Man A Fre Shackle Reversal Questions/ Inital Impressions (1 Viewer)

[Matt0311]

I just finished installing the shackle reversal kit on my 86 and so far I’m really impressed with the outcome but have some concerns I wanted to share on the forum to see if anyone has experienced these issues and can recommend fixes. For reference, I already had a 4” OME Heavy spring kit and 1” body lift installed. I bought it this way and was never too happy with the way the truck sat up front or rode. The tire was only 2.5” from the fender at the rear and with 35”s I thought it could use another inch of lift. 1) The reverse kit took care of both of those problems. I gained about an 1-1.5” in lift and it moved the axle about 2.5” towards the front of the truck. It looks so much better having the wheel centered in the fender. (This creates problem #1- when the axle moved forward the driveshaft now has splines showing. I intend to get a longer shaft if need be and don’t intend to do any wheeling until this is addressed but I have a long road trip coming up and wonder how much shaft is still engaged). 2- With the additional lift up front, now the rear is lower than the front and I need an 1-1.5” increase back there but already have the heavy springs and extended shackles. Other than those two issues I can say this is a big improvement over the original setup. It is so much smoother and absorbs bumps instead of directly the feedback to the steering wheel. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[pistonpete]

Bad front shackle angle, hanger on frame needs to be moved forward to give proper angle and will prolly fix the shaft problem. The leafs are to short and cause that bad angle. it will ride like s*** and kill the springs.

 

[pistonpete]

sr-shackle-angle.341303

 

[Matt0311]

I see what your saying but is that pic with heavy springs? The pic on Man A Fre’s website had a close up of the shackle at full droop and the angle was about 45 degrees forward. Mine pretty much matched their pic however I did not see any pics with a tire mounted. So far the ride has been much smoother than shackle forward.

 

[White Stripe]

You could remove a leaf from the front packs.

 

[cruisermatt]

I see what he’s saying, your front shackle looks like it’s pointed the wrong way.
Is it just the picture or is it sitting taller in the front then rear?
As for the driveshaft, that’s not a Toyota driveshaft so no idea on how much travel it has or what’s safe. I see Vortec in the engine bay. What driveshaft is that?

 

[Motorwerx]

From the info that I got from the PO of my truck, I have almost the same suspension setup as you, 4" OME Heavy+ with MAF shackle reversal . No issues with the Toyota driveshaft showing splines for me, but as mentioned above it sounds like you might have an aftermarket driveshaft. Here's a photo of the shackle angle on mine, let me know if there's any other photos I can take that would help.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

I got my 62 with this setup it rides like a dumptruck!!

 

[pistonpete]

From every thread I read to fix mine, they pretty much say its that way to control droop, but, its pretty hard to move the shackle from 7 o'clock to around anywhere before 6', kill's the motion and makes it dive in corners and yes, drive like a tank..anway, mine with the shackle moved rides like a caddy.. And with it the proper way it would lower the front end and maybe be good with the shaft.But, I'm no pro....

 

[Matt0311]

So far this has been an improvement in ride from the original set up. Still not super smooth but absorbs bumps much better. I did have to take the caster shims out bc I got the death wobble at about 30mph. I haven’t driven it yet but it looked like it a lot of caster. You guys have shims with this setup? Thanks for all the input. I’ll post what I find out about the DS

 

[Matt0311]

Removing the shims fixed the death wobble. Welding is complete with some stronger gussets. I read these frames can crack at the rails and crossmember.

 

[offroadin4fun]

I have had that same lift with the shackle reversal for 15 years with zero issues. My understanding is that the leaf springs are reversible and depending on which end is facing forward will create either a 4" lift or spinning it around provides the 2.5- 3" lift depanding on the the location of the center pin. I have a feeling if you spun them around you will increase your ride height on the rear. I have the heavy springs and on the 4" setting it actually rode higher in the rear as you can see in my picture. After the picture and installing a cargo area drawer system and swingout rear bumper it settled out very nicely. M.A.F. has been very good to me and I would call Rick. I hear there are many other very good vendors out there now that carry those lifts but back then it was all MAF. Aditionally you definately have driveline issues, I would drop that driveline and take flange face to flange face measurements and have a double cardon built. $500 is a cheap price to pay compared to what might happen if you don't correct that. Also pay attention that your shocks are the correct length. I hope that helps.

 

[PacWon60]

What shackles did you end up going with for the rear? I’m planning on doing the front shackles reversal soon and want tot get the right rear ones to level it all out.

 

[offroadin4fun]

I used everything supplied in the kit. I never heard back from Matt and didn't have the problem he is mentioning. My point is at least in my kit the Dakar leaf spring's are reversible to achieve the amount of lift you desire. It makes sense to me, he has a body lift so idk how that comes into play because I have never had one. I bought the kit from MAF and never had any issues and whenever I have a question they are more than willing to help

 

[Matt0311]

Man A Fre has rear shackles in different lengths to make up for the difference. I think I need the 6.75” shackles to level the truck out.

 

[Matt0311]

The death wobble at about 30mph was solved with removing the caster shims but if I hit a bump I get it bad and have to slow down. I thought about stiffening you the spring on the steering dampener to see if that would help. Any other suggestions? Also, I noticed this today. Is this any cause for concern and if so I wonder if a spacer to lower the frame mount end of the dampener would correct it.

 

[Matt0311]

PacWon60, here’s the shackle I found on Man A Fre’s website.

 

[offroadin4fun]

The death wobble at about 30mph was solved with removing the caster shims but if I hit a bump I get it bad and have to slow down. I thought about stiffening you the spring on the steering dampener to see if that would help. Any other suggestions? Also, I noticed this today. Is this any cause for concern and if so I wonder if a spacer to lower the frame mount end of the dampener would correct it.

View attachment 2334938

View attachment 2334939

Good research but again I never had a body lift on anything but the "Death Wobble" you mention sounds entirely too extreme for that simple lift and I can't help but think you have some underlying issues lurking somewhere..... somethings seriously off somewhere. Steering, tie rods, bushings, broken frame??

 

[too tall]

You should measure the caster. If taking out the shims solved the main wobble issue then going further with the caster might be a good idea. I have seen too much caster cause death wobble but there are usually underlying issues. Tires with broken belts/bent wheels loose wheel bearings or steering arms or u-bolts can all contribute to death wobble . Too much caster will initiate the start of the wobble more than not. I think you should remove that coilover steering dampener and check out all of you linkages by feel while someone jiggles the steering wheel back and forth for you.

 

[Matt0311]

Offeoadin, I just caught what you were saying in an earlier post and out flipping the rear springs as well to level out the truck. MAF said leafs are reversible but I’ve also heard that the side of the leaf that has the full wrap in the longest leaf should always be the side bolted directly to the frame. I thought I heard it called a military wrap if that sounds at all familiar. As far as the death wobble, I’ve replaced all TRE and draglinks and had it aligned. The alignment was before the shackle reversal so maybe the toe is that far out. I’ll measure tire to tire tomorrow for an estimate. I k ow the steering box has some play in it and the adjustment screw is seized up. I was going to go ahead and send it off to west Texas off-road for a rebuild instead of jacking with the adjustment. Other than that, all I can see is how the hole in the drag link for the steering stabilizer is kicked off at a different angle bc if the additional lift. I don’t know if the picture does a good job of showing it but to me it looks like it should be addressed.