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Pictures of my 'braced' homemade shakle-flip

UP K5er

UP K5er

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Just wondering if you guys think this looks ok and strong enough for a moderate off road rig. It seems strong enough to me but I want some input.

The picture sucks but it's all I was able to get. The hole I cut in the bottom is just big enough for full travel. Everything is full of spray on truck bed lining if your wondering why things look rough:rolleyes:

scakle flip10-17-07_2020.jpg
 
I don't see why it wouldn't be as long as under that paint you got some penetration . If you wanted to be sure you could plate the top , then it would be just like it was when the top was open and the bottom was not .
 
That might be something I want to do...put an extra plate on the top for additional strength. good idea. I did get good penetration eventhough the pictures don't look the best. I'll admit I'm just a novice welder but I wouldn't jeopardize my safety. I would have it redone if I thought it wasn't a good bond.
 
What exactly is wrong with this setup?? If it's done right, and I believe I did, it will be stronger than the stock bracket/setup. I'm not messing with mine or anyone else's safety..I mentioned that in my previous reply. I'm doing this sh1t to do something that is better than stock and NOT to just save some moolah.
 
that may not be the best method to gain a flip but, i would say rear blocks are still less safe than what he has, either was you are loading the bolt with flip or no flip through the bushing. with the bracing that is a totally safe flip. Have you every seen a exobit flip? it uses a similar way of relocating the stock shackle to the bottom side with out extra braceing and that has no safety issues
 
The Echobit does have extra bracing , there is a tube sleeve for the bolt that press fits in the stock hanger before you put the flip on the stock bracket .

Regardless , the stock hanger style has proved to be plenty strong for many members , and some of them really do wheel hard .
 
I did a similar one at one time and it worked just fine for a while with some pretty hard wheeling as well. I think that you will be just fine.
gabe
 
I would't worry about it. I did something similar but without bracing, and it held up fine, in fact the truck still drives on road and offroad.:D
 
i did the exact same thing to mine, been driving it for 2years, braced all around, i even snaped my rear leaf spring in half wheeling.. nothing happened to it. so im gonna say its safe.
 
:eek1: :doah:DIE!!??? HA HA...
Anyways, thanks for the replies. I was worried for awhile there that I did something terribly wrong. Sometimes you need to do mods like this until the funds are there. I spent way too much money to COMPLETELY rebuild the blazer. I should have the rest of the parts by monday. I can't wait to get it back on the road again!!:D
 
You all make a valid point. Some have a similar setup that is working fine and I'm happy for them. MY point and opinion is that some people have exceptional fab skills and can create a diamond out of a turd. However, most of us, including myself, don't always have the skills we think we have and try to fab a part that may look reliable and safe at face value but in reality it is a disaster waiting to happen. Too many times on this site I see guys trying to take the short cut and doing half-assed crap because they would rather spend countless hours trying to fab parts that can otherwise be bought for less than the time and materials it took to make. Plus these purchased parts have had many hours of testing and engineering put into them to insure quality and strength. Take for example the DIY4X and ORD Shackle flips. For $180.00 I feel that is the best option. The excuse of having the desire and accomplishment of doing the work your self is obsurd. We all have plenty of things to do to our rigs ourselves and leave the crazy stuff to the pros. I know I'll have a lot of push back from these comments so let me have it.:eek1::wink1:
 
when I had mine this way it was because I wanted to wheel it without breaking driveshafts (thanks blocks) and I could not afford the real deal at the time... Now I run some pretty trick custom made DIY flips in the rear and love them... to me the important thing is he seems to have thought it through enough to brace the thing... that is all

pic whoring

shackle.jpg
 
yeah.. i can understand you worry about people on here with hacked things.. IE.. flordia mud trucks.. but i built mine, braced it, had a pro welder look at it tell me i had good welds going on, annnnd tested it by wheeling and litterly snapping my rear leafs in half... his looks very similar to mine, so im gonna say yeah.. run its, its safe.
 
Big Blzn said:
Yeah, and increasing your chance of really focking with your's and others safety.:screwy::what::dunno::whistle: I will never understand why people do sh1t like this. I guess I will continue to be amazed everyday of my life.:D:doah:
Click to expand...


Big Blzn, Im sure it was not your intent, but it just came of a bit harsh. I agree with your point though. here is a reply I just posted in another thread about this subject.

(quote)

You can learn how to weld, but if your fabrication skills, from an engineering stand point are sub standard your going to build nothing but junk that breaks. and in a worst case scenario someone could be killed. Im talking about the kind of pics we see posted all the time of some home built steering set up that is death waiting to happen.


Read books on how to fabricate, welding books, how to build roll cages, anything that has to do with welding/fabrication. you will learn from trial and error aswell. ofcourse learning from mistakes can be good to, as long as nobody gets hurt in the process. common sence goes a LONG WAY!

Why build something out of 1/2 in thick steel when it only needs to built out of 3/16. on the same token dont build rock sliders out of 1 in tube. I have seen 1 inch cage tube in a full sized 4X4 chevy. it was not entirly out of 1 in. but it was some of the main important structure of the cage. thats just stupid.

(quote)



I think your probably fine, even though you (we) cant really see the quality of the welds so much, I would have top platted it from the begining. me personally, I would and did just buy the ORD shackle flip and am getting the DIY for my other rig. I could have built a nice set up of my own but with the REALLY QUALITY flips that are out there, it was not worth my time to build. if you on a tight budgit, I totally agree with the home brew setup, as long as its safe.
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Well, the only thing I think I need to add to this thread is that before I coated everything, I had it inspected by a highly qualified and certified welder and he said the welds look good. NOT to mention that I went to college for engineering and structural design/static and strengths of materials. I did not sit down and figure out the forces applied to the brackets and braces. However, you can assured that this was NOT a half A$$ED JOB. I have been fabricating for many years. I hate it when people assume things. I do appreciate your concern for safety though. Safety is #1.

I really wanted to know how many other people have done this and what they think of it.. maybe get some other ideas and I did for the top brace (THANK YOU!)

Maybe I took your comment the wrong way? Nothing seems to be going right for me today.:rolleyes:
 
UP K5er said:
Well, the only thing I think I need to add to this thread is that before I coated everything, I had it inspected by a highly qualified and certified welder and he said the welds look good. NOT to mention that I went to college for engineering and structural design/static and strengths of materials. I did not sit down and figure out the forces applied to the brackets and braces. However, you can assured that this was NOT a half A$$ED JOB. I have been fabricating for many years. I hate it when people assume things. I do appreciate your concern for safety though. Safety is #1.

I really wanted to know how many other people have done this and what they think of it.. maybe get some other ideas and I did for the top brace (THANK YOU!)

Maybe I took your comment the wrong way? Nothing seems to be going right for me today.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...


wasn't trying to make ya feel bad, Sorry if I did. just giving my .02 cents for whats its worth. I dont know ya ofcourse so I dont know your experience.
either way, I try to give help any way I can, be it regular advice, or constructive criticism. sometimes it may be unnecessarally warented. again, sorry for any ill feelings.
 
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