Homemade 60 shackle reverse (3 Viewers)

[skidmark7]

Has anyone built a set of homemade shackles to reverse the front leaf spring mount on a 60? Think 3/16 cold rolled is strong enough? Going to design and build myself. Any tips or tricks would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[CruiserTrash]

Shackle reversal owner here.

I feel like for $350 or whatever the Man a Fre kit costs, it ain’t a bad deal. As far as I know the hangers are made by 4Plus, so they’re quality. You also get bushings, pins, shackles that fit, greasable pins, and all the hardware … stuff you’d need to buy even if you made your own extended spring hanger for the front of the frame.

But I also fully support DIY endeavors that aren’t cost effective. Usually it’s more fun. You could also tweak them to your use. Keep us posted.

 

[too tall]

I used a set of 60 series spring hangers from ruff stuff with factory pins. Rear 60 springs up front. The factory pins set the width nicely in the new hangers. I pushed the fronts down with a 2" spacer block and sleeved the rear shackle mount through the frame to keep the springs relatively level. Reduces nose diving under heavy or emergency braking .
Our roads have a two tracked hump from the weight of the big trucks and when you have aggressive tires, my 60 had a tendency to try to climb out of the ruts causing me to swerve side to side while steering straight. The reversal has helped tremendously .

 

[matmattmatthew]

My SR was done by a previous owner but from everything I've gathered it sees like it was a homebrew job. It doesn't look like any of the "kits" I've seen, although it was done 20+ years ago. It's welded-on and very stout. (I can't wait to get rid of the body lift)

 

[CruiserTrash]

@matmattmatthew This brings up a good point. The MAF kits have the drop spring hangers mount at the very tip of the frame horns, but yours are further back. It doesn't really make a difference except that you'd want to do the spring length geometry first. I ended up going with longer HZJ75 springs in the front because the shorter 60 springs gave me a terrible shackle angle - the longer troopy springs got it dialed in. Having the hangers a little further back (or changing the location of the shackle mount for that matter) can give nice geometry with 60 springs or whatever else you choose to go with.

@skidmark7 Just make sure you calculate all that before busting out the welder. Oh, and don't forget about the spring center pin - that determines where the wheel ends up in the wheel arch opening. I think mostly centered or about 0.5" forward to account for the rearward shackle travel would be ideal. That's also going to be a factor in how you design the spring hangers and determining where they get welded. MATH!

 

[skidmark7]

Thanks for the advice and recommendations. Want to run 35’s so wheel opening placement is critical. Measure 4-times, weld once.