'95 Sahara, 1st YJ

TRevs

TRevs

YJ Enthusiast
Supporting Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2022
Messages
252
Location
San Antonio, TX
I just got my first YJ and wanted to document the project here. I've been on the sister TJ forum with an '06 for a few years so this seems like the place to be.

I never thought I'd have two Jeeps, but here we are... I have virtually no interest in new cars filled with computers/complexity/cost, so I'm looking back in time for an affordable, fun to drive ride that I can restore and maintain. The LJ takes me into the mountains on moderate trails, but the YJ will be a city driver so I can enjoy the open air and sun.


IMG_0043.JPG
IMG_0045.JPG
IMG_0046.JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: bcemrich, Plastic Fury, bushyeyed1 and 2 others
It's got the 4.0L I-6 and AX-15. I pulled the build sheet and it says:

"Lt. Pearlstone Pearl Coat"
"DANA M235 WIDE REAR AXLE"
"3.55 REAR AXLE RATIO"

among other things. The hard top and carpet are long gone, as are the original wheels and seats. At least it still has doors!

The PO put in OME springs and aftermarket long shackles for a total of 4" of lift. It's on 33x12.5 Goodyears. The tires are brand new but I really don't want to run 33's. There's a T-case drop.

There's a lot of wander in the steering, and at a minimum it'll get new tie rod ends soon. There was a significant gas leak from above the tank; the PO helped me drop the tank and replace the cracked hoses. I should have taken photos of that! There's some minor rust to address, plus all the fluids/maintenance. I need to source a stock airbox too. The to-do list is already fairly long.

My dilemma is what to do with the lift/tires. I know I want to return it to near-stock height and approach a stock appearance, but I'm debating whether to return to stock height shackles and keep the OME springs, for ~30" tires, or go even smaller (~235/75/R15) and go to stock spec shackles and springs.

Advice is welcome!
 
  • Like
Reactions: ytradio and doc-ketamine
Trevs said:
It's got the 4.0L I-6 and AX-15. I pulled the build sheet and it says:

"Lt. Pearlstone Pearl Coat"
"DANA M235 WIDE REAR AXLE"
"3.55 REAR AXLE RATIO"

among other things. The hard top and carpet are long gone, as are the original wheels and seats. At least it still has doors!

The PO put in OME springs and aftermarket long shackles for a total of 4" of lift. It's on 33x12.5 Goodyears. The tires are brand new but I really don't want to run 33's. There's a T-case drop.

There's a lot of wander in the steering, and at a minimum it'll get new tie rod ends soon. There was a significant gas leak from above the tank; the PO helped me drop the tank and replace the cracked hoses. I should have taken photos of that! There's some minor rust to address, plus all the fluids/maintenance. I need to source a stock airbox too. The to-do list is already fairly long.

My dilemma is what to do with the lift/tires. I know I want to return it to near-stock height and approach a stock appearance, but I'm debating whether to return to stock height shackles and keep the OME springs, for ~30" tires, or go even smaller (~235/75/R15) and go to stock spec shackles and springs.

Advice is welcome!
Click to expand...
I would definitely go back to stock length 4” shackles, but I’d keep the Old man emu lift and run 31-10.50 tires.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JoeTex, YJ103, machoheadgames and 1 other person
ytradio said:
I would definitely go back to stock length 4” shackles, but I’d keep the Old man emu lift and run 31-10.50 tires.
Click to expand...
Any particular reason to go with 31x10.5 instead of 30x 9.5? Will 30’s look too small with a 2.5” lift?
 
Trevs said:
Any particular reason to go with 31x10.5 instead of 30x 9.5? Will 30’s look too small with a 2.5” lift?
Click to expand...
Well on a yj with the spring lift that you have, the 31’s work out fine and look a little better and offer you a little more off roading ability if you decide to do so. But in a nutshell, it’s just my opinion.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bcemrich
Nice find! I agree with YT, ditch the big ole shackles, keep the fantastic OME setup, and run a 31. You can do a 30 as well, I just don’t see a reason to, they’ll both handle about the same, although the 30’s will run a bit better on the 3.55s. Otherwise it’s all really just in the looks.

Most of the poor steering will naturally be gone when you ditch the shackles. Tall shackles lifting the Jeep 0.5” or more make a huge difference in steering feel. You can add a drop pitman arm if you don’t already have one to help the steering angles a bit which helps the steering feel some as well. But ditching the shackles will by far have the most effect.

After 3 years on 3.55 & 31’s myself, I got tired of it and went to 4.10 which was a good setup. I still wished for more gear sometimes, and I was building for 33’s the last two years, so I went to 4.88. Now I’ve changed my mind to 265/75R16 (31.6”), but I already have the 4.88s so it will just rev a tiny bit high. If I were to do it all over again, I’d do 30’s and 4.10, or 4.56 and 31’s.

Since you already have OME suspension, I’d suggest the OME shackles and bushings. They are proprietary and fit their own springs better than anything else can.

Enjoy! The YJ is a solid platform. It has its problems, mainly limitations of suspension and steering options, but other than that it is a good platform. It had less popular problems than the TJs so. No 05-06 pcm problem, no opda issues, no valve spring issues, head cracks, etc. Besides age and actual wear, there really is no dreaded YJ problem that happens like a trend to specific years or whatever like the TJ has. It’s really just age and wear that kills them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bcemrich
machoheadgames said:
Nice find! I agree with YT, ditch the big ole shackles, keep the fantastic OME setup, and run a 31. You can do a 30 as well, I just don’t see a reason to, they’ll both handle about the same, although the 30’s will run a bit better on the 3.55s. Otherwise it’s all really just in the looks.

Most of the poor steering will naturally be gone when you ditch the shackles. Tall shackles lifting the Jeep 0.5” or more make a huge difference in steering feel. You can add a drop pitman arm if you don’t already have one to help the steering angles a bit which helps the steering feel some as well. But ditching the shackles will by far have the most effect.

After 3 years on 3.55 & 31’s myself, I got tired of it and went to 4.10 which was a good setup. I still wished for more gear sometimes, and I was building for 33’s the last two years, so I went to 4.88. Now I’ve changed my mind to 265/75R16 (31.6”), but I already have the 4.88s so it will just rev a tiny bit high. If I were to do it all over again, I’d do 30’s and 4.10, or 4.56 and 31’s.

Since you already have OME suspension, I’d suggest the OME shackles and bushings. They are proprietary and fit their own springs better than anything else can.

Enjoy! The YJ is a solid platform. It has its problems, mainly limitations of suspension and steering options, but other than that it is a good platform. It had less popular problems than the TJs so. No 05-06 pcm problem, no opda issues, no valve spring issues, head cracks, etc. Besides age and actual wear, there really is no dreaded YJ problem that happens like a trend to specific years or whatever like the TJ has. It’s really just age and wear that kills them.
Click to expand...

@machoheadgames thanks for the input!

I'm getting under the jeep and sorting out what it actually has.

Turns out the nice and new OME springs are on the rear only. From the ARB catalog, CS036R can be Medium Load Rear, or Heavy Load Front.

IMG_0051.JPG
IMG_0056.JPG



Front springs are Skyjacker YJ20FSB, which is for 2.5" lift. They are not new but look serviceable.

The shackles are 6.5" from top bolt to bottom bolt, so I guess that's an additional 2.5" of lift? I'm running 5" of lift right now??

IMG_0072.JPG
IMG_0073.JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: bcemrich
I might go with OME all around, but the Light Duty would be better I think. Maybe I just need to settle on a tire size and go from there.

Couple questions:

Will 30's and 31's be too heavy for the stock spare tire carrier and tailgate?

If I go with Stock height springs, what's the largest tire size I can run without spacers or rubbing?
 
  • Like
Reactions: bcemrich
Shackles lift the vehicle half the net added length. 6.5” shackle is 2.5” longer than stock, so 1.25” lift. So you’re around 3.75” if we’re calling the springs 2.5”.

The OME ‘heavy’, ‘medium’, and ‘light’ load stuff is a bit confusing. They only sell one front spring, that is the 14F which they call heavy duty. It is a 4-leaf pack and 140 lb/in spring rate. The rear options are the ‘medium’ 36R which is a 5-leaf pack @ 180 lb/in rate, and the ‘light’ load option is the 37R also @ 180 lb/in. The difference between those two is the built in arch, 37R are arched 1” less. The intended use is for hardtop vs soft top, though it doesn’t make much difference. The idea is that the hardtop will compress the 36R to sit at the same height as a 37R.

A popular choice for folks is to run 36Rs on all four corners for a leveling affect. That’s what I did. Don’t stress about the medium or heavy or whatever. They will ALL ride good. I’m not sure why they chose to make the front springs lower rate, that’s where most of the weight is with the motor and such. I guess it’s to maintain rake. Since you have 36R in the rear, I’d keep those. Whether you choose the 14’s or the 36’s up front is up to you. The ‘medium’ 36 will sit the front higher than the ‘heavy’ duty front 14F. That’s what makes it so misleading.

31’s made my tailgate squeak. I did NOT extend the bump stops and within about a month the tailgate was rattling. I extended the bump stops and wd 40’d the hinges, noise stopped for a month. Noise came back and I didn’t try a better lube (remember, WD is hardly a lube), so I just went straight for a bumper tire carrier back then. I would think (but can’t confirm) that a 30” with a decent amount of backspacing and the snubbers extended will do ok. Unfortunately your 95 looks to be the early style with the 87-95.5 tailgate hinges. They started using TJ hinges in mid to late 95 which were an upgrade. That would have helped with the tire situation.

If you end up doing stock height springs, you’ll want a 1.25” body lift to handle 30’s. I fit 31’s with no lift but there was no uptravel. Maybe an inch before I could hit the fenders. 30’s helps but only by 1/2”. Body lift would go a long way for clearance.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bcemrich
Extremely helpful info; I’d rather avoid the body lift and go with just the 2.5” from the springs.

I have a pair of TJ hinges in the garage since I changed to the MORRyde setup on my ‘06. If TJ hinges are bolt-on that may be the way to go and put 30’s on the wheels.
 
Trevs said:
Extremely helpful info; I’d rather avoid the body lift and go with just the 2.5” from the springs.

I have a pair of TJ hinges in the garage since I changed to the MORRyde setup on my ‘06. If TJ hinges are bolt-on that may be the way to go and put 30’s on the wheels.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately the YJ “TJ” hinges are not actual TJ hinges. They’re the same style/strength as a TJ, but with YJ bolt spacing. The late 95 hinges are needed to upgrade a YJ. TJs spaced the bolts further apart than the YJs did. I’d just leave what you have and do the 30’s and snub them good. Maybe even get some stock wheels instead, the renegades had factory 29” tires, I imagine a snubbed 30” with respectable backspacing will not be a problem at all.
 
There are no snubbers on the tailgate now; it’s holding a 30x9.5 on a factory rim that appears to have 5.25” of backspacing.

The tire is very close to the tail gate already; 1/4” snubbers would probably keep it tight.

I really want to get back to stock height shackles and ditch the transfer case drop as well as the wheel spacers. I’m thinking 30x9.5 tires will accomplish all that without stressing the tailgate too much or looking comically small.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bcemrich
Since I’m new to leaf springs and there are no adjustable control arms, what sets the pinion angle? Mine looks way too steep, although I don’t know for sure what it should be.

There’s a wedge shim in the leaf stack under the U-bolts. Does that alone determine pinion angle?

I’ll post photos of that a bit later.
 
Trevs said:
There are no snubbers on the tailgate now; it’s holding a 30x9.5 on a factory rim that appears to have 5.25” of backspacing.

The tire is very close to the tail gate already; 1/4” snubbers would probably keep it tight.

I really want to get back to stock height shackles and ditch the transfer case drop as well as the wheel spacers. I’m thinking 30x9.5 tires will accomplish all that without stressing the tailgate too much or looking comically small.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I’m surprised it’s that close to the tailgate already with a stock rim. Stock rims and tires had about 1.5” snubbers. There were two sizes to fit various rim and tire combos from factory. My guess is the 9.5” wide tire is what’s putting it so close. I would want to snub it, as without any snubbing the tire is technically insecure And could still cause damage over time.

30‘s will not look bad; it’s mainly just that 31’s look the most proportional with 2.5”. But they don’t look all that different. There was a thread on Jeep forum years back where a guy posted up his red Jeep on stock, 2.5”, 30”, 31” and 32” or something like that. That really helped me decide on what I wanted.

Shims on the rear leaf springs set the pinion. OME springs come with some very small shims on the rear springs they sell (36R and 37R). I want to say they’re 2° or something like that.

What’s the driveshaft setup? SYE, double cardan, stock? What tcase drop? The OME tcase drop kit is 6 shiny puck spacers. I’m not a tcase drop fan but the OME version is a very non intrusive one; it complements the shims they supply with the springs perfectly. But if your pinion angle seems way high, the PO may have added their own fatter shims for whatever reason, correct or not.
 
Unfortunately the guy’s red Jeep pics on jeepforum are no longer available to see. Just a bunch of question mark icons. His name was “roverjeep90”. If you google his name and 31 or 32 you’ll get some pics. I found the post where he shared various pics of his 2.5” OME Jeep on 30/31/32, but all the pics are gone. Some of his stuff will show up on google, but blurry and with no info saying what the setup in each pic contains.

Here are two pics of mine from years ago, stock suspension and 31’s, vs Rough Country 2.5” and 31’s. The OME on 31’s sits about the same.

660DF1C8-0B32-4C61-975E-18B8528C7362.jpeg

5C150DC6-81A6-4962-86B2-6FDD330C139A.jpeg

I thought 2.5” on 31’s was about the best look one can do without looking large and overboard, but 33’s look sharp as well. 30’s wouldn’t look bad at all either, just a bit smaller. I don’t think it’ll look like skipping leg day or ridiculous or anything.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bcemrich
Also, I dunno what shocks you have currently, but if you’re in the spending money mood, the OME shocks are fantastic on the YJ. I was used to buckboard for many years with stock, RC, and BDS, but all-OME components seriously transformed my ride in a ridiculous way. The shocks are well worth it to throw in the cart as well. And honestly, the 14F springs are not a bad choice I don’t think. Being a 140 lb rating (same as stock), they’ll probably ride even better than my 36Rs up front and honestly, I’d like to get some rake back, I think mine will squat when I load it down.

Also, springs definitely affect ride quality on the YJ. Ya know the whole TJ thing where they don’t affect ride quality? Yeah, not here. So being mindful of spring brand/stiffness is critical to a YJ’s ride.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bcemrich
I’m pretty sure 30s will give me the look I’m after, especially since stock tires were around 27-28”.

The shocks are skyjacker and look fairly new. I’ll probably go with OME shocks if I get another pair of their springs, as well as their shackles.

In the immediate-term, I will use stock shackles the PO threw in, get it on 30s, remove the massive t-case drop.

I’ll have to post photos of the driveshaft and shims. They’re way more than 2°. I assume I have the stock driveshaft without SYE, but I’m not familiar enough with all that to know what I’m seeing.
 
Here's a pic I found of 2.5" and 30x9.5

1667849225227.png


OME shocks are nice for sure, highly recommend, though not urgent. Although if you're buying the other stuff then you kinda might as well get it all.

Your plan sounds good. Massive t-case drops suck. I bet that's why they put in giant shims, to match a giant tcase drop. Probably also didn't really know what they were doing in general. OME supplies shims and a tcase drop that perfectly complement each other and while I prefer no tcase drop, theirs works fine. Not saying you need to go that route, just making the point that doing giant shims and and a big drop is definitely not necessary.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bcemrich
machoheadgames said:
What’s the driveshaft setup? SYE, double cardan, stock? What tcase drop? The OME tcase drop kit is 6 shiny puck spacers. I’m not a tcase drop fan but the OME version is a very non intrusive one; it complements the shims they supply with the springs perfectly. But if your pinion angle seems way high, the PO may have added their own fatter shims for whatever reason, correct or not.
Click to expand...

I finally got under the jeep and took some more photos. To me the drive shaft - transfer case - yoke all looks stock, but I really don't know.

IMG_0112.JPG
IMG_0114.JPG
 
Top Bottom