Need Some Flex
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Originally Posted by KubotaOrange76
usually the major lift companies front leaves give you a crappy shackle angle
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Originally Posted by dwo
I know it's not Sky Manufacturing's fault. Infact their longer shackle makes up for it a little bit. And the ride is not "absolute hell" - that was how it rode stock. The "best" store-bought springs, SkyJackers, are about 3" short and because of the shackle angle, they haven't sagged one bit, and hence, hard to compress. I'll just figure out a way to move the shackle mount forward, or maybe take out a leaf? I wouldn't hesitate to buy Sky's shackle-reversal kit again. Maybe I should have said, "Beware SkyJacker!"
Can someone tell me what the optimal distance is?
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Joined: Mar 2004
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From: S.E. Washington
I'll take some measurements and get back to you. Sky Manufacturing's reversal kit doesn't change the spring mounting hole location by much. If your shackle angle is OK with the Tuff Country springs now, then it will be OK with the reversal kit, and you will benefit from Sky's longer shackle.
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From: Rep. of Texas
Originally Posted by dwo
I know it's not Sky Manufacturing's fault. Infact their longer shackle makes up for it a little bit.
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Originally Posted by RawPower
No it is not Sky's fault... he is correct. but the longer shackle does not make it any better. The longer shackle will give you more droop and compression, but it does not in any way improve the shackle angle. Actually, the longer the shackle, the worse the angle IF your leaf's eye-to-eye is LESS than your hanger to shackle@ vertical. But you want your leaf to be longer than the hanger to vertical shackle... resulting in a non-vertical shackle, best angle being around 35º-45º...
Your comments imply that even with an optimal spring, the SKY kit is not doing much in the way of improving over the factory set-up? If this is true, please detail it out for me. What is the best way to soften up the ride and get a decent suspension flex?
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Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Coutts Canada
More or less the biggest reason for a crap ride is the way the front shackles are mounted from the factory, as shackles up front isn't a bad way to go, granted its going to give a harsher ride, but it also has its benefits, as one of them is the driveshaft doesn't change in length as much as a reversal does, as far as flex goes, well it just depends on how well its designed and how soft your leaf springs are, my shackles are the same as what they come with from the factory, just with a different spin on it and longer, here's how mine flexes:
I could do better as i'm maxing the down travel out on my shocks (maxing the rear shocks out too), that a a rear shackle angle of 15* and i could get 40" of space from the front tire to the ground, instead of the 30 you see there.
I could do better as i'm maxing the down travel out on my shocks (maxing the rear shocks out too), that a a rear shackle angle of 15* and i could get 40" of space from the front tire to the ground, instead of the 30 you see there.
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From: GA
that was always my problem as well, i finally got rear shackle angle and shock problem fixed
i guess the bottom line is for more flex you want a good shackle angle and you want to get rid of the poor designed factory a frame shackle
i guess the bottom line is for more flex you want a good shackle angle and you want to get rid of the poor designed factory a frame shackle
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