extended shackles

[zookzilla]

hi was looking for some help iam thinging of getting 3inch extended shackles but dont know if i need to space my tail shaft out and all my sterring arms etc......
thanks stephen

[MART]

Mate , they are a cheap and nasty way of raising a vehicle and I am also guilty of the same thing , what will happen is you will only gain half that distance as you only lift one end of the spring , they will chew out a ridiculous ammount of bushes and up front you will have play in your steering as they flex sideways , best advice would be to save up and buy a good quality 2 inch lifted spring , in doing this you will need to buy longer shocks as well , do it right the first time and the biggest problem is they will flaten your springs and cause you to impact the shackles into rocks and end up bending your springs , good luck , Cheers Paul.

[GRPABT1]

Sorry to hijack the thread but I was looking at getting extended shackles or drop shackles with a 2 inch lift kit, what are your thoughts?

[MART]

You will only gain 1 inch of lift , why do you want longer shackles ? , Cheers paul

[GRPABT1]

Not so much for lift but wheel drop and articulation.

[Reedy]

I've got extended shacles on mine (6 inches long in total) and 95mm lifted springs and I have no drama's, I fitted caster wedges between the spring and the diff to improve the caster to make it steer alot better and also improve tailshaft angle but I did'nt need to touch the tailshafts lenght wise but I did extend the brake lines and shocks!!!! I welded some box tube in between the shackles to stop them from twisting and chewing bushes. They do catch on rocks ocasionally but you just have to remember where they are and pick your line around them!!!:thumb: I run 31's no drama's!!!

It flexes ok too!!!!
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t144/Reedy1979/Picture099.jpg?t=1174895006

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t144/Reedy1979/Picture101.jpg?t=1174895056

The front shackles!!!
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t144/Reedy1979/Picture219.jpg?t=1175072908

[GRPABT1]

I might just get normal size greezeable shackles for now and go drop shackles later on.

[MART]

Drop shackles are even worse , they make the car unstable on side angles and can cause a vehicle to flip backwards and forwards when climbing up and down steep terrain , normally the spring stops this when unloaded but with drop shackles can unload without warning , its like having unsecured coils , when braking and steep terain suspension unloads , seen it happen too many times , they are only usefull on travel ramps and poser shots , Cheers Paul.

[zookzilla]

Mate , they are a cheap and nasty way of raising a vehicle and I am also guilty of the same thing , what will happen is you will only gain half that distance as you only lift one end of the spring , they will chew out a ridiculous ammount of bushes and up front you will have play in your steering as they flex sideways , best advice would be to save up and buy a good quality 2 inch lifted spring , in doing this you will need to buy longer shocks as well , do it right the first time and the biggest problem is they will flaten your springs and cause you to impact the shackles into rocks and end up bending your springs , good luck , Cheers Paul.



thanks but i already have 2inch lifted springs i just want more lift thats all

[grimbo]

why do you want more lift? What makes you think lift is going to solve whatvver problem you have. Having more lift doesn't always mean better perfromance or the ability to fit bigger tyres.

I ran 34" tyres on my Sierra with 2" of lift and 2" body lift and some guard trimming. So I had a nice low vehicle with a large tyre that didn't foul on the body and had lots of flex. Much better solution that just putting in lots of lift for no reason other than it might look cool

[MART]

Why are you looking for more flex , are you lifting wheels and loosing your drive , how long have you had the truck , as many people say drive it standard and then get confident , once this is done and you start to drive harder terrain you will find it harder to drive over the bigger obstacles , so you will loose you travel and your forward momentum , and apart from flogging it over terrain you won,t go much further. Then it is time to think about a traction aid , ie diff lock. This will allow you to tackle harder terrain and when wheel lifts occur you still have viable drive. this elleviates the need for more travel and rediculous suspension mods. You would be surprised how much your vehicle would perform with a rear diff lock. Then it comes down to dollars and cents. You have to choose the way you want to go , weld , spool , detroit , easy locker , air locker. If I had my choice it would be air locker every time , I have detroits in mine as they came with the diffs , dollars and cents , they do perform awesome offroad and onroad not so good , so you have some stuff to think about , suspension and height are not always the critical factors in a capable truck , Cheers Paul.

[zookzilla]

thanks paul ive had the truck for bout 3 years and iam finding that with 2 inch lift and 30inch muddies its lifting wheels more and more i have alocker lined up i just have to put it in thats all
thanks stephen

[rustyzook]

Hey i made my own 2" droppies and put hilux shocks outta my old 4runner in so i can run bigger wheels and not have them foul up on the gards at full flex before this i couldnet keep up with a v8 hilux with 8" lift and 36" simex, now i find my self going just as many places without having to be as big. MART you must have had a really bad experience with them cause i have never had any troubles, i know the first thing i will be doing to the new zook when i get it!

[Reedy]

MART you must have had a really bad experience with them cause i have never had any troubles,


X2!!!!!

[GRPABT1]

Yeah I have heard some bad things of very few people about drop shackles and most try them as a cheap fix instead of doing the rest first. I would say do the springs and shocks etc then consider drop/extended shackles if you need/want them. I Highly doubt a vehicle would flip because of drop shackles, maybe as a result of poor practice+drop shackles but not because of them.

[grimbo]

the drop shackles are awful pieces of rubbish. I have seen them destroy a brand new set of springs in about an hour. They are unpredictable, they are scary in certain conditions and work well on a flex ramp for bragging rights.

I would much prefer to put money into quality springs and shocks for the same money as those crappy things

[rustyzook]

the drop shackles are awful pieces of rubbish.

I would much prefer to put money into quality springs and shocks for the same money as those crappy things

grimbo, if springs were free and only took 30min to make and install i would do that instead, i have had mine on for a while now and the only thing they have done to my zook is give it more flex! as i have no money to buy bigger springs and every think i do to my zook is becuase i have the parts or i can get them for verry cheap or free, i think that 2" shackles are good but i wouldent go anylonger as that would be to unstable! and there not rubbish there metal!

[croatian4x4]

grimbo, if springs were free and only took 30min to make and install i would do that instead, i have had mine on for a while now and the only thing they have done to my zook is give it more flex! as i have no money to buy bigger springs and every think i do to my zook is becuase i have the parts or i can get them for verry cheap or free, i think that 2" shackles are good but i wouldent go anylonger as that would be to unstable! and there not rubbish there metal!

we'll see if you will be this confident when they do damage to your zooks suspension and you have to fork out more money then originally needed to fix the problem...
we will see then if putting decent suspension set up would have been cheaper in the long run.....

[grimbo]

grimbo, if springs were free and only took 30min to make and install i would do that instead, i have had mine on for a while now and the only thing they have done to my zook is give it more flex! as i have no money to buy bigger springs and every think i do to my zook is becuase i have the parts or i can get them for verry cheap or free, i think that 2" shackles are good but i wouldent go anylonger as that would be to unstable! and there not rubbish there metal!

2" extended shackles are fine I was referring to the shackles like the Climax ones ie foldable shackles or drop shackles. But they wont give you more travel in all circumstances as they will cause your shackle angles to be out of whack withh more potential for shackle inversion. The best way to get better flex is by installing longer springs

[GRPABT1]

Yes but what about longer springs with longer shackles? :D

[zuklux]

so what would be the ideal setup?