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Lift spring/shackle angle dilemma

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treetrunk

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Hi guys and gals, I just purchased and installed a set of front lift springs on an 83 shortbed Supposed to be 7" lift along with 6" shackles +/- 8" lift total which is what it is at. Unfortunately the shackle angle is not correct. I have about 9 deg forward. The ride is ok compared to the 30 year old ranchos with wore out bushings. Anyways I contacted the folks I bought them from and they said the shackle angle was fine run it for a bit and they will settle out. Not satisfied I ran it for 1000 miles still the same. Call vendor again and they told me that's normal with lift springs have a nice day. I asked them if they would run these on thier truck and they said yes??? So here we are, what do you guys think. Is this ok? I've done a few 67 to 72 trucks with the b52 swap and they have worked out fine, just didnt want to do x over on this one yet still has the dana 44. 60 is not in the works until other projects are complete. Looking for some advice. Is this really an acceptable shackle angle? It goes against everything I have read and understood. Pretty bummed as I spent a lot of time talking myself out of the 52" swap on this one.

Options

1. Leave it alone and deal with the unsatisfactory ride quit whinning

2. Do the B52 swap
prep the 60 and do x over $$$ and time. Save the springs for another 67 to 72 build later on.

3. Custom springs from another8 vendor such as Deaver $$$$


BTW the length along the arch is 48.5. eye to eye on frame is stock.
 
Do you have pictures? 7” of lift in a spring is a lot of arch on a 47” spring, I would think your shackle angle probably isn’t too far off..heavily arched springs get quite a bit longer as they compress
 
treetrunk said:
Hi guys and gals, I just purchased and installed a set of front lift springs on an 83 shortbed Supposed to be 7" lift along with 6" shackles +/- 8" lift total which is what it is at. Unfortunately the shackle angle is not correct. I have about 9 deg forward. The ride is ok compared to the 30 year old ranchos with wore out bushings. Anyways I contacted the folks I bought them from and they said the shackle angle was fine run it for a bit and they will settle out. Not satisfied I ran it for 1000 miles still the same. Call vendor again and they told me that's normal with lift springs have a nice day. I asked them if they would run these on thier truck and they said yes??? So here we are, what do you guys think. Is this ok? I've done a few 67 to 72 trucks with the b52 swap and they have worked out fine, just didnt want to do x over on this one yet still has the dana 44. 60 is not in the works until other projects are complete. Looking for some advice. Is this really an acceptable shackle angle? It goes against everything I have read and understood. Pretty bummed as I spent a lot of time talking myself out of the 52" swap on this one.

Options

1. Leave it alone and deal with the unsatisfactory ride quit whinning

2. Do the B52 swap
prep the 60 and do x over $$$ and time. Save the springs for another 67 to 72 build later on.

3. Custom springs from another8 vendor such as Deaver $$$$


BTW the length along the arch is 48.5. eye to eye on frame is stock.
Click to expand...
 
Yeah I guess I cant post pictures. Yes I agree arched springs will get longer but the total length along the arch is only an inch to inch and a half longer then frame eye to eye. So the springs would have to be almost flat to get a good shackle angle. Thanks for the reply though. Wish I could attach pictures. I have had several sets of 8" superlift/skyjacker springs they were at least at 90 degrees to the frame. Not ideal for me but acceptable.
 
Pics- you need 5+ posts to be able to link them from a hosting site (cuts down on bots, spammers, etc). To add pics as attachments or use this sites photo gallery to host you need a paid membership.
 
Some pics would help a bit.
If it rides OK, then don't sweat the small shit.
If it's bothering you, then fix it.
If it was me, and , I'd already spent the money on those springs. I'd just run them.
But, I'm not you.
This makes me glad I used the 52" rear springs with 4 inch shackles and a shackle flip in the rear. I hate the entire shackle forward thing. Just doesn't look right in my book
 
Here's his post on irate4x4 with pics for those that want to see it.

Does this shackle angle look acceptable to you

Just purchased and installed a set of lift springs and shackles on a mall crawler I am prepping for my daughter. 7" lift springs and 6" long shackles. Spring along the arch is 48.5" and eye to eye at frame is stock 47" or so. Looking for advise. Vendor is telling me this is fine and normal for...
irate4x4.com irate4x4.com

To me that is a perfectly normal shackle angle for these trucks.
 
Thanks everyone who responded. Seems like the consensus is that it is no big deal. I was expecting a unanimous "those are bad" response. I am going to run them for now. Gather parts for x over, prep a 60 and do 52's later. I think I will use these springs on another 67 to 72 build later on. I didnt mention but might have implied these are custom springs. they were supposed to be tailored to my truck and use. They were touted to be the closest thing to coils. Although I indicated this is primarily a mall crawler I would still expect a significant amount of articulation. As it sits I have very little droop and quite a bit of stuff. Although at full stuff my shackle angle is just past what I would consider optimal at static. Seem to me these could have been 2" longer. To give a little more droop and soften the spring rate. Oh well I'm going to live with it. Thanks again to those who responded.
 
treetrunk said:
Thanks everyone who responded. Seems like the consensus is that it is no big deal. I was expecting a unanimous "those are bad" response. I am going to run them for now. Gather parts for x over, prep a 60 and do 52's later. I think I will use these springs on another 67 to 72 build later on. I didnt mention but might have implied these are custom springs. they were supposed to be tailored to my truck and use. They were touted to be the closest thing to coils. Although I indicated this is primarily a mall crawler I would still expect a significant amount of articulation. As it sits I have very little droop and quite a bit of stuff. Although at full stuff my shackle angle is just past what I would consider optimal at static. Seem to me these could have been 2" longer. To give a little more droop and soften the spring rate. Oh well I'm going to live with it. Thanks again to those who responded.
Click to expand...

Blue85 said:
You might check out some of the posts from Stephen properly explaining the effects of shackle angle: https://ck5.com/forums/threads/fron...tter-ride-in-a-73-87-k10.327964/#post-3707672
Click to expand...
Yep thanks Blue, I had read that post last week before I posted. The example Steven have was great although he went from 43 degrees to steeper 66 degrees for an improvement. My condition is I am past 90 degrees, negative 9 degrees if you will. There in lies my concern. I guess the golden question is would ORD or others purposly design a lift spring with negative shackle angle? Maybe Steven can chime in.

I posted this question on another site and am fairly convinced this shackle angle is appropriate. Conventional wisdom tells me I dont like it but consensus tells me otherwise. I am by far not an expert.
 
Another option is to move the rear hanger forward a bit, it's fairly common with the 52" swap and improves the shackle angle.
 
Remember that guy who used a V-shaped shackle to get a better shackle angle?
 
I believe there is a huge trade off between a big lift spring and a spring that flexes well. You really can’t have both imo. Even with my front 52’s with only 5” of lift, the front driveshaft plunge was massive. I wanna say it was around 4 something inches. You only have so much shackle swing. If you want 8” of lift and a lot of droop to go with it, you need links and long coilovers. Plus that automatically gives you a track bar. She’ll go over railroad tracks or anything else you can think of at any speed!
 
nvrenuf said:
Another option is to move the rear hanger forward a bit, it's fairly common with the 52" swap and improves the shackle
Click to expand...
nvrenuf said:
Another option is to move the rear hanger forward a bit, it's fairly common with the 52" swap and improves the shackle angle.
Click to expand...
I was trying to avoid that by going with custom spring. If I was going to move the shackle I would have done the 52 swap. Done a few and they have worked out great. Just wanted to bolt up some springs and be done. The rear is a little different. Shackle flip is the only way to go if you want moderate to tall lift In my opinion.
 
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