Have these shackles on the 87 I bought. I put the rough country 4.5 lift on it. But they look to vertical to be effective. These are 6 inches bolt hole to bolt hole. If I need different shackles. What size? Thanks!!
Shackles
- Thread starter joshuapa
- Start date
Stoopid Jeep
YJ Enthusiast
How does it drive? how does it ride?
You need longer bolts!! That bottom bolt (second pic) looks too short and doesn't look like it's engaging the nylock properly. Also, I prefer pinch bolts to nylocks on suspension parts, they work better in greaseable applications.
If you're looking for recommendations, here's mine:
I tried 5½" shackled on my rig, I didn't like the way it handled, I put the stock 4" shackles back on, much better again.
I did reuse the greasable bolts though, I like those. Poly bushings also help, and I keep the pins kinda loose to help with ride and articulation.
Buy a new shackle kit, keep the length 5" or less. My personal preference ( based on my limited experience) is stock length 4" shackles.
...unless you like the way it rides, in which case →Replace the bolts and Send it!
You need longer bolts!! That bottom bolt (second pic) looks too short and doesn't look like it's engaging the nylock properly. Also, I prefer pinch bolts to nylocks on suspension parts, they work better in greaseable applications.
If you're looking for recommendations, here's mine:
I tried 5½" shackled on my rig, I didn't like the way it handled, I put the stock 4" shackles back on, much better again.
I did reuse the greasable bolts though, I like those. Poly bushings also help, and I keep the pins kinda loose to help with ride and articulation.
Buy a new shackle kit, keep the length 5" or less. My personal preference ( based on my limited experience) is stock length 4" shackles.
...unless you like the way it rides, in which case →Replace the bolts and Send it!
I ran 4.75” shackles and noticed a drastic decrease in handling. I would 100% recommend getting rid of those at 6” long. That is going to hurt handling big time.
The shackle angle sucks. That is because RC springs are made too short. Even on stock shackles the RC springs put the shackle just barely at vertical. Make the shackle longer and the slant gets drawn inward.
As Stoopid said you definitely need longer bolts. Don’t know where you got those but you do not have near enough bolt threads engaged in the nuts to be considered safe.
The shackle angle sucks. That is because RC springs are made too short. Even on stock shackles the RC springs put the shackle just barely at vertical. Make the shackle longer and the slant gets drawn inward.
As Stoopid said you definitely need longer bolts. Don’t know where you got those but you do not have near enough bolt threads engaged in the nuts to be considered safe.
Bolts came in kit. But plan to replace already. Right now it wanders all over especially after hitting bumps.
drives like crap a lot worse since putting lift on it. Won’t the shackle angle be the same with shorter shackles?
cutigers63
New Member
Joshuapa, I am brand new to Jeeps and to this forum. My project Jeep came with those same size shackles (6" shackle = 1 inch lift is my understanding from this forum) and springs that were 2.5" lift (luckily part # was legible on them). I am currently in the middle of returning mine to stock configuration due to the same kinds of issues you are describing. I drove mine to work one day and almost had a nervous breakdown before I got there. The roads here are old and bad. Every time I hit a bump, it seemed the Jeep wanted to be going in a different direction. Made that trip at 45 mph. Long story short, my nephew just got a stock configured Jeep and we just traded all the necessary parts for him to have my lift and me to have his stock config. Don't get me wrong. If I were going to use my Jeep just for off-roading, I would leave it like it is. But I really enjoy driving it and want to be able to put in on the highway a little more comfortably. This forum is just awesome! As previous posters said, the 4" shackle is the original stock length and will reduce some of the handling issues.
Big shout out to all the guys that post stuff on this forum to help us newbies! I am 58 years old and have always wanted a Jeep. Because of this forum and folks that make good YouTube videos, I was able to take my springs, shackles, and shocks off myself.
Big shout out to all the guys that post stuff on this forum to help us newbies! I am 58 years old and have always wanted a Jeep. Because of this forum and folks that make good YouTube videos, I was able to take my springs, shackles, and shocks off myself.
Same age and jeep sounds like. I want to drive it on the road mostly to. But trying to understand all the differences in shackles. To decide which is better. Thanks
As short of a shackle as you can run is best. Stick to 4" in most cases. There is no benefit to a 6" long shackle and there is no way to make one handle well unless you put shims on the front axle to correct the caster angle that the shackles ruined.