So one of the previous owners of my truck decided to bob the frame right behind the stock shackles, groovy, saves me the work.
Expect now I have no where to mount my shackle for my Chevys. I don't want to run dual shackles either.

I read the FAQ on priate and it says to move the stock front hanger 11" foward from center hole to center hole and the rear hanger has to go back 4". Is this correct?
How can I go about mounting my rear shackles then? I was thinking about using some tube steel to extend the rear of the frame just enough to add my shackles for the springs, will that work?

Any other ideas?

 

the previous owner of my truck did my chevy swap but unless i just didnt see the holes, i'm hanging my longer shackles for the chevy's from the stock holes, and it works out just fine.

 

I would use some rectangular box steel(Essentially relengthening the frame. It sems that tube woudln't have enough strength for the weight. It seems liek it would bend unless trussed.

 

I meant box/rectangle tubing.

Got an idea from another forum, rear bumper mounted shackles. Marlin runs them on their F-Toy.
Could work and be easy to do.

I'll measure when I get home and see how much room I have.

 

I know a couple of guys running chevy rears, and they are just running rediculously long rear shackles (in the stock hole) to avoid running duals.

 

Wouldn't stupid long shackles just screw up your shackle angle?

 

I think you should build a solid rear bumper and mount the shackles on that.

 

Yes, that's exactly what I am thinking.

Use some 3/16 box section tubing. I've got some 1"x.5" thick flat stock that I can make into both shackle hangers and d-ring shackle mounts (for recovery).
I'll have to take some measurements after work and do some drawings to see what I can come up with.

 

i couldnt tell if mine were stock or not because it was dark under there and i didnt have a flashlight handy but i hang both my stock leafs and my chevys from the same hanger and i dont have 2 foot long shackles either

 

Your tacoma is much different from his '82, IIRC you can run the stock shackle hanger on the taco. On my '85 I am running a hanger right behind the stock shackle hanger and I still wish I had a better shackle angle.

 

Here's a quick drawing:


What do you think? Should work I'm guessing.

 

THe main reason i hate chevys, the 12in long shackle. You can really feel it sway in corners.

 

Honestly when I broke it down it wasnt worth it to go for chevys. Especially since I've decided to do everything right on my truck and spend the time. The Trail-Gear kit is $500 and includes new spring mounts, retains factory shackle mount, U-bolt flip kit, Brand new leafs with a set height wheras chevys is a guessing game, new shackles, shock relocation, extended break lines, ect ,ect. These kits just seem to be worth it unless you've got a nice welder and pile of scrap waiting to be used. For me I pay my friend $10 and hour and when it comes down to it its like either invest the hourly plus my invested time or just get the kit.

 

I don't mind investing my time.

After talking to a buddy of mine who KNOWS Toyotas, I'm gonna run a long rear shackle and save myself some time.

 

That's what I did, 9" eye to eye. Works great, flexes great, drives great.

 

Yea, I'm to go with 10" eye to eye as per my buddy.
What are your shackles made from?
What size is the bolt hole?

I've got some 3/16" plate kicking around, maybe I can use that to fab some shackles over the weekend.

 

Pirate delveries again.

9/16 x 5" grade 8 bolts with lock nuts for the spring eyes. 19mm or 3/4 x 5" for the rear factory hanger

 

So I'm going to go with a 10" rear shackle. This will let me use my stock hanger location. I've got some 3/16" plate laying around that will let me make 2 sets of shackles, no problems.
Looking around though, shackles are normally made for 1/4", the difference is .0625" not much but it could make a difference.
So do I use the 3/16 plate by it self or do I use 2 3/16 plate together (thus making the shackles 3/8" thick)?

 

I had 9" shackles originally. And looking at your picture, it reminds me of teh reason I took them off. It's a little thing called negative arch. Look how backwards yoru springs will have to arch to even touch the bumpstops. You would either have to extend your bumpstops or get shorter shackles to alleviate this issue.

I'm not sure how bad negative arch is. But, I think it can lead to broken leafs and sagging springs. I think a little negative arch is okay, but 9" shackles gave me an excessive amount of negative arch. With a spring under setup, 9 or 12" shackles are ok, but with spring over, it doesn't seem right to me.

Here is the 9" setup I had, displaying the negative arch:



and here it is with the 6" eye to eye shackles, still a little negative arch, but less severe:

 

One would probably be ok, but, I think 2 thick would be beefy. My current shackles are pretty thick. I believe they are AllPro shackles.