Getting the best out of leaf springs

[Tommy]

Im currently running a 2 inch OME lifted leafs and 2inch extended anti inversion shackels and was wondering how i can get a better ride and flex ?

Is there a custom spring mob who specialise in this ? Are parabolics anygood ?

The car carries little to no weight so it doesnt have to have any load barers.

Do dropshackels increase lift in anyway ? Do they work well and are they road legal ?

Leafs are never going to be as comfy as coils but surely there are less stiff or better options out there.

[mule75]

what type of car is it??
prob do a search as there should be heaps of stuff already researched. i've got custom leaves on a hzj75 which is good on rough roads but has a fair bit of body roll but i do have 4+2 lift

[bad_religion_au]

take a few leafs out of the pack. that'll soften it up.

work out if the shackles are too long for your springs (what's the shackle angle, are they straight up and down, are they at 45 degrees?)

dropshackles are a gimmeck, and take too much work to get them to work as well as a well set up leaf spring setup.

[mule75]

you will prob find that your shocks will limit your downwards travel before a drop shackle will work.

[bad_religion_au]

you will prob find that your shocks will limit your downwards travel before a drop shackle will work.

yeah i forgot shocks muley, good call.

the thing with drop shackles is that although you may have more wheel travel, it is just relying on the weight of the wheel to make it droop, not the spring pushing down, so you'll still need a locker to stop the light wheel from spinning.

and if you had the locker, you could drive it with the wheel 2 inches off the ground anyway...

[Tommy]

Oh, yeah.

I have also seen is it a "scissor shackle" with the leaves joing both ends of the shackle. How do they work ? are they effective ?

I know the Superior boys down south do wonders with leafs.

[Sic Lux]

What a longer set of shocks will do 2in lifted springs with s few leaves droped and stock shackles in the front but

Dropies are good when setup right

bang for buck i'd probably go ifs reas inverted rear shocks and a trac bar first or just try some longer shockies
The sissor shackle your thinking of tyler had them on his have a look through members area and there will be pic's in there

[Tommy]

Righto, stupid question but how do you set up drop shackels ? Is it just getting the right leaf packs to allow them to work properly or is there more involved ?

Do drop shackles give more extra lift over normal shackles ? Just wondering because if i do buy them from superior i may have a rig pointing its nose to the ground like a pig !

[TUF-35T]

knowbody knows what you drive yet be a bit more spacific and the awnsers will come you name it and someone here has done it

by the way if it is a hilux you drive ive got a set of drop shakles you can have $350 pm me if ur interested

[bad_religion_au]

Oh, yeah.

I have also seen is it a "scissor shackle" with the leaves joing both ends of the shackle. How do they work ? are they effective ?

I know the Superior boys down south do wonders with leafs.

scissor/drop shackles are a crock. as i said above, they don't actually put any weight on the drooped tire, so look pretty on the ramp, but do stuff all off road.

proper setup would include track bars to stop axle wrap, as they can open up under load making the problem worse. also getting your shocks and springs to work with them.

doing the work with normal shackles will net pretty similar gains, without the issues.

[lukes4x4]

Pull the leaf packs apart. chamfer the ends of the idividual leafs so no sharp edges. then put grease between all of them. re put together. dont fault this until you try.

[Sic Lux]

scissor/drop shackles are a crock. as i said above, they don't actually put any weight on the drooped tire, so look pretty on the ramp, but do stuff all off road.

So say a pootrol or 80 under full flex has pressure on both wheels evenly dont think so, Articulation isn't everything but sure as shit helps also making it more stable

Pull the leaf packs apart. chamfer the ends of the idividual leafs so no sharp edges. then put grease between all of them. re put together. dont fault this until you try.

Isn't there some lube you can get you paint it on it dries like a dry lube so grit doesn't stick to it.

[MissDrew]

Articulation isn't everything but sure as shit helps also making it more stable

Only if its even front to rear.
I see so many that have heeps of rear travel but none up front, this makes for one very unstable rig.

[hulsty]

should the aim to be more travel at the front ? if so why? once I change my front shocks my middy will have waaaaay more travel up front the rear

cheers

[MissDrew]

The aim should be the same front to rear, but this is normally not possible. My hilux currently has about 4 inches more in the rear then the front. However if I wanted more flex in the rear I could easily get about 6 inches more out it if I wanted it. But as it is it all works very well together and isn't needed.

Some people think the rear should have more then the front and build their rigs that way. If you watch rigs that are built like this the cab will allways lay over at the first sign of flexing

[Sic Lux]

Yeah that was my first packs we set up when i did RUF stiff as all crap before that it was parrablics and the front worked very well but the back was stiff as i'm happy with it now nice and stable

[chunks]

Pull the leaf packs apart. chamfer the ends of the idividual leafs so no sharp edges. then put grease between all of them. re put together. dont fault this until you try.

Isn't there some lube you can get you paint it on it dries like a dry lube so grit doesn't stick to it.

Anyone know more about this?

I pulled some Belton leafs from a 75 series apart and they just had moly grease in between each leaf.