73 Cj5 With Unknown Lift - Measurement Please

I just bought a 73 CJ5 on 33s with an unknown five leaf spring pack that looks to be the stock width. However the Jeep looks to sit a little high so I figured they might be aftermarket. Can someone measure from the front Dana 30 axle tube up to the frame where the bump stop Mount is related to your known lift? Mine measures 7 1/2 in.

 

I just measured my 75 at 5 3/8. That’s from the top of the Dana 30 to frame (not the bump stop). I do have 2 1/2 in BDS springs with stock shackles though. Hopefully this helps a bit.

 

Yes, thank you. This helps a lot and confirms my suspicions!

 

As I recall '73 came with 7 or 10 leaf front (std or HD resp), and 5 or 10 leaf rear. The rear 5s would be a progressive spring, with 3 curved leaves and two thick flat "overload" leaves.

The heavy duty suspension sat maybe an inch higher than the standard suspension, so I'd say a 2.5" lift kit is about 1-1.5" higher than the factory HD suspension.

5 thick leaves front and rear is aftermarket, and could be Rough Country or maybe Rancho? You could search for old threads with those key words - site:earlycj5.com rancho lift kit - Bing

 

Well, after much searching I am still unsure of the specifics around the springs. I have the Jeep partially stripped down right now, about to begin a v8 conversion. I am unsure of what was in there before as far as an engine. The springs do have somewhat of an arch to them in the back which I assume will not have much more weight on it once completed. The spring center bolt is equidistant from each end of the spring however the axle sits a little forward in the wheel well. I took a picture of the angle of the shims as I would assume those are aftermarket.

 

My thoughts are those springs are Rancho or Trail Master. Leaning towards Trail Master.

 

The retainer clips look identical to the ones on my rancho springs, but there are some differences - rancho springs come with two sets of retainers per leaf pack and they have a slightly fatter and shorter bottom helper spring. Although it’s possible both of those were removed by the PO.

rancho springs typically have the part number in big white stencils on top of the spring. Do you see anything numbering there?

 

Rancho is usually full wrap IME , those don't look like it?

 

Looks like aftermarket shackles which may be adding a bit to lift height. Probably not more than 1/2" - 1" though. The shackles don't look super long but do appear longer than stock.

 

Those look like the mystery springs on my '71. They were on it when I got it:


They even look like the same shims:


They sit about the same height as the 2.5" ProComps on my '69.

I have no idea who the manufacturer is. I have ProComps on the '69, Ranchos on the flatfender, and a BDS set to replace the mystery springs on the '71. These mystery springs don't match any of them. They were probably made by some long gone supplier for the JC Whitney catalog.

 

Based upon everybody's responses here, and the research I've done since, I believe these are trailmaster springs. I appreciate everyone's input. This changes my whole approach entirely as these things are hard as a brick!

 

X2! They are terrible. That's why I've got BDS springs waiting to be installed.