Help a Noob get lifted (1 Viewer)

[Vossie]

Hi All.

read tons of threads regarding all the different types of lift and pros and cons etc...

finally decided i want to do an extended shackle lift for a couple of reasons:

1. its the cheapest lift. this is my main drive. im broke
2. its the easiest in terms of i can do it myself
3. it can easily be undone when the time comes, one day, that i get a complete suspension rebuild, probably west coast suspension.

so, what i need help with is the actual, how to.

i want 2 inches (50mm) of over all lift. what thickness plate should i use to make the shackles? how long should they be? anything that i need to be careful of?

thanks for any and all help

 

[shawnfj40]

If you need two inches of lift forget about doing it with shackles only. If you try it you are only going to succeed in making your rig completely unsafe to drive. I recommend you hold off until you can get springs and shocks. Find someone who is upgrading to 4 inches and get a used 2.5 inch lift. Why are you wanting to lift it anyway?

 

[Vossie]

If you need two inches of lift forget about doing it with shackles only. If you try it you are only going to succeed in making your rig completely unsafe to drive. I recommend you hold off until you can get springs and shocks. Find someone who is upgrading to 4 inches and get a used 2.5 inch lift. Why are you wanting to lift it anyway?

trying to get ahead of the ball when it comes to tyres. next set will be 33's and although i know they fit fine under stock i just want a bit more of a lifted look.

problem there is no one in this next of the woods ever lifts anything.

 

[GHalll]

If you put new shackles, you'll want to re-arch the springs at the same time. If you do that, you may be better off getting a kit with all new hardware like Vossie said. If it were me, I would get the kit and anti inversion greasable shackles.

 

[JohnnyC]

Cheapest is the add-a-leaf

Up to the 90's that was the go to suspension upgrade in order to get a cheap lift on the dime.... there are many of us here on mud that had this setup as our first suspension upgrade

Mind you it is stiff

 

[greenbeasty]

X2 0n the Add a Leaf, ( remove one or two of the shorter stock springs ) and slightly longer shackles , mabe 1in longer than stock. And I would only do the shackles because I like a little stouter look in the shackles.
You would have to have 4in longer shackles to come close to getting 2in of lift, and now you have screwed up a lot of geometry.

 

[Vossie]

thanks for all the input guys. looks like i will just stay stock until my wallet allows me to buy a whole new setup

 

[Tin basher]

Just make sure when you are buying lift springs
They are not a pack of thick leafs
I have a set I put in that only have three leafs in them they came on a parts truck
and I had a broken main in one of my packs
The ride is horrible livable on the street
But I do run my boggers at 20 lbs on the street
Gravel roads it feels like it's shaking the truck apart
At 5 lbs or less in tires