My Shackles are upside down

[askeyey]

Well I finally met my first Cruiser Head in NY. GLTHFJ60 aka John and I met up at a local stip mall in Albany to kick some tires and drive around the block a time or two.

First things things first...John knows his stuff. I was amazed by how much this guy knew off the top of his head about 60's. Thanks John.

Two questions came out of this meeting from some things John noticed.

1) He spotted right away that the shackles on my 2.5" OME lift were on upside down. (PO did it) Since this is my DD and I won't be doing any serious wheeling any time soon, should I worry about flipping them. His recommendation was not to worry about it. The truck rides fine so I'm inclinded to leave well enough alone for now. This summer when I get to Salt Lake and have an extra car again, I can tackle the project.

2) I noticed that my front right tire tips out (camber? or which ever one can't be adjusted on a 62) much more than the left. The tire has a very slight bit of play in it but nothing crazy. John mentioned it might be a bent axle housing. The truck drives straight and tracks very well. The PO mentioned about 6 times that I should take it to an alignment shop. Do you think he knew and wanted me to find out but not before I bought it? What other issues will the bent housing cause besides uneven tire wear? How do I confirm the housing is bent? Is the alignment shop the only way to tell for sure?

Thanks.

Here are a couple of pics from the parking lot. I'm blue and John is white.

 

[donny paradise]

Looks like John has some rust issues

 

[Natty]

Well I have a 70 series, but the OME shackles are the same. I found it a real PITA to get my rear shackles installed right side up. In the front they are the right way, but my rears are upside down. I took the truck out to a loading dock to be my makeshift RTI ramp and flexed the truck as far as it would flex. There is no way that having them upside down makes any difference... it would be impossible to flex the rear to the point where the pins would do anything. I'm leaving mine... but I do suggest doing the same, take it out and see for yourself - having them upside down makes no difference.

 

[askeyey]

Well I have a 70 series, but the OME shackles are the same. I found it a real PITA to get my rear shackles installed right side up. In the front they are the right way, but my rears are upside down. I took the truck out to a loading dock to be my makeshift RTI ramp and flexed the truck as far as it would flex. There is no way that having them upside down makes any difference... it would be impossible to flex the rear to the point where the pins would do anything. I'm leaving mine... but I do suggest doing the same, take it out and see for yourself - having them upside down makes no difference.

Sweet. That's good news. I've got to many other things to work on to worry about stuff I thought was good.

What's the deal with that pin then if you can't flex the rear enough to have an impact?

 

[MrMoMo]

Not sure why you think it can't flex enough to invert... I had to use a pry bar to get my anti-inversion pin to go in, and with the truck off the ground, it rests on the pin on the drivers side. (with weight on it, there is no issue)

Hey - next time head a bit further north in NY - maybe I'll cross the border & come down south so you can hear a diesel!

 

[Natty]

Good point askeyey, if the truck has one tire in the air the pin may come into effect. Now, for my truck this still wouldn't matter. You see, the shocks supplied with the 70 series suspension kit are too short ( how they could do this is beyond me ). When my truck is in the air, the shock will max and bottom out, therefore limiting the drop of the suspension. This is not good, the shock SHOULD NOT be bottoming out before the spring can fully droop. My solution is going to be adding longer shocks, something I really am not pleased about seeing as how I just paid for a "purpose built" kit. I suggest maxing out your suspension to see if your kit is the same.

Regardless, after flexing mine out to the max I am confident that whatever the way your shackle is facing is of little importance when it comes to real world situations. Your truck would have to be dangling in the air for the pins to even come close to be of use. To me, the pins just add lateral strength to the shackle itself. After all, you dont even need the pin anyways. 99% of shackles dont have them. They are there for precaution and overkill. Maybe a bit of gimmick?...

I'm sure some may disagree, but have a look while on a ramp or out on the trail... you tell me why you would need to flip them...

 

[askeyey]

Not sure why you think it can't flex enough to invert... I had to use a pry bar to get my anti-inversion pin to go in, and with the truck off the ground, it rests on the pin on the drivers side. (with weight on it, there is no issue)

Hey - next time head a bit further north in NY - maybe I'll cross the border & come down south so you can hear a diesel!

Hey... How far North are you. I actually live up in watertown about 15 miles from lake ontario. I'm about a 40 minute drive from Kingston.

 

[Nemesis Gnat]

my 60 series anti inversion pins hit the frame on droop and i also had to use a pry bar to get mine in like mrmomo... ive heard that the ome springs are a lil too short on the shackle side, reinforcing the need for that pin to be in the right place to act as the band-aid that it is... its not hard to flip them around, maybe an afternoon if you havent done it before

 

[MrMoMo]

Hey... How far North are you. I actually live up in watertown about 15 miles from lake ontario. I'm about a 40 minute drive from Kingston.

Well then, at work, I'd be about 40 minutes north of you. I work in Kingston - sometimes I head over to Clayton as we have a shop there as well.

I live about 30 minutes west of Kingston.

 

[IrollwithTojo]

Askey, what kind/where did you get your roof-rack?
Thanks

-Carl

 

[askeyey]

Well then, at work, I'd be about 40 minutes north of you. I work in Kingston - sometimes I head over to Clayton as we have a shop there as well.

I live about 30 minutes west of Kingston.

I thought your lat long in your sig looked really familiar. I'd love to meet you up in Clayton sometime when you're around. I'd be intersted in seeing some of the stuff you guys fab.

 

[askeyey]

Askey, what kind/where did you get your roof-rack?
Thanks

-Carl

Carl...it came with the truck. It has a sticker on the side that lists it as a Surco out of CA. Their site is surco.com but the site is currently down. I actually started a thread about a week ago asking if anyone knew anything else about it and didn't get much info.

I really like the look of it, but it does seem to be rusting a little at the attachment points already (ala yakima style)

It measures 50x60"

 

[MrMoMo]

Sounds like a plan, I'll let you know if/when I'm headed down, you let me know if/when you're headed up...

 

[IrollwithTojo]

Dang...I like the looks of it too, I've been looking for a good cheaper RR for my 62

-Carl

 

[askeyey]

Dang...I like the looks of it too, I've been looking for a good cheaper RR for my 62

-Carl

You can find their rack for sale at several online dealers. They are only about $150-200 from the places I saw. I do like the rack but would definitely consider it on the cheaper side. It's worked very well for all the big stuff I've bought form home depot lately.

 

[IrollwithTojo]

That is definately on the cheaper side, I've seen other nice RR's like yours that make me want to cry their so expensive, haha. I might be gettin myself a RR now
Thanks for the info

-Carl

 

[askeyey]

That is definately on the cheaper side, I've seen other nice RR's like yours that make me want to cry their so expensive, haha. I might be gettin myself a RR now
Thanks for the info

-Carl

Here's one of several I found on Amazon

Amazon.com: Surco S4050 Safari Roof Rack Basket, 40" x 50" x 5", Black, For Select Roof Racks: Automotive

I looks like the adapters will run another $100 from most of the places I saw. I guess I was only looking at the backet price and not the adapters. Either way it looks like you could get set up for less than $300. Might still be cheap enough?

 

[GLTHFJ60]

The anti-inversion pin is there to keep the shackle from inverting when the spring is at full droop. As has been said before, the pin will hit the frame before the shackle inverts on purpose, so having the anti-inversion pin on the bottom half of the shackle negates the effect of having one in the first place. The lateral strength gains are minimal at best.

Like I said Austin, it's not that big of a deal since you don't take it offroad much. If you decide to start taking it to Moab once you move out to Salt Lake, then you might consider flipping them over. Do you have the anti inversion shackles in the front? I forgot to check.

As for the camber, the only way to check is to get the stock camber spec for the axle ( FSM? ) and take it to an alignment shop to verify what it is exactly. I'd say that because it drives fine, you're probably good for the short term. I'd definitely get it checked out before you drive cross country though!

Good lookin' pictures!! It was excellent to meet you and hopefully it won't be too long till we get to kick tires again.

Looks like John has some rust issues

You have no idea. Northeast salt does quite the job of accelerating rust in the three years it's been up here. Believe it or not, 3 years ago this was a mint cali truck. Oh yeah, and I hammered on the body at the Coal Miner's Cruiser Classic this summer, which didn't help either

 

[IrollwithTojo]

Not seeing the adapters on there......Link?
Thanks for your help

-Carl