wheel well. Maybe some kind of shock tower? I do have to watch out for the fuel filler hoses, which can just barely be seen to the right of the stock upper shock mount. I also have to watch out for clearance with the inside sidewall at full compression. It's always something.