longer shackles

Post by **camo** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 2:42 pm

i am looking to double my shackles from 70mm to 140mm eye to eye
any one had any experience with making longer shackles or any probs with running them they will go on my 93' zook if it helps

Post by **camskizook** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 2:51 pm

I ran 3.5" inch shackles for about 5 months and it was by far the WORST mod i have ever done...it handled worse then a shopping trolley and was fookin dangerous to drive on the street because of the major change in castor up the front....I am running 100mm shackles now (pinned climaxes) and it handles pretty good.

Post by **greg** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 3:10 pm

i believe mine are about an inch longer than stock. At the time they were made for my car i was advised not to go longer than that or you will affect stearing / castor etc... all of which would lead to a more un-safe vehicle.

Post by **Ferwoaza** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 3:28 pm

Don't forget, extended shackles are illegal as well...

From what I've seen, a little bit is fine, and usually a horizontal brace is a good idea.

Post by **bigsteve** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 8:32 pm

I agree with Cam, I made up double length shackles for my zook and after one lap around the block whipped them straight off.

With the rancho's on 1 and 20psi in the tyres it felt like it was going to rip off the mirrors whilst cornering.

I am going to take them down to 1 inch over on the next attempt but after the quick drive I had i'm in no hurry. I think I'll just ask the wife for a set of climax's for my birthday :lol:

Post by **camo** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 11:35 pm

looking to improve off road performance not to worried about on road
why dont u just turn up the ranchos?
what size ranchos are u running bigsteve?

Post by **moose** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 12:01 am

bigsteve wrote:

With the rancho's on 1 and 20psi in the tyres it felt like it was going to rip off the mirrors whilst cornering.

????? Y not turn the rancho,s up , say 2 or 3 !!!!!
on 1 , you may as well not have any shocks on it !!!!!!

I,ve run longer shackles , F & R , for ages !!! learn to drive to the cars characteristics !!!!!!
I love it !!! :finger:

can still slide around corners , or pick a wheel up (rear) , LOVE IT !!! :finger:

have had varying length , from 2x the lenght , to 3"-4" longer !!!

Post by **camo** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 12:22 am

what shocks and lenghts do u run moose?
as every thing else is still standard ( suspenion that is) on my zook

what did u have to do to make it all work eg.. longer brake lines, shocks....... etc.

not to woried about the legal side!!!!!! there is enough vl commodore drivers up here to keep the cops off my back.

who would pull up an innocent looking zook driver anyway

:evil:

Post by **grimbo** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 7:45 am

I wouldn'tt recommend a 3-4" extension as you will find the front end will tend to wobble around a fair bit plus you'll tear up bushes . Go for a maximum of 2" extension which will give you a 1" lift.

Any longer and you will have a bulldozer with the shackles catching on everything. I'm running 34s with Old Man Emus and I still catch them occasionally so if you are still stock you'll catch everything.

Moose i thought you were shackle reversed which is a whole different kettle of fish

Post by **Ferwoaza** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 7:46 am

camo wrote:not to woried about the legal side!!!!!! there is enough vl commodore drivers up here to keep the cops off my back.

who would pull up an innocent looking zook driver anyway :evil:

It's not getting pulled over you have to worry about, it's when you have a serious accident and they take the car away for inspection. You injure or kill someone, and they find that mod on your zook it's meet boyfriend bubba time.

Post by **moose** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 8:31 am

It is now Grimbo !!!!
but earlier !!!! :finger:

the long , long ones were only on 1 time !!! ( Wandin 4? years ago )

Camo , as grimbo stated , I have reverse shackle !!!
But am running (front) shocks from a 80,s ? celica (rear wheel drive hatchback type) , the rear shocks from 1 of them works well!!

On the rear , I,ve layed the shocks over , & there off the rear of a Exploder !!!!!

Front brake lines come straight of off a swift !!!! ($10 from a wreckers !!!)

Post by **camo** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 2:48 pm

thanks
think i will go 50mm or 120mm eye to eye thats about 2in
bolt and crash can in the centre and see how it runs

are pin to eye converters worth it in the front ?

just a thought while i am at it and have to buy new shocks

Post by **bigsteve** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 8:34 pm

I normally run the rancho's on 3 for the road & obviously 1 for offroad.

Post by **purefmx** » Sun Mar 16, 2003 10:21 pm

camskizook wrote:I ran 3.5" inch shackles for about 5 months and it was by far the WORST mod i have ever done...it handled worse then a shopping trolley and was fookin dangerous to drive on the street because of the major change in castor up the front....I am running 100mm shackles now (pinned climaxes) and it handles pretty good.

Im hearin' ya!!!!
My old zook.... We found a set of 33's in my mates tyre shop, what fun we had tryin' to squeeze em under with only a 2.5" spring lift. We oxy cut a set of make shift shakles just to get the car home to do the spoa, they were around 2 times over std, and we only did the front. (remeber i said just to get home). Over a 2km trip on flat road, the car nearly bounced into a tree, scariest moment in a longtime. Never again!!!! I did the SPOA and returned the std shackles into position, Brilliant!!!

Post by **camo** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 1:39 pm

would u still have the same problems with longer shakles if u fitted castor angle correcters?

Post by **camskizook** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 1:55 pm

The only way to fix the castor up the front is to cut the knuckles off and re-weld them

Post by **camskizook** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 1:58 pm

Rephrase........best way

Post by **camo** » Mon Mar 17, 2003 11:53 pm

thanks for the advice might just look at fitting lifted springs instead

just can not fit 33' tyres with 80mm body lift and stock suspenion :lol:

(they rub body when turning going up drive way)
camo

any surgestion on spring packs and heights i am thinking 75mm lifted springs any decent brands people have used and liked/disliked?

Post by **grimbo** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 9:27 am

you can't go past old man emu for their quality I have had a set on mine for about 7 years and finally stuffed a spring pack with a bit too much right foot on a rock ledge. Mind you they were 2nd hand when i bought them and have done a lot of hard 4wheeling and a couple of long distance trips carrying up to 6 spares and 6 full jerrycans and camping gear so can't complain

Post by **moose** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 10:06 am

grimbo wrote:you can't go past old man emu for their quality I have had a set on mine for about 7 years and finally stuffed a spring pack with a bit too much right foot on a rock ledge. Mind you they were 2nd hand when i bought them and have done a lot of hard 4wheeling and a couple of long distance trips carrying up to 6 spares and 6 full jerrycans and camping gear so can't complain

just the rest of the car would break around them !!!!!!!
:finger:

Post by **camo** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 11:21 am

only problem with oldmanemu is they only offer up to 40mm lift

if they had a bit more height i would go with them, unless people know if they will custom make spring packs?

Post by **greg** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 11:45 am

Hi Camo,

I just wanted to clarify something for you...

A lifted spring will increase ride hight, but will also be a lot stiffer than a flatter spring because it is trying to keep it's arch and not flatten out when under compression.

I believe this is the setup that is achieved via the use of the Calmini 5" spring lift - yes, the springs increase the ride hight of the car and will allow you to fit a larger tire, but they will also restrict the compression available to you and effectively reduce the amount of articulation that you can achieve. This is effectively the same as running a body lift - it raises the body but doesn't do much for a softer ride or better articulation.

I currently run OME rears all round (like Grimbo) and have gone to the extent of removing all the support leaves to allow the spring to compress and droop as much as possible - so much so that the tires i run will tuck right up inside the wheel well so much that they tickle the back of the head light at full compression.

I think what you should be chasing in a spring is compression and droop (travel) rather than ride hight (which will result in stiffness and a rough ride with little compression or droop)...

Hope that helps a little - i would suggest that you decide if you are trying to build a big tall suzuki that looks good and will fit a big tire under it :shock:

, or a functional well balanced car with heaps of travel that wants to balance and drive over everything that you put in front of it.

Let me know if you require more info.

Cheers mate.
Greg

Post by **N*A*M** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 11:50 am

Greg

Can you help me build a big tall suzuki that looks good and will fit a big tire under it? I require more info.

:finger:

Nah you have a good point. Well said.

Post by **camo** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 11:58 am

thanks heaps have clarified a lot of things right there
as u could tell i was getting confused thinking height = articulation

I THINK WE HAVE A BREAK THOUGH !!!!!!!!

please tell me more the functional well balandced car with better articulation is what i am after

Post by **camskizook** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 12:50 pm

N*A*M wrote:Greg

Can you help me build a big tall suzuki that looks good and will fit a big tire under it? I require more info.

It doesnt matter how many times i see this pic i still get the giggles :lol:

Post by **moose** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 12:54 pm

or similar !!!

Post by **camskizook** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 1:06 pm

But wait.....theres more!

Post by **moose** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 1:18 pm

raise you !!!

Post by **grimbo** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 1:34 pm

I think I can beat that :finger:

Post by **camskizook** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 1:36 pm

Hit me!

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