I am running Superlift 2.5 springs with confer 1.5 shacles. The rear shackles are almost straight up & down and the road ride is bouncy, to say the least. I've read and heard that the best angle for articulation and ride is to have the shackles angled back 45 degrees. What is the best way to do this?

Move the shackle hanger forward newbie!

If you want pictures goto this Woody's site (http://www.ih8mud.com)

And look up how he did it. It is really pretty easy... Just a couple of rivets to drill out...

Oh yeah, Introduce yourself to the group!
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I don't know about 45 deg, seems alittle much. I think slightly past vertical in the direction of travel would be best.

[ 10-30-2001: Message edited by: 40_Bones ]

40-45= great ride and good droop, jiMMy

Originally posted by Jimmy76FJ40:
<STRONG>40-45= great ride and good droop, jiMMy</STRONG>

Yep Jimmys right, I'm stooopid sorry

You need to set up the shackle angle so that it doesn't hit the frame when the springs compress. Setting them up at 45* is great if you have flat springs since the shackle will not travel backwards any more. But with lift springs you need to take into account the amount of spring compression. As the spring compresses, the shackles are going to lay back.

With vertical shackles (like you have now), you don't have much room left for droop since the shackle can't really pivot forward much.

Moving the mounts like I show on my site also means longer shackles, like 2" longer. It may take some experimentation, but the shackle should not quite hit the frame on compression.

IMO, it's one of the best mods I made for ride and travel when I still ran SUA suspensions. With flat springs and SOA suspensions, you can get even more radical with the shackle angle, adding greatly to your droop potential.

If you like the height that you have now, you can put a bottle jack between the frame and leaf spring. When you feel tension on the jack, remove the bolts from the shackle hanger and rotate the top of the shackle forward until you get to the desired angle. At this point, you can get a good measurement of what length shackle you will need to maintain the current height. You will also see about where you will want to relocate the shackle hanger.