Everybody with 52's up front please read

[snoman87]

If we end up having to move the shackle hanger forward, why do we bother moving the front hanger forward?

That's a good question ... I thought the whole idea was to move the front hanger forward 4" (front hanger swap left to right), this compentated for the differnet spring center pin, which relocates the axle 2"? forward. Then just add the 7" shackle and your laughing.

It's my understanding that the rear hanger doesnt' need to be relocated unless you are using 56" spings or have moved the front hanger farther forward. Am I wrong

 

[84_Chevy_K10]

Moving the rear hanger forward is for those that want a steeper shackle angle. (I did it with lift springs, others are doing it with 52s).

 

[cybrfire]

If you don't move the front hanger forward you end up moving your axle 2" backwards.

 

[snoman87]

Moving the rear hanger forward is for those that want a steeper shackle angle. (I did it with lift springs, others are doing it with 52s).

DougK20's shackle angle doesn't look very steep ... it actually looks really good to me ... but then the springs could be unloaded and the front hanger could be farther forward.

 

[Bhintz]

white rhyno do those 56s flex as good as 52s up front, if you know? b/c I think I might do the 56 swap just b/c of not redrilling the rear shackle hanger, but thats if they flex as good.

 

[Zeus33rd]

I've got the 52's w/overload, 7.25" long shackles and the rear mount moved forward. In my case the shackles need to be that long to keep the spring eye off the frame at full flex.

 

[Zeus33rd]

This is what they look like now..

 

[CyberSniper]

IIRC, about 30* is what you want. also, the more angle, the more droop you'll get.

30° from horizontal or vertical?

 

[TWISTEDJACK]

The longer the shackle which results in more droop but you need to keep in mind that it will put a horrible angle on the u-joint. I kept mine as short as I could and still have a decent shackle angle. It rides smooth and cycles fine without hurting the pinion angle. I think they are 6" shackles but I can measure them tonight and take a pic or two. Keep in mind not all springs will need the same shackle. I have BDS 52's and when I had 7" shackles they were straight up and down.

 

[white-rhyno]

white rhyno do those 56s flex as good as 52s up front, if you know? b/c I think I might do the 56 swap just b/c of not redrilling the rear shackle hanger, but thats if they flex as good.

To be honest, i dunno, I never could max out my shocks before with the 6"bds, now its a piece of cake, im sure if i put some longer shocks with ford towers it would make a huge differnce. Im still convinced its easier to put in 56's. One thing to take into consideration is the axle wrap, its not horrible, but the front hops alot in the snow. It did before the swap but not as bad as it does now.
Personally im waiting for poohbair to get his junk moving again so we can compare. Our rigs are almost identical. Then i can give you a better report.

 

[k5floyd]

30° from horizontal or vertical?

from verticle. but az-k5 explained shackle angle pretty well so my 30* statement is irrelevent

Shackle angle, I have been reading up on this. Set your angle around 15-20 for a normal feel and 20-25 for a soft feel and 25-40 for a super cushy (maybe too soft) feel. I have my rear shackle at 40* on stock 5 leave 1/2 ton suburban springs and don't even know when the rear end goes over a bump. There are too things to look for when achieving the shackle angle, you maximum shackle angle and your ride height angle. For maximum angle assume the springs will flatten out and add a 1/2" to that number (56 = 56.5 ; 52=52.5 ; and so on). This extra 1/2" will accont for any bushing give. You measure from the captured spring eye to the shackle area, assuming the spring is completely flat you do not want the maximum shackle angel to be greater than 45* or it will collapse when fully compressed. For your ride height angle you will need to know the length from the captured spring eye to the shackle eye when the spring is arched.

 

[DougK20]

The picture in my reply was not my rig. My 5.5" shackle angle is past vertical actually leaning forward. The ride is not good and there's no droop.

True, if you did not move the front hanger forward the center pin would be 2" back. But, a zero-rate would push you forward within 1/2" of stock.

I am going to unbolt my front hangers and put them pack into original location and see what my shackle angle is. If the angle works, then I will use my zero-rate to push my axle forward 1.5".

Unless, somebody has done this and can tell me it doesn't work.

 

[xtrmjoe]

DougK20, have you done this yet? If so how do you like it? I am thinking about doing the same.
I would like to put the 52" into the front without moveing the mount and use the 0 rates to move the axle foreward to get within 1/2" of stock. Mostly wondering how the shackel angle looks and if I need longer ones and if so how long.

 

[Zeus33rd]

52" 4 leaf+overload. Rear mount moved forward for steeper shackle angle. 7.25" shackles.

These are flexed pictures- I can get alittle more out of it if I had a taller "ramp".....

I can come real close to maxing out a 14" travel shock with this setup. The shackle angle on the droop side is almost straight up and down when maxed out.

You can kinda see the shackle angle on level ground here-

This setup works great. It flexes so much that it's starting to cause issues in other places- Almost at the end of a 14" travel shock, even with the axle forward 2", my 42's are slammin the firewall hard. If you go nutty tryin to get the most flex you can, its gonna open another big can-o-worms.

 

[rubbinz raczn]

1st pics is stock shackle with 3" lift stock length fronts. 2nd is 52's 4 leaf plus overload, front mount moved 4 inches, 7.25" shackles. 3rd rear mount moved forward same spring/shackle setup 4th is removing overload and putting 2 extra leaves in pack!

 

[cybrfire]

Well, this is an older one. I flexed mine out a while back and had no issues up front but then again I couldn't go very high as the rear tires touched the fenders way before I ran out of flex. I'm gona try to get some trimming done today inbetween cutting parts and maybe flex it out again. Pictures too come hopefully.

 

[MTMike]

Can any of you guys w/ the 52" fronts post close-up pics of your front spring hanger and describe how far it needed to be moved forward to acommodate the longer spring?

Thanks

 

[rubbinz raczn]

Can any of you guys w/ the 52" fronts post close-up pics of your front spring hanger and describe how far it needed to be moved forward to acommodate the longer spring?

Thanks

here yah go this is the pass side front mount. the centerline of spring bushing is 4" forward on the nose! it's easy! mike i live i bozeman if you ever get over this way i could show you the setup! lonnie

 

[leadfoot067]

theres close up pictures in my webshots of the front hangars...

 

[MTMike]

here yah go this is the pass side front mount. the centerline of spring bushing is 4" forward on the nose! it's easy! mike i live i bozeman if you ever get over this way i could show you the setup! lonnie

Thanks for the pic

That would be sweet! I may have to take you up on that offer, actually. I'm wanting to do this pretty soon and pictures are great, but only help so much. Do you have the tools to do it? Maybe I can tow the bitch down there and fund beer & pizza and you can let me borrow some of the tools (like an air chisel) to get the rivets out.

At any rate, I'll keep you posted.