Turning Radius

[1955CJ-5]

Somewhere someone has a description of how to set/adjust your turning radius without any special tools...I've seen it, but now I can't find it...

But, here is the issue....both the 3a and the -5 have Dana 25 front axles.

Both have Bendix joints.

The C-5 has what seems like an abnormally wide turning radius, while the 3a seems almost too tight.

Here is a picture of the stop bolt on the -5...about 1 1/8" out from the casting.

The 3a's stop bolt measures only about 5/8" from the casting...

Is one "more right" than the other?

[garage gnome]

If they are welded like that, then they were never messed with. The difference could be in tire sizes. If one had 7.50 x 15s from the factory, then the bolts would be out farther to keep the tires from hitting the springs. Different offset wheels could come into play as well, but I thing 1955 CJ5s used the same wheels as the 3As.

Your 3A could have had 6.00 x 16s from the factory and the 5 could have had 7.50 x 15s which were an option. That is my guess.

[garage gnome]

Both tire sizes are the same hight, just different widths.

[Ryan_M]

Somewhere someone has a description of how to set/adjust your turning radius without any special tools...I've seen it, but now I can't find it...

I believe that was on the now defunct Vernco site.

[1955CJ-5]

Tire sizes could be the reason. But the manual does not mention tires or wheels at all in the turning radius paragraph, only the universal joint type...and the 3a with the tighter radius does have 15" wheels..tire size from the factory is unknown of course...and the -5 with the wider radius has 16" wheels......and the stops on both axles are still welded....

It's not really an issue but the -5 has such a wide radius that it almost takes a two-point turn to get out of the driveway...

I guess when I get both jeeps in one place I'll measure the tire-to-spring clearance and see what i learn.

And I found the Vernco site in my favorites list....clicked on it and got a big red screen warning of Malware ahead!

[Ryan_M]

And I found the Vernco site in my favorites list....clicked on it and got a big red screen warning of Malware ahead!

It recent memory it always had the Malware warning unless viewed on Internet Explorer. Even now on IE the page is just gone. It did have a great write-up on the turning radius calculations for each type of axle. 

[johnrb3b]

Yeah the Vernco site has had a history of problems.
Now it's blocked by most browsers as a malware site.
Even The Wayback Machine has purged their archives of it.
Rats. Bummer. It was a great site.
Poster child for periodic sweeps and backups.