Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hey Guys.,
possibly dragging up an old thread but i have just aquired some extended shackles and wanted to know before i chuck them in what else i have to do.(eg parts or shocks.)
I have an 85 lwb sierra and i only have new standard height leafs. i just wanted a bit of extra clearance without it being too high and twitchy.
Any advice on what i need or does eveything standard still fit/work?
Would those vs commo shocks fit and how will it affect/ improve ride quality?
Thanks fellas.

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Layto....

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or look in the bible.

Layto....

If you dont want it to be twitchy i would advise against extended shackles. I have them on my sierra and it steers like a boat.

To answer your question simply remove old shackles and bolt in the new ones. Make sure you grease up bushing.

many here will dicagree, but extended shackles from a suspenion geometry perspective are a bad idea.

the shackle is set from factory to be a specific angle, the shackle is an integral part of how the leaf works, and assist with the loads on the spring and hangers as well as being one of the first bits to start taking up under load

extening the shackle puts them on a different angle (less angle) which puts load on the spring in diferent areas and effects how the spring works and takes up. Often extended shackles will be the cause of a bent spring of the main leaf cracking on the shackle side of the diff mount, it can also deoending on how longh the shackle is cause shackle reversal

i run ext shackles and 2in susp lift.. my steering is fine. i removed teh swaybar as its mounting bolts werent long enough with the lift.

so in regards to your question i would say swaybar may need to come off or have some mods to make it fit mate.

good luck and see how she goes!

I know sway bars limit travel,but for on road driving as many people use there 4BY as a daily driver,this limits the performance of on road capability and can result in the vehicle rolling at very low speeds due to excess body roll,do a bit of research and replace the swaybars with link pin disconnects or replacement swaybars for off road use. I run 300 lb swaybars on my zuk and i get up to 36 inchs travel with my sway bars connected and only one more inch when disconnected. This allows the vehicle to corner and be stable on road and off. There is also the legal issues to think about.

AS for the extended shackles they do change the castor angle and this affects the return to centre aspect of the steering,also it changes the footprint on the road when steering is turned,giving less grip when turning and stopping,also gives shithouse tyre wear on those expensive tyres.

Your would be better off getting a lifted spring as 2 inch lifted spring would not affect castor and they are the correct length in regards to shacle angle and suspension travel.

as for the commi shocks they are designed for a heavier vehicle and the ride would not be very good. You are better of going for a adjustable good quality shock which will last for years.Cheers paul.

smiley_smoke wrote:i run ext shackles and 2in susp lift.. my steering is fine. i removed teh swaybar as its mounting bolts werent long enough with the lift.

so in regards to your question i would say swaybar may need to come off or have some mods to make it fit mate.

good luck and see how she goes!

Thats the same as mine!

With the sway bar on or off it handles the same so i just leave it off because it does make a difference off road for ME no difference on road!

Mart, when you say "can result in the vehicle rolling at very low speed" do you mean roll over or more body roll than a stock vehicle.I ask becuase newbies could be mislead when reading it. I ran spoa forty mm ome springs extended shackles and no sway bar and it cornered faster and safer than my stock coily dd. My shackles were only an inch longer giving about half inch lift.
This is my opinion based on my experience and the only reason I dont have extended shackles now is I didnt need the extra height.
This is all based on peoples opinions and everyone has valed points but I really dont think a modest shackle lift will cause him to roll at slow speeds. But it may have a negative but fixable with shims effect on steering.
Nik

I was talking about rolling the vehicle as a mate,sway bars removed,2 inch lift,shackle extension,1.5inch,93 model zook,3 weeks old,18,000 plus rolled it 3 times side-ways going arround a corner at 45 km/h .Because of suspension mods,excess body roll,so no insurance,they wiped him,Cheers Paul.

Havn't heard of that before!

He obviously didn't do something right?

Mine with 2 inch springs and extended shackles that lifted it an inch and no sway bar and i can go 40 to 50 around most corners! It's like driving a go kart!

MART wrote:I was talking about rolling the vehicle as a mate,sway bars removed,2 inch lift,shackle extension,1.5inch,93 model zook,3 weeks old,18,000 plus rolled it 3 times side-ways going arround a corner at 45 km/h .Because of suspension mods,excess body roll,so no insurance,they wiped him,Cheers Paul.

he must have been taking a really tight turn that i doubt the zook would make with standard springs.. everyone i speak to (that dont own a zook) think that zooks are sooo tippy.. only if you drive them like an idiot.
mine is my daily driver and i agree with suzuki boy mine handles the same if not better with new springs.. the old springs were flat as!
drive it like a zook and not a racecar and all will be well

mrmagoo wrote: i have just aquired some extended shackles and wanted to know before i chuck them in what else i have to do.(eg parts or shocks.)
I have an 85 lwb sierra and i only have new standard height leafs. i just wanted a bit of extra clearance without it being too high and twitchy.

You may or may not be aware that extended shackles of any type are illegal in QLD . Some drop shackles can be engineer approved on an individual basis.
Lifted springs are legal.

probably wont put them in now. thanks for everyones advice. might just go for a small spring lift instead.

That sucks big time about your mate. But unless insurance companies know of ALL mods they will wipe you. I was insured through the fwd assosiation with thirty twos spoa zook diffs but when I upgraded strength and braking by going lux diffs with engineers report the wiped me because thirty threes were too big for a zook
But back to extended shackles its a bit unfair to blame just them for a roll when it also had other forms of lift.
But to anyone thinking of using them the amount of lift achieved is half of the amount the shackle is lenghthed, and it can affect steering and pinion angles if you go too high.
Nik

2" extended is the most you can go before dramatically altering the castor and steering response.

2" extended shackles will give only 1" effective lift, but MAY allow a little extra flex with non-standard springs like RUF etc.

JMO

Pete

Extended shackles are a very bad way of gaining useful lift. Having said that, I am a big fan of them.

There are a couple of reasons. Firstly, Sierra shackles are pretty junky - they tend to wear at the splined end and when the bushes wear they get very sloppy. I make mine up with 3mm thick 50mmX25mm C channel and 1/2" UNF bolts. This way, bolt tension can be adjusted to control road handling and articualtion.

The next issue is that with RUF, longer shocks, etc the shackle length does start to present a restriction to overall travel.

They DO screw with castor. I do not go more than 35mm over stock. This seems to be an OK compromise.

However, a couple of weeks ago I fitted 4 degree caster wedges, available from Pedders for $28 each (?) to a RUF car.

The increase in steering response and self centering effect was very noticeable. At the moment this car is running stock length shackles, but RUF alone takes some caster out of the front end.

Be aware that with stock springs and longer shackles, axle tramp in the rear end can damage the shocks as on WT's there is a brake line bracket right where the shock is closest to the axle.

Steve.