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Fab shackles

1K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  Tomb Raider 
#1 ·
Have some very heavy duty flatbar and need to get an additional 2" lift. You think making some new shackles will work out for me? Keep in mind this is just a drive around the ranch cj5 and won't be doing any rock crawling or heavy mudding
 
#2 ·
While longer shackles can be used for some minor lift, you'll have to make them 4" longer than stock in order to gain 2" of lift. So on a CJ.. you're looking at shackles that will be 7" eye to eye. That kind of length will rotate all the positive caster out of the front axle. If it's just a farm beater, that probably won't be a big issue, but it might be kind of squirrely going down the road at speeds above about 30-35mph.

But yeah.. shackles are nothing more than flat plates. So, some flat plate around 1/4"-3/8" thick should work fine.
 
#3 ·
Since they'd be so long, if you run them out of 1/4" plate, I'd probably add a little gusset in the middle. Highly unlikely something bad would happen, but the longer they are, the more susceptible to getting bent out of shape they are..

edit: like you said, farm beater, but really long shackles will actually increase sway etc.
 
#4 ·
If they're going to be that long use 3/8" or they will eventually bend. A full length block between will help and keep them parallel. But the bigger concern, once they're on, will be the added torque to the stock frame mounts. These can twist and / or crack with the added leverage.
 
#5 ·
I did a little frame repair and new shackles on this CJ5. 3/8" shackles 6" long for 1.5" lift. I drove it up to put a little gas and give it a bath for the customer and it drove great (other than the sloppy oem steering box). The 3/8" shackles required a bit of grinding (1/4" clearancing) on the front crossmember to fit them. Don't forget to account for new bushings at the leaf end and shackle frame end. I highly suggest poly bushings. Rubber ones squish out easier with the the increased shackle length on flex.

 
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