Got them installed in about 20mins, It about has the slight rake like i wanted. Just a couple pics





and my freebie steel can


Next up:
*33's
*Shocks
*upgrade my off-road lights from 100w to 130w each

 

not bad but def get some bigger meats

 

i like it, and the truck looks good too!

 

do you have a link to the shackles

 

are they summit brand shackles, or Beltech shackles that you bought from summit?

 

u can get the shackles at pepboys for 40 bucks! they are universal.

the truck looks better leveled off!

 

need some AAL also imo... if your gonna "upgrade" lights by replacing bulbs replace the wiring/fuses/relays for the higher wattage

 

thats not how they role out in the desert Stone most people only lift the front and leave the rear stock

 

Summit brand.

Thanks! I didn't mess with pep boys, mine were like $45 or so. with poly shackle bushings, and another hole if i want to droop the tail end some (as in if i do AAL or something)

Yep, that is how we roll. It's roughly 1.5" lower than the front, sure better than the 3" it was!

 

all my wiring is always overkill, will certainly handle the 520w of off-road lights. the stock alt may hate me a little however. I'll look into how it's doing once i get the bulbs. may only bump the middle two lights to 130 for now.

 

your point i said IMO i think it looks like crap when its like that doesnt mean just his truck...


good to hear someone actually doing wiring right around here then... and your alt its fine its 1300w of lighting that it has a problem with i have been down that road

 

yep, all soldered, circuit breaker (hate fuses), relay feeds directly off the alternator output to keep the load out of the stock wiring as well.

 

Woah...so the summit shackles do in fact have two holes on 'em...

 

looks good man!

 

Mike... I think your truck looks AWESOME as is,... without 33's. IMO., leave it on those tires... it looks DAMN GOOD man!

 

I like the front bumper and the light set. Very cool.

 

Looks much better!

You can haz 33's!!

 

Thanks!

 

How much tension did you leave on the leaf spring? Basically I'm wondering how much to jack up the rear end when I do mine.

 

looks good but still needs to come up more IMO

 

I'm maybe not understanding your question, but you want the frame suspended in the air via jack stands, and the axle able to achieve full droop. Unbolt the old shackle, bolt the new one on, done. Here's how i did mine...

 

Oh ok. I thought you would want the leaf springs to be uncompressed but still have some tension on them so the bolt can slide in or out. If the bolt sliding out has too much tension up or down it wouldn't be able to be easily removed. I was curious where that sweet spot is but if you had the springs completely uncompressed then I guess that's not necessary.

I didn't think about undoing the shocks.

Does it ride any better with the shackles installed?

 

haha....yeah....i was actually installing shocks when that pic was taken. if you look in the pic, there is no driver side shock. hmm...guess you could unhook the shocks for more droop. Basically....jack in the middle of the pumpkin. There is a sweet spot that'll let the bolt slide right out...it's like in between upward tension and downward tension. Use a jack to find that sweet spot and it'll slide right out...and in. lol.

 

i didn't bother unhooking the shocks, nor do i notice a ride difference. I just jacked my truck up from the rear, and put one of my tall jack stands under my hitch. with that there i unbolted the top, took the nut off the bottom and sorta hung my weight ont he spring so i can clear the bolt from my hitch and spare tire. Just saved time, rather than unbolting the hitch, spare, etc. Easy job!

 

Looks better, but I like it level or with the stock rake.