Looks good. That is 100% the reason I just don’t take my CJ to a shop. It’s a rare thing to find a shop that puts in as much care as we would. There’s a reason you were hesitant on doing it.
Corey, I agree with you and will think twice before taking it to another shop. I'm glad to know you have had the same experiences. Thanks for the comment.
Sweet ride! I'm looking for new springs for mine and may go BDS thanks to your video. Just an FYI for those who don't know when you get a shackle "lift" it only adds half the measurement of lift on it. So a 1" shackle lift only adds 1/2" really. Springs are in the middle of the leaf spring and the lift in the shackle is only at one end.
Seems like if you don't do it yourself, no one will do it like u want. Lucky if they tighten the bolts! Jeep looks great. Putting a new Hooke Rd rear bumper on my CJ-7. Just got to make time for it. Keep up the good work 👍🙏😎❤️⚓🇺🇸
Thanks Alan. Unfortunately that has been my experience with a couple of different places. If you can do it yourself, I would for sure especially on an old CJ. JD
I lifted a CJ 4 in when i was a kid, i didnt have to lower the crossmember, the driveline angle was okay i did run out of slip on the drive shaft though several time out in the woods I think you could just use the wedges and buy a custom drive shaft, one of the beauty's about the CJ is the ease of lifting them. I used a Skyjacker lift 4 new u bolts 4 new springs 4 new shocks put it on in about 4 hours...not sure about this BDS lift and why you had so many problems with it.
The lift itself is actually great and the Jeep rides great considering the lift and 35 inch tires. The problem was more the shop and the quality of the work. The BDS kit came with the pieces to lower the crossmember to ease the driveline angles. With my 350 swap, I ended up having to get new drive shafts so all is good now. JD
They were terrible! They did the bare minimum and are a bolt and unbolt shop. Too bad it is that way but that's been my experience at most local shops. JD
Are you referring to the drive shafts? My Jeep had an old worn out 4 inch lift on it so the driveshafts had already been lengthened so when I put in the BDS lift, I didn't have to change them. If your Jeep is stock height and you add a 4 inch lift you will most likely have to lengthen your drive shafts or replace them with longer ones. That said, when I did the 350 swap and added the ax15 transmission, I had Tom Woods make up some custom drive shafts (longer front and shorter rear). There's a video on my channel about them. So far no issues. JD
Hi JD. I installed the same BDS lift and it looks like I also have too wide shackles on front and rear. I thought they are original, but they are 2.5” wide (inside measurement) on front and 3” on rear. How wide are your new shackles?
Hey Mill Man. My Jeep has stock CJ springs which are 2 inches up front and 2.5 in the back. Those are inside measurements in terms of the shackle. Is that what your springs measure and you just have mismatched shackles? Or did someone maybe swap out your springs at some point? Not uncommon to upgrade the front springs to 2.5 inch springs on a CJ but sounds like the rears were changed out to? JD
JD, installing a BDS suspension on my '86 CJ and had a question on the spring plate replacements you used. From the video it looks like you have (as I do) factory (front) lower shock mounts welded to the axle. the replacement plates I ordered have shock mounts on the plates themselves (second set of bolts) which it looks like you left alone. Do you know if they make front plates without the extra bolts? did you consider cutting the factory mounts off and going with the new plate mounts? I'm not sure I like the looks of the plates with unused lower shock bolts. thoughts? thanks for your videos, they are very helpful!
Tim, I had to go out to my Jeep and look at this but yes, the plates have an extra mount and honestly, I didn't even notice this until you wrote this comment. Once everything is installed you really will not see them but you could always cut them off prior to installation. I'm not sure if they make plates without the extra mount. I would probably cut them off prior to installation and hit them with some paint on the bare metal areas to prevent future rust. Thanks for the comment and feedback!
Hey John, I know you opted to have a shop install your lift kit and you mentioned there were a few disappointments with the job. Would you mind letting us know what the determining factors were in your decision to have a shop do the job. I'm at the point now where I have to make a similar decision. I've never done this before and while it doesn't appear too difficult (famous last words) I'm not sure if it's worth doing it myself. Were there any specific concerns you had that made you not want to tackle the job yourself. Thanks Jim
Hey Jim! Hope you are doing well. I have to be honest with you the most compelling reason for me to have a shop do it was the appeal of having it all done in one day and to save me time. Looking back, I would have and should have done it myself. I've spent so much time as you know working on this Jeep and when I do things myself, I have never regretted doing so. Saves a lot of money in labor expense as well. If your Jeep is not your daily driver, why not take the time and do it yourself if you think you can! Up to you Jim, most things I had done at a shop I regret. The only thing that was worth it to me was the paint job. Hope this helps, and let us know your decision.
JD Offline So there was no "technical issues" with the install that you weren't comfortable with. More or less save time and effort. The shop I bought the Jeep from sells BDS suspensions and the shop I've been using for the transmission replacement recommends Old Man Emu. I will get prices from both and go from there. Thanks Jim
Jim Johnston it would be nice to have some help w the springs if you do it yourself and you will need some extended brake lines. I looked at the old man emu lift and believe they are also very high quality. If I remember correctly they only offered a 2 inch lift vs the 4 inch lift from bds but I could be wrong about that. Anyway no regrets w the bds lift at all. Jim good luck and let us know what you decide.
JD it’s been sometime and still working on the “5” I was wondering after the lift did you make any caster adjustments, my CJ seams much loser and I am not good with it , I have some 4degree shims to put in but though you mite have some more input. Thank you and hope all is well .
Hey Stephanie! I think the ride quality is great! Keeping things in perspective though....a CJ7 with a 4" leaf spring lift and 35's so the ride quality is decent taking into account those things. I also got the add a leaf from BDS and still think it rides pretty nice. You do feel bumps in the road, etc. but you're going to always have a slightly bumpy ride with 4" lift springs. I can tell you the BDS kit is a high quality kit and I have no regrets. Really lifted my Jeep! Hope this helps and good luck with your decision. There's certainly a couple of decent lifts out there that I looked at before going with the BDS.
No I already had a new one on there. I gave away some Jeep parts to subscribers in a recent video and gave that away along with some other leftover parts. Thanks for the comment and for checking out the video. JD.
Joshua I went through the same debate. I don't think you can go wrong with either as both are highly rated and perform well. I went with the BDS lift because it is a 4 inch lift and the Old Man Emu lift is 2.5 inches. I wanted the extra height for 35's. I have zero regrets with the BDS system. It's very tall and rides great (keeping in mind it's a lifted CJ on 35's). Much better than the junkyard suspension I had on there previously so I noticed a huge difference in ride quality. Tough call like I said both lifts are very good. Check out the other video on my channel that shows the Jeep with the 35's on it. Great stance and clearance. Hope this helps. JD
Seems like it’s everywhere ya go! Haven’t seen many shops with old guys most are millennials who’d rather stare at their stupid phone. Feel ya on the shop getting ready to redo my jeep cj.
Hey Charlie, don't get me wrong some shops are good but that has not been my experience. So far, if you check out my Camaro build, I've done everything myself with the exception of the engine machine work. Good luck with your Jeep rebuild. JD
If I remember correctly the lift itself was around $1200 and I think I paid a total of about $2k for the lift and installation. Knowing what I know now, I would have done it myself for sure but back then the appeal of one day and it's done won out! JD
Haha you are correct Ron, it seems everyone loves 37's these days. Horsepower and gearing wouldn't be an issue on my Jeep as I already put 4.10's in and swapped in a 350!! Check out those videos on my channel. Thanks for the comment. JD
You only get half the advertised lift on a shackle, as you are only lifting one side of the spring, also less is more to long will bow and or flip up during wheeling resulting in a shackle pinned against the frame, do your own work brother your smarter than the hacks your paying.
That certainly is one way to describe it! Those 33's looked terrible on the Jeep with that lift. In a future video on my channel I mount 35's and it looks awesome!! Thanks for checking out the video. JD
Looks good. That is 100% the reason I just don’t take my CJ to a shop. It’s a rare thing to find a shop that puts in as much care as we would. There’s a reason you were hesitant on doing it.
Corey, I agree with you and will think twice before taking it to another shop. I'm glad to know you have had the same experiences. Thanks for the comment.
My problem is I'm so picky that I do everything except engine and gears, and they're all new in 2 weeks. Good video, like your attitude.
Thanks Bob! Appreciate the comment.
Nothing against new Jeeps but the CJ is the sexiest looking Jeep style. The grill, lights and hood are just in your face Jeep styling. Love the CJ
I couldn't agree more Rob. To me, the CJ7 is the best Jeep made and I have had newer ones as well so nothing against them! JD
Sweet ride! I'm looking for new springs for mine and may go BDS thanks to your video. Just an FYI for those who don't know when you get a shackle "lift" it only adds half the measurement of lift on it. So a 1" shackle lift only adds 1/2" really. Springs are in the middle of the leaf spring and the lift in the shackle is only at one end.
BAWR450 Thanks for the feedback!!! I’ve not regretted going with the bds springs.
Seems like if you don't do it yourself, no one will do it like u want. Lucky if they tighten the bolts! Jeep looks great. Putting a new Hooke Rd rear bumper on my CJ-7. Just got to make time for it. Keep up the good work 👍🙏😎❤️⚓🇺🇸
Thanks Alan. Unfortunately that has been my experience with a couple of different places. If you can do it yourself, I would for sure especially on an old CJ. JD
Sorry about your troubles with the shop. But really nice jeep.
DonniesDogHouse Thank you!!
I lifted a CJ 4 in when i was a kid, i didnt have to lower the crossmember, the driveline angle was okay i did run out of slip on the drive shaft though several time out in the woods I think you could just use the wedges and buy a custom drive shaft, one of the beauty's about the CJ is the ease of lifting them. I used a Skyjacker lift 4 new u bolts 4 new springs 4 new shocks put it on in about 4 hours...not sure about this BDS lift and why you had so many problems with it.
The lift itself is actually great and the Jeep rides great considering the lift and 35 inch tires. The problem was more the shop and the quality of the work. The BDS kit came with the pieces to lower the crossmember to ease the driveline angles. With my 350 swap, I ended up having to get new drive shafts so all is good now. JD
I can’t believe that shop didn’t paint tour axels too!!
They were terrible! They did the bare minimum and are a bolt and unbolt shop. Too bad it is that way but that's been my experience at most local shops. JD
hello the BDS kit you installed is 4 "? ever had to change the transmission shafts?
Are you referring to the drive shafts? My Jeep had an old worn out 4 inch lift on it so the driveshafts had already been lengthened so when I put in the BDS lift, I didn't have to change them. If your Jeep is stock height and you add a 4 inch lift you will most likely have to lengthen your drive shafts or replace them with longer ones. That said, when I did the 350 swap and added the ax15 transmission, I had Tom Woods make up some custom drive shafts (longer front and shorter rear). There's a video on my channel about them. So far no issues. JD
@@JDOffline yes “drive shaft” sorry for my bad traslation 😁 ok now, I understand all.
Hi JD. I installed the same BDS lift and it looks like I also have too wide shackles on front and rear. I thought they are original, but they are 2.5” wide (inside measurement) on front and 3” on rear. How wide are your new shackles?
Hey Mill Man. My Jeep has stock CJ springs which are 2 inches up front and 2.5 in the back. Those are inside measurements in terms of the shackle. Is that what your springs measure and you just have mismatched shackles? Or did someone maybe swap out your springs at some point? Not uncommon to upgrade the front springs to 2.5 inch springs on a CJ but sounds like the rears were changed out to? JD
JD, installing a BDS suspension on my '86 CJ and had a question on the spring plate replacements you used. From the video it looks like you have (as I do) factory (front) lower shock mounts welded to the axle. the replacement plates I ordered have shock mounts on the plates themselves (second set of bolts) which it looks like you left alone. Do you know if they make front plates without the extra bolts? did you consider cutting the factory mounts off and going with the new plate mounts? I'm not sure I like the looks of the plates with unused lower shock bolts. thoughts? thanks for your videos, they are very helpful!
Tim, I had to go out to my Jeep and look at this but yes, the plates have an extra mount and honestly, I didn't even notice this until you wrote this comment. Once everything is installed you really will not see them but you could always cut them off prior to installation. I'm not sure if they make plates without the extra mount. I would probably cut them off prior to installation and hit them with some paint on the bare metal areas to prevent future rust. Thanks for the comment and feedback!
@@JDOffline excellent, thanks JD. I appreciate your videos, they are a huge help!
Tim Oden Thanks Tim!!
Hey John,
I know you opted to have a shop install your lift kit and you mentioned there were a few disappointments with the job. Would you mind letting us know what the determining factors were in your decision to have a shop do the job. I'm at the point now where I have to make a similar decision. I've never done this before and while it doesn't appear too difficult (famous last words) I'm not sure if it's worth doing it myself. Were there any specific concerns you had that made you not want to tackle the job yourself.
Thanks
Jim
Hey Jim! Hope you are doing well. I have to be honest with you the most compelling reason for me to have a shop do it was the appeal of having it all done in one day and to save me time. Looking back, I would have and should have done it myself. I've spent so much time as you know working on this Jeep and when I do things myself, I have never regretted doing so. Saves a lot of money in labor expense as well. If your Jeep is not your daily driver, why not take the time and do it yourself if you think you can! Up to you Jim, most things I had done at a shop I regret. The only thing that was worth it to me was the paint job. Hope this helps, and let us know your decision.
JD Offline
So there was no "technical issues" with the install that you weren't comfortable with. More or less save time and effort. The shop I bought the Jeep from sells BDS suspensions and the shop I've been using for the transmission replacement recommends Old Man Emu. I will get prices from both and go from there.
Thanks
Jim
Jim Johnston it would be nice to have some help w the springs if you do it yourself and you will need some extended brake lines. I looked at the old man emu lift and believe they are also very high quality. If I remember correctly they only offered a 2 inch lift vs the 4 inch lift from bds but I could be wrong about that. Anyway no regrets w the bds lift at all. Jim good luck and let us know what you decide.
JD Offline
Will do.
JD it’s been sometime and still working on the “5” I was wondering after the lift did you make any caster adjustments, my CJ seams much loser and I am not good with it , I have some 4degree shims to put in but though you mite have some more input. Thank you and hope all is well .
How is the ride with the BDS lift? we have a CJ and the ride sucks, we are looking at getting a new suspension for a softer ride.
Hey Stephanie! I think the ride quality is great! Keeping things in perspective though....a CJ7 with a 4" leaf spring lift and 35's so the ride quality is decent taking into account those things. I also got the add a leaf from BDS and still think it rides pretty nice. You do feel bumps in the road, etc. but you're going to always have a slightly bumpy ride with 4" lift springs. I can tell you the BDS kit is a high quality kit and I have no regrets. Really lifted my Jeep! Hope this helps and good luck with your decision. There's certainly a couple of decent lifts out there that I looked at before going with the BDS.
Did you use the drop pitman arm that came with the kit?
No I already had a new one on there. I gave away some Jeep parts to subscribers in a recent video and gave that away along with some other leftover parts. Thanks for the comment and for checking out the video. JD.
I’m trying to decide between BdS or Old Man EMU
Joshua I went through the same debate. I don't think you can go wrong with either as both are highly rated and perform well. I went with the BDS lift because it is a 4 inch lift and the Old Man Emu lift is 2.5 inches. I wanted the extra height for 35's. I have zero regrets with the BDS system. It's very tall and rides great (keeping in mind it's a lifted CJ on 35's). Much better than the junkyard suspension I had on there previously so I noticed a huge difference in ride quality. Tough call like I said both lifts are very good. Check out the other video on my channel that shows the Jeep with the 35's on it. Great stance and clearance. Hope this helps. JD
Seems like it’s everywhere ya go! Haven’t seen many shops with old guys most are millennials who’d rather stare at their stupid phone. Feel ya on the shop getting ready to redo my jeep cj.
Hey Charlie, don't get me wrong some shops are good but that has not been my experience. So far, if you check out my Camaro build, I've done everything myself with the exception of the engine machine work. Good luck with your Jeep rebuild. JD
How much did they charge you for the lift?
If I remember correctly the lift itself was around $1200 and I think I paid a total of about $2k for the lift and installation. Knowing what I know now, I would have done it myself for sure but back then the appeal of one day and it's done won out! JD
37s are the new 35 ! but then you have HP power and gearing to consider :(
Haha you are correct Ron, it seems everyone loves 37's these days. Horsepower and gearing wouldn't be an issue on my Jeep as I already put 4.10's in and swapped in a 350!! Check out those videos on my channel. Thanks for the comment. JD
It would look better if you could offset the wheels more some how
I just got my 35 inch tires and will post a quick video of that shortly. It will look better w the larger tires. Thanks for the comment.
You only get half the advertised lift on a shackle, as you are only lifting one side of the spring, also less is more to long will bow and or flip up during wheeling resulting in a shackle pinned against the frame, do your own work brother your smarter than the hacks your paying.
Couldn't agree more. Should have installed it myself and moving forward will do all my own work (and did in my other Jeep videos and 350 swap). JD
looks like high water pants
That certainly is one way to describe it! Those 33's looked terrible on the Jeep with that lift. In a future video on my channel I mount 35's and it looks awesome!! Thanks for checking out the video. JD
Do it yourself next time. You need a Bought not built sticker.
I wish I would have! Be sure to check out all my Jeep videos. I think I have earned the built not bought sticker! Thanks for the comment!
JD Offline i will be checking out all your jeep vids. Definitely like it. Im about to have my 83 cj7 350ci done in next few months.
That sounds great. Thanks for tuning in. Let us know how your swap goes!!