dont ever use/make shackles like this

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could be a repost but my gosh... this just does not look safe:

55_12_sb.JPG
 
can you say "rear shackles for a muscle car"??? good thing those wouldn't catch on anything...
 
My god thats bad, ive been giving a buddy of mine s*** about his and they are in the back of his chevy! I can see those grabbing a curb and just fawking that thing up.
 
The one cool feature of that is that you get adjustable ride height!! You can heighten it to get better travel!

NOT
 
that rig's on ebay - or was.
 
I think they look cool......kinda like the old curb feelers (am I showing my age?).

_________________
Cruzerman
'85 FJ60
'78 FJ40
 
obviously a newbie question, but why are those so bad? because they could catch on something, or because the material he used is shyte? or because they're mounted too low?
 
jgordon said:
obviously a newbie question, but why are those so bad? because they could catch on something, or because the material he used is shyte? or because they're mounted too low?

That's cool, jgordon, you can never ask enough questions. You don't want any part of your rig hangin' up on anything, much less your suspension.

Be great for takin' out the neighbors hedges though! :hillbilly
 
If the leaf itself was mounted lower on the shackle, would that make it better/safer? or is the entire thing f'd? it looks like they're relatively flimsy construction in general.
 
Besides hanging low and just plain being the wrong way to go about cheap lift, a couple of other things to consider with that cheap shackle lift. Digging into the dirt would be the least of my worries.

Using longer shackles tends to only get you about half the length of the shackle in lift. For instance, 4" longer shackles would only get you about 2" lift.

The longer shackles tend to overstress and flatten out the spring, thus negating the effect of the shackle lift at some point. In the long term this leaves you no better off than when you started, and now you have to pony up the bucks for replacement springs. Lift springs would have accomplished what that guy was after on the first go around with his cheap shackle lift.

If I was buying it, I would feel that I was looking at OME lift and HD shackles right out of the shute.

The longer shackles as I understand it also change your (caster/camber, I can't remember which is which, sorry), changing your alignment and handling, which can be bad.

I am no expert, but I think the recommendations I have read for a shackle lift is to use shackles no longer than 2" than stock, and for sure get heavy duty with thick side plates, greasable bushings, and if designed properly, with a reinforcing bar welded between the side plates.
 
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I had a 77 blazer once that I busted a rear shackle on, the guy at checkers tried to sell me those as a "universal replacement" I opted to wait for a factory style shackle, I figured if I busted the stock one that was fairly heavy looking in comparison, those had no hope.
 
The thickness of the material, combined with the height of the shackle looks like it would fold over if you turned to sharply. Can you say GHETTO?

On a side note, the picture made me all misty eyed, thinking of the rear suspension on my dad's old red Torino. We had it when I was a kid, when Starsky and Hutch was a TV show, not a s***ty movie. I thought I was the coolest kid ever.

Hodag
 

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