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Change to coil suspension

14K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  soldiertrav 
#1 ·
hello fellow jeepers!! I have a question regarding suspension. I have a 93 YJ with plain shock suspension. I am wanting to put coils on for more support going through some very rutty roads in my area. Any ideas on the best way to go about this and what are some good brands of coils?
Thanks in advance for any info I receive!!!
 
#2 ·
Do you want to get rid of the leaf springs? Install coilovers with leaf springs to get away from shocks or what? Your question is a little unclear. If you want coils, sell your YJ and buy a TJ or JK. There is either a ton of custom fabrication to get coils in or high dollar kits such as procomp, genright, and black diamond coil kits. If doing the custom stuff, you'll need to worry about control arms, coils, and track bars. Sounds easy enough but there is a decent amount of geometry involved. On a YJ this is easier to accomplish with full width axles since YJ's have pretty wide frames compared to coil suspension jeeps.
 
#3 ·
I read this as him wanting to replace his shocks with those old school (JC Whitney)coil assisted shocks that they used to install on your moms station wagon to pull a travel trailer to Disney world.
Yes?

If so, they are really kind of cheese-ball.
How are your leaf springs?
Why do you want "support"? Are you hitting the bump stops now?
Upgrading your suspension with a 2.5" lift and gas shocks would be a more effective program to beef up your running gear.



If you are talking about replacing the leaves with a coils spring suspension, you should sell the YJ and get a TJ
 
#4 ·
Thanks "c5wagner" and "DREDnot". I was afraid that this project would be a little more than I wanted to tackle or spend. I had an idea that it would be quite the undertaking but didn't think about the little things that you two mentioned.
I don't think I am quite ready to sell the YJ though, been having to much fun wrenching on this and learning for my first jeep.
Thanks again!!!!
 
#5 ·
Seems like you've made up your mind but...

If you actually do want to do a coil swap, I would look at the TJ axle swap kits. If you find one with a truss, it should have coil buckets and maybe a trac bar mount, I know of an XJ kit that has it. You still need to be really skilled with metal work to do it all...

Definitely don't put any spring assisted shocks on the factory shock mounts, just read a few threads down and you should see someone with a broken shock mount. They are quite weak. Well, they just aren't meant to handle the abuse we like our Jeeps to take.

Enjoy! Leaf springs are character...
 
#6 ·
If you actually do want to do a coil swap, I would look at the TJ axle swap kits. If you find one with a truss, it should have coil buckets and maybe a trac bar mount, I know of an XJ kit that has it. You still need to be really skilled with metal work to do it all...
That's only a small part of the problem. After building a custom long arm suspension system with rear coil conversion with my younger brother on his XJ, there is much more than just an axle swap kit. On a YJ it would be even harder because of the short wheel base and wide frame..... It's possible but time and money can be saved just selling the YJ and buying a TJ. If I decide on a serious suspension change in the future, I'll be going full width axles, coil overs and a wheel base stretch just to make it easier. But I can easily do all of the trails relatively close to me except fordyce creek in norcal, so I don't see a reason to.
 
#7 ·
Right, so few people have actually done it because of how inefficient it is. I wouldn't recommend it but I am giving the poster a starting point if they really want to look into it.
 
#8 ·
Here is my setup: I run the black diamond conversion and couldn't be happier with its handling. Never have I experienced bump steer or any problems other than a rebuild of shocks.





 
#9 ·
Here is my setup: I run the black diamond conversion and couldn't be happier with its handling. Never have I experienced bump steer or any problems other than a rebuild of shocks.





Doesn't look like you get much front flex.... Is there a reason like sway bar still attached?
 
#10 ·
C5, you are correct, I didn't disconnect the front for this pic (old pic from when I first bought it). It Has a lot more flex disconnected and is a blast to wheel. I just don't have any recent pics of it off-roading. I'm gonna add metal cloak arched front fenders hopefully this winter.
 
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