is there a certain way to put on shackles? what i mean is, is there tension on the shackle if you mount it the "right way" and if you mount it the "wrong way" it won't be under tension.

 

depends...did you flip the hangers? if not then they are under compression, if you did they are under tension. im not entirely sure i understand what youre asking...

 

i didn't do anything yet, i was just curious. what i'm asking is does the flat part go on the top or does it go on the bottom? so when i get the belltech ones and install them, they only go the one way right?

 

Only go on one way....but the 'open' part of the shackle needs to be facing the front of the truck.


IDK the proper way to actually bolt them to the rig.....when I did mine, I got the old ones off, springs hanging, then bolted the top of the shackle in the hanger, leaf into shackle, both those bolts threaded but not tight all the way. Then I set the truck on the ground. Jumped in the bed a few times. Then tightened everything down.

Is there a 'proper' way to tighten/install shackles?


Here's a pic for reference...

 

yeah i put mine on in two or three weeks ago, and almost mounted the same way as fx4wannabe01

 

I'm going to be puttin on a set here in the next week or so.

 

ok. thanks. i'll keep it in mind when i do this mod.

 

run them up tight then then drive around for like a 100 miles and check the bolts again

 

When you tighten the bolts, you need to make sure that the springs are loaded with the weight that they normally would hold. So this means that you would need to have jack stands underneath the axle so it is just like the truck is on the ground with the wheels on.

The reason it needs to be tightened this way is because the bushings in the springs themselves rotate so many degrees in both directions to allow for the suspension movement over bumps, flexing, etc. If you tightened the bolts when the springs were at full droop (a.k.a. jacked up by the frame) the bushings would be only to rotate in one direction when the truck got back on the ground. Hopefully this makes sense; its hard to explain in type.

 

Makes sense to me.....thread the bolts in/nuts on, set the truck on the ground, tighten bolts and nuts. BAM! Thanks for the clarification.

 

sam that's what i was talking about. i was under the impression that there is small springs in the bushings. but no, it's the way it rotates.

thanks.

 

Yep, no problem