longer shackles and leaf's

alrighty then,,yeah i searched and after 5 pages of crap i still didn't find anything so i'm " newbie'ing " it......

88 XJ, 6.5 rusty's long arm and spring's. my shackles are actually flipped forward and make for one harsh ass ride as they pound into the frame/body. i can flip them back with some prying but first bump i hit at least the pass. side flip's itself back over and makes driving " fun " :sure:

i'd like to get a longer shackle if that would fix this but i'm thinking no as it would give me more lift and tilt the pinion more. anyone make a longer style shackle without gaining lift, like a "S" or something that wouldn't hit the frame.

i also saw that possibly getting a 1.5" lift shackle and removing the bottom spring or 2 would set me up properly.

what's the easiest way of fixing it so it doesn't rip the shackle mount's completely off the frame and kill me along with the other 5 people near me that have been dodging my bouncing ass down the road :smsoap:

how long has the lift been installed? any wheel'n been done? i ask because i am about to get the same kit you have and did mucho research on it. from what i understand these springs have to break in (and it usually takes quite a while). once they "break in" the leaf will actually bow out more and put the shackle at the proper angle. from what i've been told, the best way to break them in fast is to remove the bottom one or two springs and load the rear end down. once the spring settles and you lose a little lift then you can begin reinstalling the bottom springs either one at a time for better ride or all at once.

sorry, i've got a question i want to add to your post. i know that you can have stock leafs re-arched back to factory specs. so would there be any downfall to having, say, the 6.5" leafs "re-arched" to get the length from eye to eye at an acceptable measurement?

add a longer shackle, take the bottom leaf out of the pack, and buy some degree shims...

no clue how long the lift has been on,,maybe a few year's but it wasn't driven more than 5 mile's till i got it and no wheeling on it yet.

as for the re-arched spring's i don't think you can or would want to have that done,,eventually they will end up right back where they started from. go with lift spring's,,not re-arched IMO.

anyone else have any idea's or was ranger's pretty much the right way ?

and how big of a shackle ? 1" 1.5" 2" ? dunno what they make for XJ's or what work's better or worse. revolver's are outta the question though.

XJ_ranger said:

add a longer shackle, take the bottom leaf out of the pack, and buy some degree shims...

Click to expand...

ummm, yep.

you may not need the degree shims tho. your longer shack will give you some degreeing (is that a word?), see what it looks like, if you need more buy the shims.

I've got aprox 9" to 10" of lift right now and I don't have any shims. I'm running Alcan springs which are considerably longer than stock, so much that I had to cut my bumper to alow the springs to fully work with the longer Rusty's shackels. also, after I rolled and cut the roof, doors, glass, seats, carpet, etc, I found my heep about 2 to 3 inches taller, I took out the second top leaf which lowered me just right, and that thing now flexes like a well seasoned hooker.

jeannies_driver said:

no clue how long the lift has been on,,maybe a few year's but it wasn't driven more than 5 mile's till i got it and no wheeling on it yet.

as for the re-arched spring's i don't think you can or would want to have that done,,eventually they will end up right back where they started from. go with lift spring's,,not re-arched IMO.

anyone else have any idea's or was ranger's pretty much the right way ?

and how big of a shackle ? 1" 1.5" 2" ? dunno what they make for XJ's or what work's better or worse. revolver's are outta the question though.

Click to expand...

i wasn't talking about re-arching the stock springs for lift. i was talking about re-arching (or de-arching) the aftermarket lift springs to put the distance from eye to eye on the leaf spring at an acceptable length. it should basically be the exact same thing as just riding and flexing the crap out of them, just with immediate results.