I really want to do a shackle flip + 450 shackles on my truck (1979 F250 4x4) to get rid of the stacked blocks that I have, but I have concerns about load carrying strength.

In the summer time on the weekends, about 40 miles round trip, I pull a Jayco Baja 10y (its the pup-up style off road camper that was in Four Wheeler last summer, if anyone remembers) with a 400lb atv on the front of it.

The Jayco website says the camper has a hitch weight of app. 220lbs, that plus camping junk, full water tank, and the atv loaded way up front. I would guess that the hitch weight would be around the mid to high 300's.

I just want some opinions with experience in shackle flips that carry some weight. I need to no if I should just scrap the whole flip idea and just save up for lift springs. SAFTEY is my number one priority.

Thanks ahead of time for the input!!

 

My question would not be about the weight, but, how it handled towing a trailer with flipped shackles.

 

Well there's that too, but I've read that alot of the stability issues have to do with the angle of the shackle in relation to where the hanger is mounted.

I think that staying more towards the higher side of the angle range (30-40*, correct me if I'm wrong) will result in a more stable ride. In my limited imagination I think that the shackle would't unload the weight as much in a turn or an off camber situation. I don't think that it would have as far to "unhinge" and bring more of the leaf spring into the picture.

 

I custom built my own heavy duty shackles but I'm sure the F450 shackles are plenty stout too. I have loaded 800 pounds in the back of my truck and hauled it with no problems and almost no squatting. If my last tire shows up on time I'll snap a picture of the shackles when it's loaded down to get an idea of how much they settle. It's not to bad on my truck and the way I designed them the ears can't buckle.

 

Cool Ivan, it'll be great to see the pics :-)

Oh and for what it's worth I have 4" springs in the front.