missinglink/doubleshackle/longerspring and how to get 40"s of flex from a 4" lift

[trkklr77]

my buddy jason come up with a great idea to mod the ORD type shackle flip hangers and use 56" spring where as both of our trucks came with 52"s.

there is a 4" differance in the overall length or the spings but the front eye to axle pin is the same so the axle remains in the same spot. with the hangers in the frame position for the 52"s [if yours are in the 56" spot its very easy to move them] bolt 2 of the stock shackles together at a 90* elbow, the stock shackles use a splined bushing so that when stretched or compressed they will want to return to the 90* position.

bolt up the new 2x shackle to the spring and hanger flat part up with the upper shackle flat and the lower vertical. make yourself a cross bar of .25"x1.25"x3.5" flat steel stock and weld it to the hanger so that the upper shackle sits level to the ground, and weld.

we also moved the shocks to a / \ position on top of the axle.

now i have 8" of straight droop and 20" of rear axle flex[1 wheel stuffed and 1 droop] and 40" of suspension and frame flex.

[trkklr77]

his burb

[Home Built]

How many times will it flex before the rubber bushing tears and does not want to return to the original position? I think in time you might have a problem. (just a thought)
How is the ride on the street with that set up? does it sway much when turning?

Looks like an interesting set up..

[trkklr77]

it rides ok, not any worse than it was, but it was soft as a pillow till i put the shocks back on it.

they do want to return the the 90* position because of the way the stock shackle are splined and how they grip the other half from the little teeth on the ends of the bushing tubes. we will see how well they behave when i put poly bushings in.

time will only tell how long they go before the bushing tears apart should last quit a long time though. even then they are still stock shackles and very easy and cheap to find

[trkklr77]

a better veiw of the 2x shackle

[Home Built]

I like the concept.. keep up the work.. looks good. I might have to try that setup. what viehicle do you get the longer springs from?

[trkklr77]

i will also be doing a 52" front swap shortly and that should add a lot toe the front flex.

here are my original 52"s. ckeck out the over load. the whole spring was W so ill be getting some from a blazer at the pnp this weekend.

[trkklr77]

Originally Posted by Home Built

I like the concept.. keep up the work.. looks good. I might have to try that setup. what viehicle do you get the longer springs from?

they are just a stock 56" chevy. chevy mismatched the 52/56 on what ever they felt like so you can find them on any thing really, just take a tape measure with you to the pnp. these ones just happen to be from a friends 87 long bed 4x4.

[fenderbmxer86]

I did the almost same thing to my old ford.

You back in vacaville yet?

[trkklr77]

been back for 2 weeks, holy shit i am in a much better mood now!!

[fenderbmxer86]

Dont mean to hijack your thread or anything but next weekend we should get a group togther and go hit this rockpile on my buddies property. Couple toyotas are going already so maybe you can bring your rig and maybe justin will go to.

[trkklr77]

there are 2 BIG camping trips planned for this weekend, 1 is to indian valley resivior[sp] and the other is to hams station/moore creek. justin and i are planning on going to hams but need more info.

[fenderbmxer86]

Well those trips sounda bit funner. This place is cool for the day but id rather go on a real run.

Well if those plans dont pan out just have justin hit me up and you guys can come out to the property.

[Home Built]

I was checking out my friends sammy, he's got a trail tuff kit on it with the same missing link set up you are doing. What if you welded a pin across the shackle to keep them from going inverted when they droop? (again just a thought)
That way if, and when you do wear out the bushing it can't go the wrong way.
I think I am going to get some stuff together and set this up before I hit Rubicon in June if I can make the time.
Between the TBI conversion and dovetailing the front and rear I think I have a pretty full calendar but I really like the idea you got going on.
Thanks for the inspiration.

[avainaffairs]

can you post more specific pics of what you exactly did to the shackles? I am assuming those are just reqular shackles from any truck. What do you do to what and where to get them to return to position?
Your set up reminds me a lot of the TeraFlex revolver shackle for Jeeps and FJ 40's. I herd a lot of bad things about them. People say that they unload at unoportune times. Like durring a decent off of an obstical. Have you experienced anything like that?

Also, how much extra lift did that put in the rear of your truck and what did you do to compensate up front? It looks like it is about 8" long but I imagine it moves your axle kinda down and forward and rotates the pinion up a bit, did you have to shim the axle to compensate? Do you need a longer drivshaft and not that it really matters but how much longer do the shocks need to be?

[trkklr77]

can you post more specific pics of what you exactly did to the shackles?

I am assuming those are just reqular shackles from any truck.
yes

What do you do to what and where to get them to return to position?
the shackle bushings are fixed and will not spin in the skackle. the sleave is also fixed in to the bushing and again will not spin. this creates a spring tension which causes them to return to what ever angle they are bolted together.

Your set up reminds me a lot of the TeraFlex revolver shackle for Jeeps and FJ 40's. I herd a lot of bad things about them. People say that they unload at unoportune times. Like durring a decent off of an obstical. Have you experienced anything like that?
i haven even had a chance to wheel them yet, but they are very similar and i do expect some of the same issues. the spring tension of the shackle should help with some of that.

Also, how much extra lift did that put in the rear of your truck and what did you do to compensate up front?
i gained about 2" over what i had due to a 1"block and newer thicker springs, the front will get some 52"s which will bring it back up a little

It looks like it is about 8" long but I imagine it moves your axle kinda down and forward and rotates the pinion up a bit, did you have to shim the axle to compensate?
the shackle flip it self did that, with a long bed you do need to angle the pinon down again. i never did so i cant tell you how much. at fully stuffed the tire is almost dead center of the wheel wells and it does move foward as it drops but only slightly.

Do you need a longer drivshaft /how much longer do the shocks need to be?
the front will need a longer shaft but the real issue is that you need a longer stroke slipper and it need to be pulled out extra at ride hieght. in a straight droop[both rear wheels off the ground]situation the drive shaft is forced in to the back of the tcase and bottoms out before it is fully extended.

the shocks, we were able to fituate the 4" lift rancho 5ks [spec out at 26" extended, 17.5" compressed] so that they fit and get full travel. a 6" lift shock would probably work better all a round though.

[trkklr77]

shackle stop bars

[trkklr77]

wheel wells

[avainaffairs]

well that was a pretty clever idea you had there, I might play around with that. Kinda concerned with the axle unloading at an inopurtune time but I guess I will never know unless I try it out. Besides this will give me a good excuse to go with a full roll cage

[trkklr77]

plus with the short shocks / \ it will have less straight droop but massive side movement.



i cant take any credit for the idea jason, aka skinny[ the popsicle stick stading next to my twisted up tire] did it to his and i had him do the welding for mine.

[trkklr77]

well, i took it out for the test run this weekean and all i can say is WOW!

my truck felt more stable than ever! it never unloaded or got tippy and i side hilled it alot to see how it would behave. the axle is heavy enough that when it would droop i still got plenty of traction. i have open diffs and never got stopped from lifting a tire or hard flexing. ill post up some more pics when i find my camera.

[1967K10]

What do you have for front springs?? I have 4" front springs along with custom hangers and longer shackles to create 8" and a shackle flip with 57" Furds on the back. I tryed this last night and can only make 32" . I was making more without it . What's the deal

[avainaffairs]

dont forget to post up some pics of that, I want to see em.

[MNorby]

I did something very similar using 2 sets of stock shakles with the uppers hitting a bump stop untill it needed to unload. Was uber flexy but it caused hella axle wrap. Start carwaling something and it would wanna unload and lift and had ba lift when hitting brakes too. Might just have been my spring setup using f-150 57" springs then. I now use 56" chevy springs with 7" or so straight shakles and like it much better.

[trkklr77]

Originally Posted by 1967K10

What do you have for front springs?? I have 4" front springs along with custom hangers and longer shackles to create 8" and a shackle flip with 57" Furds on the back. I tryed this last night and can only make 32" . I was making more without it . What's the deal

im not sure about the springs, i think they are some ranchos i yanked from pnp but not 100%.

there are a few things that may be stopoing you.

shock position, i have none in that pic or when measured.

how good of shape your shackle bushings are, mine were pretty old.

how you lifted the truck off the ground, i was able to get more by lifting the back.

how stiff your frame is, mine is a longbed stock frame and the bed is pretty well rotted, you would be amazed at how much my frame twists.