muddeprived
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- PA
Stock or shorter shackle would work. I wouldn't worry about it though.
Improve your shackle angle
- Thread starter Dirk Pitt
- Start date
VAhasnoWAVES
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Lake City, Mi
how often are you in rocks that are hitting your bumper and hanging you up or pulverizing your gas tank? if the answer is "rarely" or "never" then its a nonissue. leafs are around for ages, and i have yet to hear of someone complain of shackles hanging up regularly. if it was a problem, people would be swapping to coils instead of using lifted leaf springs and shackles. this product would have never come into design. only time ive seen leafs cause problems and hang up is when someone takes a pretty gnarly (or stupid) line.
twodoorXJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- northern new jersey
well considering that the lowest part of my shackle is about 20-25 inches off the ground (rough guess), and i regularly wheel over rocks which are taller than this, i would just think that if i were to back up into the right rock, the shackle would hit the rock, and possibly break/bend something. Just my thoughts though, i was just looking for a shorter shackle that wouldnt interfere with the bracket itself.
- Location
- Rainy side of Washington
I've been wheeling with very little regard for body damage for about 6 months now (mostly in the rocks) and haven't broken my shackles yet. I look at it this way - aftermarket shackles are usually 1/4" plate, leaf springs are designed to flex and are approximately the same thickness per leaf. The shackle box is ~10ga sheetmetal spotwelded to a ~10ga sheetmetal frame rail, a ~14ga sheetmetal rear crossmember, and a ~18ga sheetmetal floor. What's going to bend or break here? My bet is on the unibody.
Oh, and MoparManiac had the same shackles for a few years (I bought them off him used, after the demise of his last rig) and probably got a combined 15 seconds of airtime while he owned them. Good shackles will take almost any abuse you can throw at them.
As for hanging up on stuff - even with the separate lower overload leaf on my OMEs I haven't gotten hung up on them yet, nor the shackles. I've gotten hung up on my front pumpkin, rear pumpkin, tranny crossmember, exhaust, and rear axle shock mounts, from the look of it and the location of the dents and rock scars...
Oh, and MoparManiac had the same shackles for a few years (I bought them off him used, after the demise of his last rig) and probably got a combined 15 seconds of airtime while he owned them. Good shackles will take almost any abuse you can throw at them.
As for hanging up on stuff - even with the separate lower overload leaf on my OMEs I haven't gotten hung up on them yet, nor the shackles. I've gotten hung up on my front pumpkin, rear pumpkin, tranny crossmember, exhaust, and rear axle shock mounts, from the look of it and the location of the dents and rock scars...
muddeprived
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- PA
I used to wheel with a YJ who had these abnormally long 3-bolt shackles ON THE FRONT of his leaf springs. They were the lowest point on the front end and he wacked em all the time. Coming off rocks, logs, stumps, etc. They would just rebound or make a loud "bang" but never broke or damaged the leaf. So.....I wouldn't worry about it. You are more likely to puncture your tank than damage a leaf or shackle. If you are still concerned, remove the long shackle, add an AAL like Old Man Emu's so it doesn't ride like shit, and then put a smaller shackle on it.
Nicksdsm
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Annapolis MD
What is the ideal shackle angle for improved ride quality?
muddeprived
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- PA
Based on all the pictures in this thread, it seems like 45-70 degrees is what most aim for.
twodoorXJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- northern new jersey
Anyone else not really notice a difference in ride quality? Im not complaining, considering i didnt really buy these for ride quality, i bought them to try and even out th flex front and rear
ktm racer 419
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- ROW DIALIN
with a 45* shackle angle, new clayton 4.5" packs. 1.5" shackle and 255/70 bilstein 5150's the ride is excellent
2001XJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Canton, MI
What is the eye to eye dimensions of the clayton 4.5s before installation and what are they after installed (curious to how much the "flatten" with that setup) Also, in the end what height of lift do you get since the shackle is at a 45* angle? Would you say you loose about 1/2", 3/4" 1", etc in height versus the stock position running the same 4.5" leaf and 1.5" shackle?
TIA
BRIANHO13
<- Yum Chocolate
- Location
- Spring, TX
If you don't change leafs or shackles most people gain 3/4-1" of lift with these.
ktm racer 419
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- ROW DIALIN
uninstalled with no weight on em' i figure they are pretty close to stock. i didnt do any measuring.
when installed they are about an inch longer
my shackle is around 45* right now with a 1.5" extended shackle and i probably sit around 5.5" of lift.
it's a little tall for me. and im hopin they settle a bit more, i wish companies would make a heavier duty, military wrapped 2.5 or 3.5" leaf.
i can get pics in a couple days i suppose
2001XJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Canton, MI
Captain_America
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Riverside, California
Its interesting here how nobody has brought up anything about the change in spring rate moving your shackle makes... Other than saying the ride has improved...
Captain_America
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Riverside, California
Last edited:
Captain_America
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Riverside, California
Ok, has anybody set the shackle angle 90 degrees to the datum line? What does that look like from the side of the XJ? And what angle will the shackle be to the ground? This obviously depends on amount of lift and will very from Jeep to Jeep...
Its interesting here how nobody has brought up anything about the change in spring rate moving your shackle makes... Other than saying the ride has improved...
That picture doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
If the shackle was in position A, which is what these brackets pretty much do, the ride gets much more compliant and flexes easier. The spring is allowed to flatten out, which makes it longer on the datum line, and the angle at A allows it. This would be consistent with making the spring rate softer.
In position B, when the spring wants to flex and flatten out, the shackle pretty much resists this motion and won't naturally let the spring lengthen on the datum line.
With the spring at 90* like a stock setup usually is, the shackle isn't really affecting the spring rate, but only there to allow the spring to lengthen when it flattens out. It's harder for the spring to lengthen in this position than in position A, making the 'spring rate' slightly stiffer.
- Location
- In the islands
Your theory is correct except that you have it all backwards ie: position 'A' causes the spring to stiffen while position 'B' will cause the spring to soften. Remember, the end of the spring is what moves as indicated in the picture not the spring mounting position on the (XJ) vehicle.
The relocation brackets we are discussing move the shackle into position A. According to that drawing, that stiffens up the spring pack. If that were the case, everyone in this thread wouldn't be talking about how much the ride quality and flex improved. It'd be the exact opposite.
