Job: N/A

The Willys has been the backbone of trail riding since its creation. Its reliability and simplicity have made it one of the best choices for the off-road enthusiast. However, today the Willys is extremely out-dated (that is, unless you bring it to us). Getting through the woods is no longer the only objective. Now people want to get through the woods gracefully. Let’s face it, with its thick spring packs no willys is blazing a trail without looking like a pinball.

The owner of this 1947 Willys came to us wanting his ride to be able to hang with modern rigs. After a few hours of consulting, we came up with a list of items he could afford. We decided the Willys would sit on top of four front Old Man Emu Wrangler springs held to the frame by Rock Equipment custom brackets and shackles. Rancho 5000 shocks would compliment the springs.

To install the Old Man Emu springs, the OE spring brackets had to be removed and the Rock Equipment brackets had to be repositioned on the frame. We had to keep in mind that the owner wanted his Willys to maintain as much of its original factory appearance as possible.

Keeping the original wheel base, the front of the frame had to be extended and reinforced in order for the entire system to work. This allowed the axles to stay in their original locations and the springs to sit in their respective positions. There was enough frame to work with in the rear of the Willys, so a frame extension was not necessary but shackles still had to be moved. After all of the frame modifications were made and the spings installed, the Willys had gained 2.5 inches of lift. But we didn’t stop at just suspension modifications to improve the Willys trailability.

We incorperated a hitch into the frame’s extension which also provided more rigidity to the front end. We also installed a Saganaw power steering box which was fed by a GM pump with custom brackets. The steering shaft was then modified to allow for the new angles between the box and steering wheel.

The angles created for the new steering system were not the only angles we had to contend with. We had new drive shafts made up to compensate for the Willys increased suspension travel. We had a CV installed on the rear drive shaft. This increased the overall strength of the driveshaft and allowed for better drive length angles and an overall smoother ride. Some necessary modifications were made to the differentials to give the Willys better traction.

To totally benefit from the new Old Man Emu suspension and the Saganaw power steering, we installed Lock Right lockers front and rear. With all of these modifications the Willys tackled our rock pile head on and its flathead four cylinder barely broke a sweat.