ok so i got all the welding done. just have to drill the holes and attach the springs... woot...

driver side done...
http://www.mobilesucks.net/k5/DSCF0094.JPG
another angle...
http://www.mobilesucks.net/k5/DSCF0095.JPG
pass side fitment...
http://www.mobilesucks.net/k5/DSCF0096.JPG
another angle...
http://www.mobilesucks.net/k5/DSCF0097.JPG
this fabrication brought to you by...
http://www.mobilesucks.net/k5/DSCF0100.JPG

:flipoff2:

EDIT: i will be cutting off that bottom lip.

nice work, sure a lot cheaper than buying the ord one!

I have tryed this exact same thing with my rig, and there is one problem with what you have done there. When you attach your spring you'll notice that your shackle slopes noticebly towards the back of the truck. My first thought was that once I put the wheels back on and set some weight down on the suspension it would straighten out, but it did'nt. Turns out that because you are moving the spring down you also have to move the mounting hole forward. I moved mine 1-5/8 inches forward and they sit much better. maybe someone else has bought shackles they can measure for you?

What I did was take the front rearend shacke mount off a 4x4 and simply put it on the back spring mount on the rearend of my truck, trimmed the top down then attached the front of the spring with axle attached and wheels and tires on and lowered the whole truck off the jack back to level height and made the stock shackles sit totally vertical, and once the weight was put on the truck they are perfect and gave me 4 inches of lift for 20 bucks and a few hours in the shop and they look totally factory, and work awesome. Any junkyard should have a few 4x4 trucks laying around, 2wd are smaller, I have heard they only lift three inches instead of four. Just so you know these are a bitch to get off the donor truck, as are your factory ones you are replacing but it is worth it if you are keeping your truck.

finished it up tonight. shackle sits dead level, just a little forward in the wheelwell. prolly get some zero rates to drag it back. it's fawkin low now... pics tomorrow

Originally posted by Smash-K20
I have tryed this exact same thing with my rig, and there is one problem with what you have done there. When you attach your spring you'll notice that your shackle slopes noticebly towards the back of the truck.

You want your shackle angle to point to the rear of the truck.

You want your shackle angle to point to the rear of the truck.

OK here it goes, I'm going to ask a stupid Question that maybe everybody else already knows the answer to. Why would you want your shackles to slope towards the back?

When you do a shackle flip your changing your shackles from a "tension shackle" into a "compression shackle", and on a compression shackle it would seem to me that having your shackle sloped like that would limit suspension articulation on the downside and cause unnessecary stress to your hanger on the up side.

P.S. I'm happy to hear your's came out alright for you Slamchops:)

I believe it's to force the shackle to work in the proper direction (swinging from straight to rear) and to also prevent the shackle from flipping forward and becoming "locked" on the front side of the hanger.

Ok maybe I expressed myself wrong when I said "Sloped towards the back of the truck" I wish I had a picture. What I'm trying to say is that my shackle sat so that the bolt through the spring sat further towards the front of the truck then the bolt through the hanger when I did this flip, and I don't think this is right because it would encourage the shackle to lock forward. Having the bolt through the spring sitting slightly behind the one through the hanger makes sense. But in order to acheive this on mine I had to move the shackle hole in the hanger forward slightly. I think you fellows were seeing the reverse of what I was trying to explain in the first post.

Actually here is a link to a picture of a Offroad design shackle, you can see how it's offcenter because it's been moved forward.

http://www.off-road.com/chevy/reviews/ord-flip/flipparts.jpg

"sorry, direct linking is not allowed"

Need to find a differant way to post up your pic.
but i think i know what your talking about. i havent done a flip shackel yet, but the way i would want mine is, having the rear of the leaf pack twords the back of the truck and when i flex the shackel will move forward and down, giving the truck more flex and not having to worry about your drive shaft coming out if you are still using a stock driveshaft. i dont know if i explained this good enough.

here's how she sits now. lots of fender trimming to do....

http://www.mobilesucks.net/k5/DSCF0098.JPG
http://www.mobilesucks.net/k5/DSCF0099.JPG
http://www.mobilesucks.net/k5/DSCF0101.JPG
http://www.mobilesucks.net/k5/DSCF0102.JPG
http://www.mobilesucks.net/k5/DSCF0103.JPG
http://www.mobilesucks.net/k5/DSCF0104.JPG

I attribute most of the shackle direction confusion to a misunderstanding of the lingo. When people talk about where it is pointing they are talking in relation to the hanger end to the spring end. If it is pointing toward the rear, then that means that the spring end is closer to the rear of the truck then the hanger end.

slamchops - looks good with the soft top, and the rear is at a better height now.

First time I have seen it done that way. Looks like it should work great. Here is mine basically its what panty dropper has proposed to do, its off a 3/4 ton donar truck so the hanger is appx 1 inch longer than a 1/2 ton. This is a really simple mod and a great time to do your 57" spring swap.


http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=161907&highlight=shackle

Yep looks perfect, as a matter of fact it looks the exact same as mine. Wonder why I had to move my hanger forward to get it to sit like that and you did'nt, perhaps you have longer springs or something, or maybe your just a better welder :)

Originally posted by Smash-K20
Yep looks perfect, as a matter of fact it looks the exact same as mine. Wonder why I had to move my hanger forward to get it to sit like that and you did'nt, perhaps you have longer springs or something, or maybe your just a better welder :)

Yea I had to move mine back :D I put a set of Ferd springs under the rear when I did mine.

i have a 79 1/2 ton would the front rear shackles off a 77 3/4 ton work out the same as what you have. how much lift did that give you?

thaks
stan

damn ya found it... cool...

i must be blind.