im doing the shackle flip to my truck to eliminate the blocks on my lift. ive ground all the heads off of the rivets but i cant get the shackle off of the frame of the truck. ive hit it with hammer, tried hitting the rest of the rivet out with a pin punch but still it wont move. does anybody have any pointers on how to get these things off of my frame? thanks

 

Use a punch to mark it to keep a drill bit straight and drill it out. Make sure there is nothing on the inside you'll drill through or hit.


Primary rig is Green Thunder:
95' F-150 XLT 4x4, 302, 5 spd, MSD 6A, Flowmaster Exhaust, Sunroof, Clear corners w/ Diamond headlights, CD player with 2 10" subs and some 32" BFG Muds .

Thats it for now, saving for a stang. Check out my Gallery for a look-see.


Justin - One Happy FTE Member

 

I just did a shackle flip on my 93 what I did is ground the rivets flat and then used a large pry bar and was able to pry the shackles off it took a lot of work though, The rivets were so worn that when useing a air hammer they didnt move the reason to this was that the rivets were bent, After the shackle was removed I re-ground the rivets flat and pounded them out! I gained 1 3/4 inches of lift by flipping the shackles!!

 

1 3/4"? i planned on gaining about enough to get rid of my blocks, which are 3". i hope this will work. haha

 

If you don't gain enough lift by just flipping the shackles you could try using a different shackle bracket. I have heard of people using a bracket identical to the one that is used for the front of the rear spring. Sorry I can't explain it any better but here's a website that has pictures of what I'm talkin about...its for chevys but its the same principle. I've heard of people getting between 3 and 5 inches of lift doing this.
http://www.off-road.com/chevy/reviews/ord-flip/

 

i know exactly what your talking about, i was thinking about doing that but i dont have the time to go to a junk yard and getting some nor do i have the money. i got the spring hanger off though, i just smacked the crap out of it with a sledge hammer and it came right off. i plan on getting revolver shackles once i gain the money, does anybody know if they give you and lift? thanks

 

Wouldnt run thoes revolver shackels if you plain on driving on the road. Thoes are really meant for off road. They give you LOTS of flex....and that is jsut the prob. You dont want tons of flex on the road. Gets dangerous with high speed stuff. But if you run the stock springs with a little lower hanger, should get lots of flex anyway. Anyway...im looking to do the flip my self. I got both fnt and rear. I need the fnts if anyone has any extras so i can do the flip. Thanks....

Dan "Mudinford" MacDonald

'86 Ford F-150 4x4 w/ a spooled mono Dana 44/a spooled 9" running 38" TSL. 300ci, Clifford Intake and Headders, .05" Milled Head with SBC valves, port work
500 CFM Edelbrock, Clif. 290* cam with Rhoads lifters, .040" TRW Pist w/ Moly rings.
Future plans: A draw through Twin(or big single) Turbo setup (to help with the upper end)

 

i think im still going to get revolvers, then later on when i have about $1500 sittin around i will do 1/4 elliptical for the rear, then later on in the front, whenever i get a d60.

 

Revovlers suck!!!!!! Don't get 'em.

 

if you are doing the shackle flip and then removing the blocks you will be right back where you startted I did not know you were going to remove the blocks what you will need to is get a set of 2" add-a-leafs to compensate for the blocks and then you will get the extra lift from flipping the shackle or you can get a set of 4" lowering shackles and since the mount is flipped it will lift instead of lowering the truck. I got a set of 4" shackles from a Toyota tacoma lift kit that was returned and I looked at them and measured them and sure enough they are the same size as my F150 shackles just 4"s longer and they fit perfect.

 

as for the revolver shackles they are great off-road but when driving on the highway you will notice your truck dog tracking alot unless you fab a panhard from the frame to the differential houseing to eliminate any side to side flex in the rear

 

my lift in the rear is 2 add a leafs and a 3" block, i wanted to flip the shackle to rid my truck of the block but still leave the same amount of lift. i will still get revolvers and probably make some control arms going from the diff to the frame using avalanche engineering stuff. that will get me part way done with the stuff needed for the 1/4 elliptical at least.

 

ok great, so i connected the rear end of the spring to the newly flipped shackle and guess what, the leaves dont reach the fron spring hanger, what do i do!!

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 23-Oct-02 AT 05:13 PM (EST)]did you keep the shackle connected to the spring or to the frame mount? Also you will have to turn the shackle around and use it the other way so it moves correctly.
and leave the bolt that holds the shackle to the frame mount loose so you can move it to the leaf spring eye and then tighten everything up
look in my gallery and look at the shackle you will notice what I am talking about with turning it around so it moves correctly.

Attach the shackle to the spring mount but do not tighten it until you connect it to the spring

 

i did all that, my shackles look exactly like yours do in that picture. i can swing the spring on the shackle as far as they can go but the spring sill wont reach the front hanger.