I am going to flip my rear shackles but I was wondering if its okay just to flip the rear shackle of the rear springs and then just fab up some new shackles for the rear of the front springs. Does that work? Or do I need to do both shackles on both springs? My buddy has a 85 toyota and he got a kit that basically just replaced the rear shackles of both leafs. It seems to work for his little truck but how about for ours?

 

You can flip the rear shackles and gain about 3 inches of lift. You dont have to fab up new shackles for the rear, but keep in mind that you cant put that much weight in the bed anymore because the shackles have a compression load rather than a tension, and they werent designed for that. However you can beef them up a little by welding a little flat plate on the open end of the shackle. (if you browse through my gallery, you can see my shackle flip) The rear shackle flip will also change the pinion angle, though most likely, the angle created by the flip is desirable for the increased height. Make sure the slip yoke has enough slack.

As for the front axle shackles, you can make your own easily. But I wouldnt make them any longer than 2 inches over stock (provides 1in of lift) for saftey reasons. You CAN go bigger, but the shackles will have to be reinforced and unlike the rear axle, it'll point the front axle's pinion into the ground. Add shims as neccessary, check for driveshaft length. If you want to get more lift out of the front without buying new leaf springs, You can fabricate a tower lift which drops the front sping hangers down to whatever height you want. You can check out Ramboss or Pro's gallery to see what it looks like.

 

Where would you add shims? and is that only if you go bigger than 2 or 3 inches from stock on the front shackles?

 

The shims (degree shims) would go between the spring pad or perch and the springs. They're angled wedges that will point your pinion back up. If you make new shackles you'll need to install them and then check the pinion angle to figure out how many degrees you'll need on the shim. I recommend steel shims for a front axle, not aluminum. Do a search on the net for JKW offroad products. He makes steel shims.

 

How do I measure the pinion angle? This is great information. Thanks alot guys!

 

You can get a protractor and some string. Put the string on the bottom of the axle under the drive shaft, and put it in a strait line away from that point. Then put the protractor on the drive shaft and find the degree measure(pinion angle). Then after you do the shackle flip, do the same thing and the difference would be corrected with shims.

I looked into doing this and this is what I understud to do, but ended up not doing it, so if someone sees something off please correct me.

Good luck,
Matt

 

What is the stock pinion angle supposed to be on a 75 F250? So I have something to compare my numbers to. Thanks

 

The pinion angle needs to be within 3 degrees of your t-case output shaft angle. I use a magnetic angle finder from Harbor Freight http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=34214

 

Within 3 degrees before or after I do the shackle swap?

 

It needs to be within 3 degrees when you have all suspension modifications/lift done and the truck's weight on the suspension since this will be it's operating angle. Just put an angle finder on the t-case yoke and the rear end yoke to check if they are within 3 degrees of each other.

 

thanks alot, such a great help! I'll post some pictures after I get everything done! Thanks again guys