wooooooohooo, finally got my 6in rear shackle plates in from wab fab! hopefully gonna fix 2.5 in of my 3.5in of sag. just figured id let you know. gonna get em in this weekend. pics coming.

 

So a 6" shackle is 5" longer than stock so you can get 2.5" of lift?

I think you mean that it's 2.5" longer which will fix 1.25" of your 3.5" of sag...

 

stock shackles are 3.5 in. long so a 6in shackle will equal out to 2.5in of lift right?

 

http://www.wabfab.org/products/suspension/shackles.htm heres the site. it says that stock schackles are 3.5 in between holes. where as the ones i ordered are 6in between holes.

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but typically you get half the lift of the bolt hole distance over stock. Thus,

6" - 3.5" = 2.5" / 2 = 1.25"

 

I got my shackles for free! They are 6-8" shackles and they gave me around 3-4" of lift....I measured

 

If you think about it it makes sense. The spring is hooked at one side and you space out the other, and lift is at the wheel which is about halfway between the pivot and the shackle. Actual lift gained is roughly half the length of the increased length of the shackle.

As usual though, 4Crawler says it best...

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Shackles.shtml#FAQ4

 

ahhhh... well that sucks. so now ive got a cold, my g/f just broke up with me, and now im only getting 1 1/4 in of lift??? oh well. figures on my luck these days.lol

 

with your 6-8" ruler?

and if you're got that much sag your springs are probably pretty shot...

 

well shackles are going on tomorrow! ill get some pics up when i get home from my friends shop.

 

I've got a question, did the bushings that came with your Wab-Fab shackle kit work on your stock springs? I ordered the same thing for my '95 Truck and I'm curious. Also, assuming this will give me 1.25' or lift in the rear, will all my lines and everything be ok for length?

 

They should fit your stock springs but I've had them not fit some other aftermarket stuff. They are sitting on the shop table ready to ship out Monday.

All your lines will be fine only going up this much. It will typically give you 1.25" of lift over your standard shackles, all things being equal.

 

Remove the tires so there is no weight on the axle/springs and then remove the rear shackles...a lot easier.

Notice that the opening in the nut is slightly ovaled...those are self locking nuts, the proper name escapes me at the moment as I have had 2 hours sleep in the past 36 hours, but grease them a bit before tightening for keeps.

 

^Stover-style Locknut?

And you can flip those bolts so the grease fitting is facing outward if you're lazy, or with them facing inwards for a little bit more protection.

I like facing them outwards for ease of greasing cause I'm lazy, but let me tell you, it's a pita when you snap off those brass nipples (which you can solve by going to the part store and getting some stainless nipples).

 

hmm...I could be wrong on this, but i recall reading somewhere that you should NOT grease non-greasable shackles, but instead use soapy water to aid in installing the bolts.......

 

Thanks for the info/suggestions thus far. I see the slightly ovaled end now, cool. O, and these are greaseable by the way.
I plan on starting this tomorrow if I have everything I need. I just sprayed the shackles black, its basically just to help them survive the winter salt and match the rest of my rust brown/oily black underside of the truck.

 

Don't overtighten those zerks Just fair warning, they're brass after all.

 

nice kit!!!!! ay better then my 12in shackles!!

 

So I just whent shopping and I bought some multi-purpose automotive grease, a 1/2 soket, pb blaster, oil filter and oil bucket. Tomorrow should be awesome as long as it doesn't rain. Any suggestions what I should do first? oil/filter or shackles?

 

No, it was a 10-12" ruler.

I did this on my old truck, before I knew how to lift one! The springs weren't sagging, I just wanted some added lift.