shackle breakage (1 Viewer)

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Apr 24, 2003
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well well well, finally i got some tuff rutted, suspensions twisting tracks for my little fj40, and it performed wonderfully. amazing how the right line and right throttle imputs can get you up a hill 1st time, when certain unmentioned vehicles take 10 full throttle attempts, then head back to camp with tails firmly between the legs.

but alas, i "inverted" a shackle at the end of the track, about to turn back for a second run.

it busted one of the flat steel sections of the shackle, and jammed the free end of the spring up under the spring perch, which gave me a few inches of lift on the drivers side but bugger all travel. first question, is there a particular thing i did wrong to cause this damage.

i limped it back the 80 miles to civilisation, to my girlfriends dad's place, and waited for a new pair of shackles, as the passenger side shackle twisted itself stupid. i tried to get extended ones, but no luck.

apon freeing the spring from it's jammed up position, and fixing the shackle, i noticed the truck appeared to have about a 1 inch lift.

so my question is, would it cause significant damage if i jacked the truck up, jammed all four springs up behind the perches and let it sit for a few days in an attempt to reset the springs
 
ohh and one last thing, the shackle repair lasted the 4 hour trip home, then i went down the street for pizza, draged off some guy in a suzuki running 30's and got home, the shackle was back into the inverted stage, with the spring eye jammed up against the spring hanger, so out came the jack and bricks and up the front went, out with the spring again, and fixed. god i need a hi lift jack

but, is the reason the shackle keeps inverting due to too much curve in the spring, pulling the shackle backwards when the spring is fairly unloaded, or is there a deeper prob.
 
see my tech writeup on shackle relocation...might answer your question. You may need a set of anti-inversion shackles too...triangular, OME and others carry them.

Forcing the inversion to gain a "lift" is a bad idea....you are very likely to bend a spring and it will only make future inversions more likely.
 
well, i inverted the drivers side shackle again today in normal road driving, so out comes the jack and up it goes, closer inspection shows that i must have clipped the plate at the bottom of the U bolts that hold the axle to the spring, as there's a huge dent, and my U bolts appear to be bent/ twisted, appearing to have pushed the spring backwards, making it easier to invert.

now could i be on the right track or am i smoking some serious stuff, and imagining this.

i'd like some opinions b4 i have to go out, buy new U bolts, and an angle grinder to get the old Ubolts off.
 

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