Shackle length

I been searching for about an hour here not really seeing what im looking for.
Putting a lift on a friends xj have a 3" coil and a 2.5" full length AAL got it all put rear sits lower then the front.Looking at 1.25 rubicon express, the 1" Daystars , the Tera flex 1.50 " and Rustys .74" and 1.50" shackles. What do guys recommend ? Confused on the amount of lift we will actually get. thanks as always.

those measurements "should," and I stress that word, be the actual amount of lift that you get out each one of those shackles. not quite sure why you're confused? those shackles are all different and made by different companies to different lengths. thus they provide varying amounts of lift for the rear of an XJ. so far I have run the Teraflex shackle and the RE shackle and I have a set of the JKS ones but I haven't tested them yet. Currie makes shackles for the XJ as well. The Tera one gives the full 1.5" but I don't think the RE one really gives 1.25" Personally I wouldn't go w/ either the Daystar or Rusty's shackles as I don't trust shackles w/out the small crossbrace. I am sure the shackles w/out that brace can twist/flex a little better, but I feel like it would increase the likelihood of breaking the shackle. guess it could be that the pics of those two brands are misleading and both now include a brace, but I'm basing this off of the only pics I've seen. just my .02

slvrmdxj said:

those measurements "should," and I stress that word, be the actual amount of lift that you get out each one of those shackle, thus they provide varying amounts of lift for the rear of an XJ. so far I have run the Teraflex shackle and the RE shackle and I have a set of the JKS ones but I haven't tested them yet. Currie makes shackles for the XJ as well. The Tera one gives the full 1.5" but I don't think the RE one really gives 1.25"

Click to expand...

Thats why im a bit confused hear this all the time shackles is 1.25" or 1.50" but really only gives you 3/4" or 1" of lift any other input ot there?

I have heard that some people have TeraFlex shackles that are 1.5" lift. Mine are 1.75" of lift and I have seen advertisements listing both 1.5" and 1.75" so there may be a newer and older version of their shackles, or maybe they measured wrong... Interestingly enough, RE claims their shackle is 1.25" lift but in reality it will only yield 7/8" lift.

Here is a photo I took when I had all these shackles with measurements taken as precisely as I could from the center of both eyes. To find the actual lift heights, take the difference between the aftermarket shackle and stock one, then divide by 2.

shackles from a full sized chevy should get you 1.5 inches

I used to run the Daystars. They actually got me about 1.75 inches (that's how much lift I lost when I took them out before I put in my new springs). Even without the crossbraces, they're pretty strong. I wasn't worried about them going anywhere...

Which RE shackles are those? Do you know how much they cost?

Would longer shackles make a harsh ride smooth out? IE, I have a 4.5'' lift springs, but stock shackle, so would a longer shackle smooth it out a bit?

FYI, The JKS ones are about 1.8" longer than stock, giving about 9/10" of lift over stock.

Starboard M said:

Which RE shackles are those? Do you know how much they cost?

Would longer shackles make a harsh ride smooth out? IE, I have a 4.5'' lift springs, but stock shackle, so would a longer shackle smooth it out a bit?

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure those have to be the RE2700 shackles (list @ $93.95), they claim it's a 1.25" shackle. I don't think they've ever offered a different XJ shackle.

Harsh ride? No, they wouldn't necessarily smooth out a harsh ride, but they do move the rear of the spring a little farther from the frame - look to see if you've been hitting the frame as your springs cycle. I'd be more willing to say your rough ride is either from too-stiff shocks, too-steep control arms, or too high a springrate (front or rear).

Seems to be that most advertised lift is what we will get ,any experience with either the Rubicon or the Rusty's shackles? Trying to stay around the 3" to 4" lift mark. Like i said earlier have 3" coils and a 2.5" AAL. Thanks.

go pick up 2 inch full size chevy lowering shackles for 75$ 7 3/4 inches long they gave my exactly 2 1/3 inches of lift with a full tank of gass and look just like the terafex shackles.

Starboard M said:

Would longer shackles make a harsh ride smooth out? IE, I have a 4.5'' lift springs, but stock shackle, so would a longer shackle smooth it out a bit?

Click to expand...

As Yucca-Man said, a shackle won't necessarily change the way it rides (going down the road for instance...) but on the trail, the shackle length can make a big difference. Just like you, my first suspension was 4.5" leafs (RE) and I had the stock shackle. I found that the rear suspension didn't flex much, or as well as I liked. Leaf packs with more arch to them, like the 4.5" leafs, need a longer shackle to allow the leafs to flatten out when compressed. The stock shackle was keeping them from doing that. On my next set-up I kept the same leafs but added the TeraFlex shackle and noticed a big improvement in the rear flex. It is much more balanced with the front suspension now. Of course the rear flex still doesn't match the front (common with most XJs) but its much better than before.