It's not just a matter of flipping springs..

if you can fab.. you can do it. it's pretty simple I did it..

For starters...

You need to move your perches to the top of the axle.. lengthen brake lines. shocks and maybe your vacume hoses.

you need to figure out your swaybar, and trackbar mounts, and maybe even get your driveshafts worked on..

it's not a super easy swap. and although Ive never installed a SOA kit. I highly doubt that they are complete.. if they were for $300.. I would definitely snatch it up.

 

Put a link up to it, but I have never used a kit for a soa. really not alot to the suspension, it is the steering that will bite you in the rear. Regardless if your fab skills are not up to par, stay sua, there is no bolt on soa. It will require welding and some imagination.

I think budget wise SOA is more costly than SUA but dang it is flexy!!!

 

It is definitely not just a matter of flipping springs. Driveshaft angles, steering solutions, brake lines, shocks, slip yoke eliminators, driveshafts, spring wrap concerns, axles, gear ratios.....

IMHO, any SOA is too complicated for a 'kit' to be worthwhile. All the things that need to be changed, the different axles that people may have, different driveshaft lengths that you'd need, etc. I just can't see that there's a good "fits all".

Your sig says you have a 4 cyl. and 31s. 31s would be too small for a SOA, and you'd probably need new gears for larger tires.

Then, it'd be silly to regear a dana35 rear, so you should get a new rear axle for the SOA, and the gears and larger tires.

Then, depending on the axle you choose (44, 8.8, etc.) will depend on what happens to your driveshaft lengths.

Then, you can go with a SYE. I think you can do a SOA without it, but that's not the best approach, IMO.

Then, you'll need a CV rear driveshaft.

Then, a front steering solution for the dana30. Z-shaped tie rod, or a high steer solution. Or a new front axle to match your rear. Perhaps change to 5 on 5.5 dana44s, like from a waggy. Or stick with the dana30 perhaps with an 8.8, and keep the 5 on 4.5. Then you'll need a steering solution for the SOA, as mentioned. Keep in mind the front needs to be geared to match the rear, so that's a regear in there somewhere.

The, Shocks, measure and buy once it's SOA.

Then, Brake lines, same, measure and buy once it's done.

Not to be a nay sayer, as I love my SOA, but there's a fair amount to doing one.

I hate to see people get into a job, and then find out later that all of these things need to be addressed.

Good luck
Pete

 

There ain't no such thing as a cheap lift. They all take time, research, parts, fabrication to do the job right. Look at the above posts and learn from those who've gone before. With a lift, doing the job right means the devil is in the details.

Did I mention I hate lifts? IMHO, install a full roll cage and a winch BEFORE you install a lift. Make the lift the 3rd modification.

 

Its Amazing how many things click to gether when I ask a question on a web fourm. Thanks so much for the imput.

Dang it's hard to ype when on my left has 3 fingers that are spranded....(dang jack sliping and no one hearing me yell for help. Yaya for my luck of never breaking anything.... I think)

Thanks all got to go direct my friend on how to finish fixing my jeep for me.

 

All the above....

And...make sure you get the right spring perches...stock will not work...you want longer ones like those made by MORE. I have stock perches on my cj and the front springs are already trashed.

BTW....the D35 will be 'ok' with SOA...the only thing that changes if you swap axles is the spring perches....but a D35 is a bit weak for anything larger than 32" tires....It's just not worth the money to install gears a lockers in a D35...

 

I've done a yj spring over on the cheep on my buddy's yj. His jeep allready had 1-2" lift spring/ shocks and an sye/cv drive shaft in the rear, dana 30/35. He ended up putting 35's on it without a problem.

Here's what we did

Fabbed spring perches for free out of 2x4 tubing

We made shock mounts to make his 2-3" lift shocks work for free out of steel i had lying around

Made a rear brake line extension bracket out of scrap square tube and then bent new hard lines for about $10

Front brake hoses worked tough if you need new ones you can usually find something in the parts store book for about $15-$20 each

Made a cross over steering bracket out of 1/4" and 1/2" plate i had lying around and it cost $15 for the machine shop to put a tapered hole in for the drag link

New u-bolts were i think about $52

Front drive shaft was fine, he allready had a sye and rear cv shaft which worked out allright

Longer breathers, about $5 in hose

There's probably about $100 into the spring over, maybe a little more when you add in consuamables. It took about a week of nights to do and we had air tools, a 175 mig welder, oxy/act torch, grinders, hand drill, drill press, hole saws, basic hand tools, pretty much everything i'm using to build my buggy and that's what we used to build his jeep. If you don't have atleast a welder, 4 1/2" grinder, a good hand drill, basic hand tools, the right size hole saws to make the perches, and some basic wrenching/ fab knowledge a spring over isn't for you, look into 4" lift springs. It's pretty much one of those things if your asking how to do it, it probably isn't for you.

Now this spring over is "tempory", he's got a 44/12 bolt combo that will be in adventually. Around here if you have stock gears, open diffs, and kinda bald 35's axles will usually survive. If you are playing in the rocks or start to gear and lock the 30/35 they won't last long.

There's nothing saying you can't run 35's on stock axles with stock gears, it will be doggy and you will run a much higher chance of breaking parts. I ran 35's with 3.08 gears, a tired 258 that maybe ran on 4 cylinder, kinda bald pro comp muds, and open diffs. It survived a season of midwest wheeling without any axle breakage, it wouldn't go any where in 4 hi though 4 low wasn't that bad.

 

Thanks all for the information. It really helps me plan out my jeep better. As for the tools the only thing I'm missing is a welder. (I worked for a genral contractor for 2 years befor going back to school. (if you know any kid who is thinking of droping out of school I'll strightin them out for you!)

Leve, right now I have a stock roll cage. I plan on geting a full cage down the road but what is your idea of a full roll cage? So I have a better idea of what the good stuff looks like /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Also if I don't know how to do it I'm more likly to try it so I learn how to do it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

You arn't going to do a yj soa on the cheep without a welder. Drop the cash now for a decent one (i love my miller 175 mig) and you'll save tons of $$ in the long run building your own parts.

You see a lot of is all i need the "kit" to do a spring over posts and usually the people asking about them shouldn't be putting one on. I know a couple years ago I would have majorly messed up a spring over on the cheep.

What size tire do you want to run and what type of wheeling do you do?

 

This is all future speak. I want 35s and all I do at this time is trails. I've only been driving for a 14 months now. (not in a jeep but any driving) as for buying a welder I plan on geting one but something like that I'll get in the fall probly. I also don't want to do anything cheap on my jeep I want to spend my money wisely.

Well time to get back to work on my jeep!

 

Andy brings up a good point. A couple of years of jeeping and improving your driving skills, as well as your fab skills doing smaller projects, might be a good idea before you tackle a SOA.

I've had my jeep for 14 years. I just did my SOA last spring, and last summer was my first season on the SOA and 35s. I progressed up through 31s with a mild lift, to 33s with a 4" plus lift, then onto the 35s and SOA.

Improve your fab skills by doing smaller projects - like bumpers, rocker skids, maybe a tire carrier. Take a community-college night school welding class, that kind of thing.

I'm not saying you need to be as slow as I was, but spend a few years learning about your jeep - what it can and can't do. Then move up as your skills improve.

Just my $0.02
Good luck
Pete