[Pottsy]

I searched it fella's.......:flipoff2:

Now that is out of the way let's get down to business!

The Big Question......Shackle Reversal?

I understand that it means take my shackles on my 59 CJ and move them to the spring hanger points on the frame in between the axles.... Easy money.

This will give me better approach / departure angles on the jeep... Correct?

Now here is my concern:

1. With this mod done will it effect the road safety of my jeep! I will fab all my own stuff for this mod, and yes I trust my work..:flipoff2: My main concern here is the "General" set-up road safe?

2. Besides approach / departure angles what else will this set-up give me?

It is 6:00 am on a Saturday and IM ready to start cutting and fabbing this so I can wheel this afternoon.......... :flipoff2: is it worth it?

Thanks....

 

[jeepinblackdog]

I've riun a shackle revesal on my 93 YJ for 2 years and am in the process of cutting it off and going to a 3 link. Why you ask? Well several reasons. first off the only thing that a SR really gets you is appoach angle. What it also gets you is:
As you go over obsticals expecially ledges the front axle will attempt to drive out from under the truck bowing your springs and causing your drive shaft to seperate. I solved the driveshaft problem by building a custom square driveshaft out of a PTO driveshaft material from Farm and fleet. It still however bows the springs badly. As far as road manners it really didnt help alot on the road. It didn't hurt because with the spring now attached to the front the axle will track better and the steering is tighter expecially with tall shackles. Another problem you will have is your drag link and tie rod will possibly hit your springs as the springs will be at a much higher angle than before. If I had to do it over again I would not do it.

 

[jeepinblackdog]

One other thing in your post you did not say if you were SOA or SUA. When you do the reversal you will need to shim or rotate you perches because it will change your steering knuckle angle witch will greatly change your road manners to the dark side.

 

[Pottsy]

Cool this is what Im looking for..

SUA.... is my current set-up !

 

[jeepinblackdog]

When I mean dark side I mean it will be all over the road and will end up on your dark side.......

 

[Suprsizit]

Done properly you need to maintain the same relative position of the spring eye’s. In other words if you measure (pick a number) say 5" from the frame to the spring eye before the reversal (front ) the you need to measure 5" from the frame to the eye after the reversal. Same with the rear, maintain the same measurement. This assumes that your caster was correct and you want maintain the same amount Also I read somewhere, one of the mag’s, that the rear shackle should be about 15* from vertical, top slanted toward the rear of the vehicle. Like this / not this \ . If you don’t maintain the same measurements you will have to regain your caster some other way. Cut/Rotate the knuckles or shim at the spring plates(aaack). Note if you do as I’m suggesting and maintaining same relative spring eye position you will not change your approach/depart angle.. .09


Of course all of this is just my opinion. Actually if you will do a search using Google and "shackle reversal" you will get several pages of hits....Good Luck.....09

 

[Recurve]

If you do it so that you don't move the spring perches then you'll have a solid front mount that will hang down as much as a shackle so you don't gain any approach angle. If you have the fab skills to do a srs then you can reweld your perches too. Make the front ones very close to the frame and adjust the perches for best caster. Can you fab your own long travel driveshaft too? You'll need one.

Pic of both of MORE's brackets.

 

[Kreep]

Ummm, besides Recurve, where's the tech here?

Shackle reversal became popular after 4" SUA lifts because they cured one of the biggest problems with the lift, bad caster angles.

Caster is the angle of inclination of the knuckle. Think bicycle, the front fork is angled back. This angle causes the wheel to return to center, providing good road manners.

Big SUA lifts, or more precisely, the big shackles that go with them, decrease caster and lead to wandering.

The main reason for shims would be to decrease caster and bring your pinion angles back into harmony with the transfer case.

Properly done, SR will increase your caster and approach angle.

You will need a long-travel driveshaft, as over and under extended driveshafts are bad news.

 

[ashmanjeepXJ]

What about running the top of the shackel through the frame not below the frame. This would help keep lift down, help pinnion angle, and would not require a large droped down bracket for the front mount increasing clearance.

Im doing a SOA on an XJ (previously coil sprung) so all mounts would need to be fabbed.

Shackle in the rear (reveral) I havent seen on teh front of an XJ, and would need a longer slip drive shaft then the (non-reveral) but would it be better?

Flex, softer ride, steerability?

thanks,

 

[Travis Waldher]

The advantages of S/R.

Smoother ride, mainly on the street. When your tire approaches a bump, instead of hte axle having to compress forward toward the bump, it will compress back from the bump. Making a smoother ride.

Better approach angle (IF you build your own spring mounts)

To solve some of the arching problem of your front springs... hint... SPRING CLIPS!

Biggest disadvantage of the S/R.

Need a long travel front driveshaft.

Also nose dive when braking.. mine isn't so bad with only 2" of compression before hitting the bump stops.. But if you have a lot of compression I think that it would much more scary stop do an emergency stop.

 

[Kreep]

Ashman has a great idea, too bad this isn't a SOA project.

You MUST check out Lizard's LJ-7 to see how well it works!

 

[ashmanjeepXJ]

Ashman has a great idea, too bad this isn't a SOA project.

You MUST check out Lizard's LJ-7 to see how well it works!

Thats what Im talking about...

The drive shaft problem, well is a box tube front shaft bootie fab

The Toyotas run the shackle in back and often use the home brew box tube slip front drive shaft.

so the only problem is brake diving, well thats not much troubel off road, BUT

Id imagin that when goind dow a steep hill as all the weight goes on the front the wheels will tuck under the jeep not shift forward, so will be less stable for steep down hill sections?

 

[Kreep]

Look at that shackle angle and how flat the spring is. As Lizard's (old) suspension cycles, the axle will move FORWARD, even though its a SR. No driveshaft worries.

Oh yeah, check out those spring clips Travis!

 

[ChadLloyd]

One thing that is not being mentioned that is a major PITA:

If you are using arched springs (which you are, if I read correctly), then with a SR your tire will move BACK into the body on compression. This can cause major tire rubbing on the back of the wheel well. I chopped mine all the way back to the seam and never really got rid of it completely.

I ended up solving the problem by using flat springs SOA. In this configuration, the wheel is more or less as far back as it is going to go at rest, and on compression moves forward. This resolves a large part of the problem.

This together with the need for a very long travel driveshaft, are the two biggest downsides to SR, IMHO.

 

[jeepinblackdog]

One other thing that I forgot to mention in an earlier post is when dong a SR you should move your spring perches up towards the front approx. 2 to 3 inches to compensate for the wheel moving back under compression. This will eliminate the tire hitting the body. but again it causes more problems with your steering setup.

 

[Pottsy]

Thanks for all the good info fella's............

 

[Devil Dog]

these guys hit all the good and bad points.. i think it does help alot on the street.. this is a pic of my set up.. just another ideal..

 

[glass cj]

When you do the reversal are the springs also swapped?

 

[B.A.R.K]

its this topic just beat to death already, sheesh, invest your time into searching it has been covered numerous times

 

[Keith Strong]

I loved mine. Was the difference between clinming INTO the box and manuevering around into the box Fawk street qualities :flipoff2:

While the street factor was interesting (especially the nose dive), the ability to climb up something with ease was more important to me.