I've seen it done all these ways, i was just wondering which would be the best and most practical for my application

Should i take some of my left over 1.5"x.250" DOM and weld it between the shackles?

.75x.120 DOM?
3/4" Solid stock?





should i cut a piece of 1/4, 3/8 or 1/2" to weld between the shackles?




or should i put a piece on the front face of it kinda like the RCD ones are done?



these are kinda cool.

 

Why not do the tube and plate the front?

 

why not.. there is no real answer to that..


1.5"x.250 DOM in the middle and some 1/4" plate on the outside it is haha

 

Overkill is better than underkill

 

yes it is.. but there's a limit and i'll get pics tomorrow when i go down there to brace my shackles.

but my buddy built some sliders for under his truck, they go from the t-case mount back to where the carrier bearing on the drive shaft is... the tube is .375 aka 3/8" wall.. thats a bit much

 

a piece of 1.5"x.25 wall would be more then enough, The bolts hold the shackle together the tubing is just to add some strength to them. No need to go crazy with it.

 

i just foresee all sorts of problems with the front shackle.. i want to try and cut down on them

 

A piece of 1.5x.25 wall DOM will be plenty strong, if your breaking that then a plate isnt going to add anything but unneeded weight to the mix.

 

true.

 

I never but the "brace" in the middle of mine, but mine look like they are much thicker then yours.

 

mine are 3/8" plate

 

Mine are 3/8ths also, yours just look thinner in the pictures I guess.

Heres the shackles I'm running.
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/...dium-p-60.html

 

which picture? and unlike you i'm going to be beating mine on rocks all the time, so the stronger the better.

i had some 1/4" ones on there... and the kid who made them over finished the hell out of them with the sander so they were more like 3/16"

 

If you are crawling with them leave them loose, if its a desert truck plate them like crazy! Loose and they will flex better before breaking the bolt.

 

Good to know. Thanks Dan!

I might order some diff covers sooner or later, if you need a test subject for bumpers or anything let me know haha.

The parts for my SAS are still holding up great, even after some abuse!

 

The diff covers are solid too, you won't be disappointed, got one sitting on my floor waiting to go on next week when I'm off.

 

But back to shackles, I had always run both H style shackles & greasable bolts for years and one day I had a bolt break and the shackle twist to a pretzel. I started thinking about it and decided I had seen alot of broken shackle bolts over the years and every one was greasable and I had also seen lots of wasted H style shackles too. Then and there I decided to never again use a greasable bolt and I decided to test H vs. Loose shackles. With the same vehicle we got about 3/4" more flex with loose shackles......

 

I'm not as worried about flex as i am strength.. no one on here can really vouch for how hard i am on my truck (granted i was kinda hard on it) but ever since i came up here i wheel different, and now I'm gonna be on more rocks than dirt probably. I'll run em like this and if i have troubles i'll figure something else out, who knows this setup may never see the trails

btw I'm running 9/16" Grade 8 bolts

and for diff covers, you'll be seeing an order for one for a D44 before too long i dont need my precious spool and 5.13s getting smooshed