I trained in physics and I am a member of the Biophysical Society. This is pure BS. It takes the same amount of force, whether you push or pull.
Why a shackle reversal ?
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I trained in physics and I am a member of the Biophysical Society. This is pure BS. It takes the same amount of force, whether you push or pull.
JohnnyC
Long ago TLCA# 2231
what will improve ride quality would be replace all the worn out tyerod ends and wear components in the front...i didnt find it improved by just the SR...I noticed that it was better because of the tightness of the new components and the soft springs...if i just put in the SR it would have still been a sloppy slob to drive
I am currently running a SOA with 37" tires and no SR. I chose not to run the SR for two reasons. The first is if you hit an obsticale a bit harder than intended htere is the possiblity if your drive shaft does not have enough slip it will bottom out and could possibly damage the t-case. I have not ssen this happen myself but know people that have. The second is while off roading in the shakle forward position the tire meets the obsticale and the spring pushes forward keeping the tire in place allowing it to climb, as the tire crests the top the spring is not really compressed. With a SR as the tire hits the obsticale the tire travles rearward and the suspension compresses some before the tire starts to climb the obsticale, as the tire crests the top the spring realeses slightly.
My truck has been gone through pretty well and alot of the worn out components were changed. It trackes really well on the freeway and works really well off-road. I have bent one leaf-spring. The reason for the leaf bending is I am running them reversed for a longer WB and the military wrap was not reversed at the time. Wich means the non wrap portion was at the fixed point of the suspension. I have since taken the 2nd (military wrap) leaf out turned it around and re-drilled it to have the wrap at the fram side. Have not had any issues with anything since flipping it.
Just my 2cents...
My truck has been gone through pretty well and alot of the worn out components were changed. It trackes really well on the freeway and works really well off-road. I have bent one leaf-spring. The reason for the leaf bending is I am running them reversed for a longer WB and the military wrap was not reversed at the time. Wich means the non wrap portion was at the fixed point of the suspension. I have since taken the 2nd (military wrap) leaf out turned it around and re-drilled it to have the wrap at the fram side. Have not had any issues with anything since flipping it.
Just my 2cents...
I started it out with shacklse in the front and during my 1st Rubithon, one of the front shackles had an intimate relationship with a rock on the trails, the result was a bent front OME spring.
Then I did a low-profile SR and no more problem.
Then I did a low-profile SR and no more problem.
Doing an SR is the same reason people air down there tires. It will alow your rig to mold to the rock. As far as a SOA goes, the bigger lift you buy, the stiffer the springs, so why not just do an SOA and gain 6" and get lots of flex. Plus you can change your pinion angle when you weld on the new spring perches and don't have to use cheap little shims.
Exactly what I said. You only get more approach with more arch to your spring
or a spring over. A 2" or 4" lift on a stock shackle forward has less approach than the exact same spring with a S/R vs shackle forward. Comparing a 5" lift spring to a 2 1/2 lift spring makes no sense. The only reason the front hanger is tall on the retail kit is to avoid a cut and turn for the average consumer. A low profile hanger on a S/R requires a cut and turn. The by product of the retail kit is a 1 1/2" lift so the 4" system would entail 2.5" spring up front and a 4" spring in the rear. In this case the approach is better than a 4" spring up front with a shackle forward
or a spring over. A 2" or 4" lift on a stock shackle forward has less approach than the exact same spring with a S/R vs shackle forward. Comparing a 5" lift spring to a 2 1/2 lift spring makes no sense. The only reason the front hanger is tall on the retail kit is to avoid a cut and turn for the average consumer. A low profile hanger on a S/R requires a cut and turn. The by product of the retail kit is a 1 1/2" lift so the 4" system would entail 2.5" spring up front and a 4" spring in the rear. In this case the approach is better than a 4" spring up front with a shackle forward
You've obviously never done a S/R on a 40 that resulted in a lift of any kind that could attain droop.
At 24~27 degrees your u-joint will bind. The reality is that any lift over 4" should have a cut and turn
if you want to run more than 8" travel reliably and not find yourself stranded with a broken pinion.
The height of your forward hanger has nothing to do with minimum approach angle.
Walk out to your cruiser and slide a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood under the front until it touches your tires.
Now lift the sheet . On a 40 the first thing that contacts is the spring eyes. This would be your minimum
approach angle. There are only two ways with leafs of the stock dimensions to improve that. Either
move the eye up ( more arch ) or move it back ( reverse the leaf ). Whether your front hanger is 12
feet tall or one inch tall makes no difference to your minimum approach. Your forward spring eye doesn't get higher off the ground with a shorter mount
At 24~27 degrees your u-joint will bind. The reality is that any lift over 4" should have a cut and turn
if you want to run more than 8" travel reliably and not find yourself stranded with a broken pinion.
The height of your forward hanger has nothing to do with minimum approach angle.
Walk out to your cruiser and slide a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood under the front until it touches your tires.
Now lift the sheet . On a 40 the first thing that contacts is the spring eyes. This would be your minimum
approach angle. There are only two ways with leafs of the stock dimensions to improve that. Either
move the eye up ( more arch ) or move it back ( reverse the leaf ). Whether your front hanger is 12
feet tall or one inch tall makes no difference to your minimum approach. Your forward spring eye doesn't get higher off the ground with a shorter mount
Get bigger tires and your approach angle gets even better
Dave, with the 4+ SR kit, would using longer than stock shackles with 2.5" lift springs in the rear be as effective as going with 4" rear springs?
Speaking of shackles, do you happen to know what happened to the 4+ GSK anti-inversion shackles? They seem to have disappeared from MAF's on-line catalog.
I quit building the pins shortly after the "economic fall". Man-A-Fre started buying the pins at the same place everyone else does. I didn't want to start building the pins out of cheaper material just to attempt to compete. (I was using ETD150. It has numbers like heat treated CroMoly). Besides, I couldn't get anyone to work at India or Malaysia's competitive wage scale..
It's amazing that they can produce a set of three pins wth nuts and lock washers and ship it to America
for 3.00 more than my cost of material.... If only the machinist would work for free.
It's amazing that they can produce a set of three pins wth nuts and lock washers and ship it to America
for 3.00 more than my cost of material.... If only the machinist would work for free.
I just installed the Manafre shackle reversal kit on my '69 FJ40 and the difference was night and day. It tracks straight as a yard stick and eliminated all of the "Road Wander". It used to be a white knuckle drive above 40mph, but now is a pleasure to drive!
You spent a lot of money and time to fix a caster problem that some $20 pair of shims would have fixed.
Hey Pin Head! I'm having a lot of the wandering and instability issues over 40 mph as described above. And she dives angrily into any uneven highway surface like tractor trailer grooves. I appreciate your input on caster angles and how some shims should help the problem. I never drove my truck stock... She came from Vintage Offroad with a 4" shackle lift in front and a little taller (custom size) in back. She IS level as far as the body is concerned, though now have come to understand that the shackle lift has changed the caster. And probably contributes to her instability. Though I'm reading all I can on the topic, I can't understand the procedure to measure my caster angle, nor the procedure to place shims. Could you please describe it as you understand it, and/or refer me to a thread/manual that outlines this? Thanks a bunch!
Just wanted to set the record straight on Land Rovers--I have owned 4 Land Rover Series IIA's, 2 each of both 88" and 109" wheelbases, and all of them came from the factory with the shackles on the rear. The "truth about lifts" website that says Land Rover never did so is wrong. To the best of my knowledge, all of the Series I, II, IIA, and III trucks have the shackles at the rear of the springs.
Dave did my 3" Man-a-Fre lift with shackle reversal. I am the second owner. I did a 1.5" lengthening of my rear driveshaft at the advice of a driveshaft expert. Hard for me to comment on pro's/con's............. I know it is a pretty firm ride but my top is off now too. The added weight there should soften things. My rig does have nice clearance with the 33's and I have standard spring below axle setup orientation and longer than stock shackles.
