I am going to put OME springs and slightly extended shackles on my cruiser next weekend and am trying to get everything ready so it will go as smoothly as possible. I think that I am going to get approximately 3.5" of lift. Am I going to need any type of drop pitman? I still have the original steering setup (saginaw conversion is next on the list). I know that generally with the OME setup it is not necessary, but are the shackles going to screw me up? I am not into shackle lifts, but I made my own and I think that they are going to work pretty good. Thanks

Originally posted by 74cruzah
I know that generally with the OME setup it is not necessary, but are the shackles going to screw me up? I am not into shackle lifts, but I made my own and I think that they are going to work pretty good.

The pitman shouldn't be a problem, but the extended shackles will mess up your caster! You'll most likely need shims to correct the caster. Remember, fat end forward!

From Specter page 287-6 (http://www.sor.com/sor/cat287f.tam?xax=17121)

http://www.sor.com/sor/image/287-82b.gif

Figure 1. Shows the stock caster angle of the steering arms.
Figure 2. Shows how that angle is affected by a shackle lift. As the axle housing is rotated forward, the angle of steering axis is no longer correct in relation to the road.
Figure 3. Shows the axle housing rotated back to its stock position using a spring shim.

HTH,

If you put extended shackles on a stock spring under setup, you cruzah is going to be all over the road. This will be one mod you will hate yourself for doing, wait til you hit a bump or a rut in the road doing 60!:skull: