I used the crappy no good search function and found no results but it produced nothing even though I know I've read posts about sulastic shackles. I was looking at them to get rid of the "chatter" as I call it in the rear end of my F450 over certain road types. Do these last or is it something that needs replaced every few years? The design definitely makes me question them but it seems like they work for what I'm wanting.

 

There are two versions of the sulastic shackles.

a non adjustable version which is about the same size as the leaf spring hanger

an adjustable version that is probally triple the size of a leaf spring hanger


a lot of folks use the regular version and report short service life ….they tend to seperate and are not rebuildable. I had regular versions on my prior truck for about 5 years and they did not seperate…..maybe becuase I had also put in summo springs which help control extension and travel on compression. When I bought mine they were about 400 bucks and if you have enough jacks and mechanical know how a dangerous install but not difficult.


the other version are the larger adjustable version which I have on my current truck. These were 700 when I bought them and are now about 1000 bucks. Not adjustable in the sense I thought..I thought there was a lever I could throw depending on load but what I thought was a lever was just a travel stop. The adjustable feature is a range of preloads depending on payload weight. More weight put in more preload, etc. a long socket or weather when is needed for the adjustment. The hd versions work fantastic and if these were to fail eventually due to rubber seperation I would buy them again.

the install is a real PIA and I have been a mechanic for 55 years on everything from trucks to helicopters and marine equipment. I have pulled engines and transmissions out of helicopters that was easier to do than installing the hd versions. It did not help that when I bought the hd versions there were no instructions.. there are now. During the install there is a secret voodoo dance that you have to do with a 14” 2x4 and lowering the truck to compress your shackle put in one bolt…then raise the truck to finish the install. Difficult but not impossible.

my hd versions initially came with some gray hardened steel lock nuts that had such a high drag torque that I did t know if I had enough torque in the nuts or if I had cross threaded them. I reached out to sulastic and got a set of newer style hardware which was vacuum plated and no excessive drag torque so the install completion went well.

for an f-450 which is what I have I would definitely get the hd versions and not even bother with the regular versions.

 

These are the regular versions

 

These are the regular versions…just to give you a sense of their size….i can put a v8 can of juice in the center hole.

 

Here’s the link for the hd versions for an f-450

https://www.sulastic.com/en/saj-03f

 

Install instructions


https://www.sulastic.com/images/uplo...AQ_SAJ-03F.pdf

 

I have the regular, non-adjustable version on my F-450. They have been on there for 3 years without any issues. If I found one that the rubber let loose in tomorrow, I would install another set.

It definitely helps to have 2 people during the install: one running the jack and one to direct the person running the jack and put the bolts in. My dad and I did it with one jack and a set of jackstands without doing anything sketchy.

 

Everytime I make an improvement to my truck I get more tuned in to annoyances I never noticed before. Now I got something else to contemplate! Thanks guys for the info 👍🏻