unbearably bouncy ride after IRO 3" lift

[Cottontail]

That angle you posted is pretty vertical. Look at my first picture. When my angle was that bad, my ride was ROUGH!

This was my shackle angle before:

Here is the after:

For reference, here is how I sit after the HD Off-road relo brackets.

 

[techno1154]

Doesn't actually look that bad. I feel like of they settle a bit It angle might get even better?

That shackle angle is what? 10 degrees or less? It is bad. Compounded with the closeness between the shackle and the rear cross member and you could have contact between the shackle and the body. In addition, those springs require a longer than OEM/stock shackle.
Post a picture showing both shackle bolts for a more precise comparison.

 

[Rushin]

I see so looks like the solution here is to start with adjusting the angle of the shackle

 

[Boostwerks.com]

I think most of your harshness is due to the fact the IRO springs are stiff as hell. I ended up removing the bottom leaf out of my 3.5" IRO pack and would like to remove another. (I do have an anti-wrap bar however)

The packs are much stiffer than the HD OME's I replaced.

Longer shackles will certainly help as well.

 

[Bstew_]

IRO makes a extended shackle

 

[Euology101]

Rushin, If you are looking for a set of shackles, let me know. I actually have a set of the IRO Extended shackles that Bstew just posted, brand new in box. I went another direction, and just haven't gotten around to posting them, and some other things, in the classifieds.

 

[Rushin]

So would you guys suggest taking one of the leafs out? Should I take one of the middle ones out? Will that make the lift a little less too?

 

[Rushin]

Rushin, If you are looking for a set of shackles, let me know. I actually have a set of the IRO Extended shackles that Bstew just posted, brand new in box. I went another direction, and just haven't gotten around to posting them, and some other things, in the classifieds.

I am interested for sure. Will that help adjust the angle? How much more lift will they add?

 

[Cottontail]

If you look carefully at my second photo you'll see I have extended shackles on mine. It gives me just shy of 2". I pulled a set of a Dodge Ram pickup at the junkyard.

 

[Demonoid369]

So would you guys suggest taking one of the leafs out? Should I take one of the middle ones out? Will that make the lift a little less too?

Maybe take out the bottom leaf to add the extended shackle but that will be helpful only marginally. You need to do a shackle relocation bracket to genuinely help you.

 

[Rushin]

Soci am thinking shackle relocation in conjunction with removing one of the leafs. What you guys think?

 

[Cottontail]

I'd do the shackle box before tearing into a leaf packs. The folks answering are overwhelmingly in favor of the shackle relo brackets. I'd start with that, and if you still aren't satisfied, then take the next step. I'll be you see a big difference with the corrected angles.

 

[Demonoid369]

I'd do the shackle box before tearing into a leaf packs. The folks answering are overwhelmingly in favor of the shackle relo brackets. I'd start with that, and if you still aren't satisfied, then take the next step. I'll be you see a big difference with the corrected angles.

X2 the shackle relocator is the big game changer. Mine I built myself and followed the HD design(rear frame tie in, adjustable positions, etc..) and I'll admit, I should have bought theirs lol the price is completely worth their product.
But it's the A

 

[Euology101]

Soci am thinking shackle relocation in conjunction with removing one of the leafs. What you guys think?

Without a doubt start with relocators, before tearing apart a perfect set of leafs. I bet you'll end up quite surprised. Stock shackles bind on relocators, so you'll need to cut them sooner than later.

 

[Rushin]

I am leaning towards doing the non lift hd shackles relocation. Do you guys think I will need to get extended shackles?

 

[BENZOMATIC]

X47 on the shackle relo brackets. If you do sport for new shackles and your end game is ride quality I would look for a shackle with RUBBER bushings, not urethane. I'm not knocking urethane...I love the shit but it does ride a bit rougher.

 

[CarbonXJ]

X47 on the shackle relo brackets. If you do sport for new shackles and your end game is ride quality I would look for a shackle with RUBBER bushings, not urethane. I'm not knocking urethane...I love the shit but it does ride a bit rougher.

And squeaks to high hell without constant grease.

I'm looking into the no lift brackets for mine as well. Rides just fine but I'd like to tune the lift and flex. If you go that route, could you post up some install pictures and issues you had?

 

[Bent]

IMO;you have no way around longer shackles. Without them your leaves have no where to move. I don't really have an opinion on the relocation brackets per se but shackle angle is a major factor with compression and droop as the leaf's eye to eye distance has to be able to change.
The last thing I would even remotely consider would be removing a leaf(s) from my brand new spring pack before they are well broken in. One thing that will happen as they settle in is that the afore mentioned (effective) eye to eye distance will increase and will slightly increase your shackle angle. This brings us back to the problem with the oem shackle being too short.

Somebody correct me here; but doesn't every 1" increase in shackle bolt center to center yield ~1/2" lift?

 

[Bent]

I went out and looked at my shackle angle after posting; and they are strait up and down. I'm running RE 1" shackles with RE 3.5' leafs and my ride and rear suspension travel are great. They are well worn, though. I'll be replacing them this next week with RE 4.5" leafs. I'll see how they ride/affect shackle angle. For shocks I run RS9000 adjustable, maybe that ids the difference. I'll report back.

 

[GordoSmasho]

I went out and looked at my shackle angle after posting; and they are strait up and down. I'm running RE 1" shackles with RE 3.5' leafs and my ride and rear suspension travel are great. They are well worn, though. I'll be replacing them this next week with RE 4.5" leafs. I'll see how they ride/affect shackle angle. For shocks I run RS9000 adjustable, maybe that ids the difference. I'll report back.

You can say they are great but that is a very relative term. With proper shackle angle i bet you would gain a few inches of droop and a smoother ride with better load control. There is no argument for a vertical shackle over a proper shackle angle other than "works for me". Which doesnt say much if you havent done it both ways.