Ok so i recently got a set of cheap ass autozone lift shackles. I like them for the fact that they lifted but they dont do crap for flexing the rear of my truck. My plan is to extend my stock shackles! I am just wondering how much i should extend them to acheive a good 1in of lift and not be flatening my leafs out. Gimme some feedback!

 

wait... how do you plan on "extending" the stock shackles???






my advice would be to just invest in some quality ones... a shackle isn't something you want to fail at 60mph on the road...



personally, I bought a set from WabFab, and couldn't have been happier. I like you came from a set of cheapo Auto Zone bought shackles








before:






during :





after:

 

All im gonna do is cut the shackle before it begins to bend on the fat top side and weld in some bars that are about 1in wide and a good 1/8 in thick. Theoretically the welds will be stronger than the origanal metal. And yes i can weld good!

 

I think you mean: weld well. I guess we will see.

 

Really? Seriously? Please don't do that...even if it would work, that's just janky

 

use spacers on the leaf side, then weld some cross support and you will be fine. I have ran this setup for 4 years and put plenty of high speed and twisty stress on them without a problem. in fact I broke a leaf spring first..

 

Yeah i agree with you yotaman85 imma go ahead and try and the worst that can happen is i can break one goin down the road! haha but yeah bigbluepile i believe my welds will be fine x-ray proven! haha got them tested before.

 

Glad you can weld well and have a certificate. My sheep skins and certs say your engineering still sucks.

Just because you CAN do, it doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Buy some new shackles or build some new ones please.

Booty fab is "janky", stupid and dangerous.

 

Adding longer shackles will give you more lift, but it won`t do anything to get you more flex. From the looks of the spring in the picture you posted, your springs are flat so thats why you have no flex, and by adding longer shackles your trying to get something for nothing and its just not going to happen. If you want more lift and more flex then buy a good set of lift springs and do it right.

 

blueyota38, did you ever swap tires? if you did I missed the pics...and get better shackles at least, I got the same set on my truck, they scare me, I've got a real stout set on my runner, much safer.

Money is the only issue the cheap shackles are still on my truck...

 

x2 myyota.

Oh and don't forget that by putting longer shackels on when the axle compresses it's going to move the axle farther back causing it to hit the wheel well sooner...

 

actually, it had decent flex, or at least as much as it was going to get with the shocks I had. I know the springs were flat; that was the point of the longer shackles; to level out the truck

 

Well i finished my shackles and everything turned out ok!!! haha nothing dangerous about them, i actually trust them more than my cheapo autozone shackles. I may have sounded like i wanted 1in more lift than the 10in autozone shackles, this however is not what i meant!! i meant 1in over stock, but i extended the shackles 2.5in and it turned out as i expected! Pics will be served shortly

 

Heres a couple of pics. Not the best in the world but only had room for 2 more on the camera so.... yea

 

also in the first pic i didnt do the top weld, that was my buddys! we worked on it at school friday.

 

question for most lift springs do you have to change the mounting points? or do they bolt in? i have seen some where you have to change the mounting points but idk if i would trust most of the shops here in FL to weld them up. if you guys know of a company that does direct bolt in lift springs?

 

as you can see in my pic ass end really low haha

 

OME springs will probably your best bet. Skyjacker and rancho I believe only make bolt in 4"-6" lift springs?

 

ok cool thanks. but what could i do with the OEM springs to level it out it needs about 3 inches to level out. shackles?

 

don't extend the shackles on flat springs, they will look like w's in no time. If they don't already. That's just as bad as running lift block to level out flat springs. Also look into the ZUK mod.