Revolver shackles

[DutchVDub]

Any of you guys have experience with TeraFlex's Revolver shackles? They look like a good way to help smoothe out the ride on the XJ w/o spending crazy money on a coil conversion or deavers leaf packs.

 

[planefixer]

No first hand experience ( I was warned in time ) but literally everyone I have talked to, that have used them, said nothing but bad things about them.

 

[userbmx1315]

i havent either. but imagin you self going down a hill, ok, now put on breaks and watch them extend. nose wheelie of front flip. thats bad.

 

[Skully]

i havent either. but imagin you self going down a hill, ok, now put on breaks and watch them extend. nose wheelie of front flip. thats bad.

That is why you put a limiting strap in the center of the axle, so it won't unload in that situation, but allow you to flex one wheel at time........

No seriously, an old jeeping aquantance had them on the rear of his YJ and that very exact thing would happened and skeered the shite out of him. Then one fatefull day somebody suggested the very same thing I mentioned above and he loved them again and was not scared of them. True story I swear........



He never really mentioned if they actually rode better but he did mention that even with the limiting strap if you went around a corner too fast it would unload on one side........

 

[Patriot4x4]

same here, warned about it but i never actually met anyone who had them...

makes sense though.

 

[ColoradoRaptor]

I would stay away from them myself!

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Revolver shackles will do absolutely NOTHING to improve ride quality. Revolvers don't do anything different than normal shackles do until you unload the rear suspension to allow downward travel of the leaf spring. They stay folded under the vehicle's weight until then.

And yeah, they're bad news when downhill and off camber. Unless the rig is a strictly off-road built rig and has roll over protection, I'd never consider installing them.

Dutch, try loosening your shackle bolts - all 4 - just enough to allow free movement but not so they are flopping around. Obviously, do this only if you have locking nuts on the bolts - either the factory pinch nuts or nylon lock nuts. You may have them bound up a bit and the only movement being afforded to you currently is what you can get from the ply-ability of the bushings. Try letting the metal bushing inserts rotate on the bolts.

Do you have stock shackles now? Or some sort of longer aftermarket shackles?

 

[Led]

I'm one of the guys that warned eveyone. don't run them they will do nothing for you.they are crap, crap I say! I can't believe they still sell them

 

[BRIANHO13]

I ran them for a month, then took them off.
I tried some of the same obstacles with and with out (hill climbs), could not do them with them, removed them and could do them. They allow the rear axle to unload.

DO NOT RUN THEM.

 

[DutchVDub]

Dutch, try loosening your shackle bolts - all 4 - just enough to allow free movement but not so they are flopping around. Obviously, do this only if you have locking nuts on the bolts - either the factory pinch nuts or nylon lock nuts. You may have them bound up a
Do you have stock shackles now? Or some sort of longer aftermarket shackles?

I actually did loosen them all quite a bit and then drove it around the block and let it sit all day to try and help the springs settle into a good place. I also made sure to rock the entire jeep from side to side to help them sit better. Then I tightened the bolts back down with my 1/2" drive breaker bar. They've got locktite on them so they won't come loose. And yes, I'm running 1.5" extended shackles. Those did seem to make a huge difference.

Its not the on-road ride I'm unhappy with. The thing ride great on road, its the trail ride. When you are on the faster sections of dirt road but there are still the occaisional smaller rocks to drive over the ride is quite jarring. After awhile it gets a bit old, but so does driving 1/2mph with a manual transmission.

I'm happy with how the thing handles on the street and over the large obstacles, its the smaller rocks and bumpy FSR's leading up to the bigger obstacles that kill me. I don't think it would be as big a deal if my back was screwed up from Iraq, but as it is I get pretty sore on the trail after a while.

I think with either some Deavers or Alcan 4" springs and the other things I'm doing I'll be fine, and if not then I'll just sell the rig and get me a ZJ. I don't use it as a daily driver so its not a huge deal if it rides a little rough, I just want it to be as smoothe as possible for a leaf sprung rear end. I know the 35's I'm going to will help too as its a little bit more rubber between me and the rocks. I'd do a coil conversion but the 1500 - 1700 quid for either the Rock Krawler or Clayton kits is too much to spend when I can buy a fairly nice ZJ for 3000$.

 

[YELLAHEEP]

What shocks are you running?

I had similar issues with the original Deutsch Tech shocks that came with my 6" RE kit back in the day and swapped them out for the Rancho 5000's..... which wasn't much of an improvement at all..... then I spent the money on the Rancho 9000 adjustables and I haven't looked back! I set the fronts at 4 and the rears at 3 and that was perfect.

Maybe it's not the springs, but the shocks? :dunno:

 

[COSXJFAN]

Heard nothing good, all bad!! It's a no go in my book!!