How to Fix Inverted Shackle? (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jul 13, 2020
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Location
Birmingham, Alabama
Stock springs and suspension. Springs are pretty flat. Knew I needed to replace the whole suspension at some point.

Then this happened. Passenger front shackle is inverted/collapsed. Searched around and didn't see a ton about what to do about this. Someone mentioned jacking it up and using a crowbar to get it back into place (temporary fix - as it will happen again it seems). Or installing new shackles. But my concern is that it looks like a leaf is broken? What are my options other than scrapping it all and going for all new suspension? Not really in the place to shell out cash for new suspension right now.

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back when i was running more of a stock setup this happened to me a few times off-road. We'd pop it back by driving the other side up onto a trailer ramp high enough that the inverted side hung in the air and then have two or three big guys jump on the tire. but that main eyelet is completely ruined. Did you hit a curb at 60mph ??

Here is what I would do if i had limited budget, and a stock rig, and your situation. Call Alcan Springs. They can make you a new stock style main leaf. They told me a regular main leaf are only $80 a piece. You can disassemble that leaf pack and just replace the main leaf and be good to go. I would do both sides since it is going to effect the ride height a bit.
 
back when i was running more of a stock setup this happened to me a few times off-road. We'd pop it back by driving the other side up onto a trailer ramp high enough that the inverted side hung in the air and then have two or three big guys jump on the tire. but that main eyelet is completely ruined. Did you hit a curb at 60mph ??

Here is what I would do if i had limited budget, and a stock rig, and your situation. Call Alcan Springs. They can make you a new stock style main leaf. They told me a regular main leaf are only $80 a piece. You can disassemble that leaf pack and just replace the main leaf and be good to go. I would do both sides since it is going to effect the ride height a bit.
Man, I don't know to be honest. There's a nasty pothole around the corner. Did I mention these are stock and flat?

That sounds like a good path forward. One day when the kids grow up and are out of the house and college is paid for I will finally start making upgrades. Should be around the year 2050. Until then AAL will have to do.
 
Man, I don't know to be honest. There's a nasty pothole around the corner. Did I mention these are stock and flat?

That sounds like a good path forward. One day when the kids grow up and are out of the house and college is paid for I will finally start making upgrades. Should be around the year 2050. Until then AAL will have to do.

What I described is not a AAL (although that wouldn't be a bad idea), but replacing the actual main leaf the bushings are in. It is pretty easy to take apart the leaf pack to replace the main leaf once it's off the car. You will have to send the free arch, length, and bushing diameters to Alcan for them to main you new mains.

Another alternative would be replacing the entire front spring packs for a little more cost. General KC spring stock replacement leafs listed on their site for $180 a pack. Might be worth it for a little less hassle for you.

 
i may be mistaken, but that is not inverted. an inverted shackle would be pointing towards the axle n slammed to the frame. you most definitely have a broken main leaf. i'd seriously look into what cruisermatt suggested
 
X2 on broken main leaf, not inverted.
 
@kirvesmies is correct. If it was inverted it would be pointed the other way and is cause from the axle going past the droop limit of the spring
 
That spring is toast!!!!!! If you were in AZ I’d give you a nice set of stock springs.
 
If you compare the good spring to the tweaked one, you can see that the tweaked one is broken. Avoid driving the car unit it's fixed or replaced. If that leaf goes while driving it's going to be a really bad crash.
Almost always - if just one spring is repaired or replaced, the vehicle won't sit level.
 
If cost is a big object, I would install used springs - possibly adding AALs at the same time. You will need a bushing kit, and given the rust, likely a torch to burn out the old bushings and help with the replacement. But, with some used springs and new bushings, you could run it happily for several more years. Given your old springs, anything you do should result in a LOT better ride.
 
Your bushings are bad and so most likely the pins are rusted and pitted. I've got some barely used poly bushings and some recently rebuilt shackles and pins for sale for cheap in the classified section.

 
After replacing the stock suspension on mine that looked like that, I would say you just replace all the springs and hardware. One of my leaf packs had a hairline crack clean through the main leaf that I couldn't see until I removed it. Really not safe. Also, two of my leaf packs just fell apart when I removed them. The centering pin had basically disintegrated.
 

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