home-made rear spring shackles

[cris well]

i'm thinking of bolting 2 sets of stock rear shackles together on a 93 single cab 1500 to drop it about 4 or 5 inches and i'm curious if anyone has done something similar.

i'll have to cut 2 squares out of my bed floor to allow for the spring eyes and part of the leaf so it doesn't hit.

i'm gonna weld something to them also so they don't swivel where i bolt them together.

it may be too much of an angle though for the drive-shaft??

[benoit454]

I think I saw some on an offroad site once, with shackle flips and extended shackles for lifting not lowering but I don't see why it wouldn't work. You could get or make some axle flip bracket cheaper though. I saw some for 73-87's for like $30 on ebay.

[cris well]

i'm thinking along the lines of a 4" drop like shackle/hanger kit but doing it all at the back so i don't have to c-notch the frame (with flip-kit) or deal with the hassle of getting the stock hangers off.

my main concern is that it's gonna throw the nose of the diff. down too much and cause the u-joint to bind and pop.

i really don't wanna cut the frame.

[benoit454]

some flip kits you don't have to cut the frame, but if you haul stuff it can bottom out.

They have shins that are angled to help correct the pinion angles.

[cris well]

this is how i'm talking about doing it.

i wonder if it would be alright like that or if i should weld them so they won't move in the middle.

it'll be 4.5 inches added to it but i don't know if it would lower the truck that much or not. that's about what i'd like to get.

[scotts62]

You dont want them moving in the middle and if they are not straight it will make your truck lean a bit, Autozone sells them for around $27

[1badgmc]

Originally Posted by benoit454

some flip kits you don't have to cut the frame, but if you haul stuff it can bottom out.

No. You need to notch the frame with ALL flip kits. It's not the style of the kit that determines this, it's the amount of drop. A flip kit is a flip kit is a flip kit and they're all going to get about 6" of drop no matter who makes it. Ok, in all fairness, you CAN do a flip kit without a notch, but you'll be hating life for it. That axle tube will be so close to the frame that you'll be bottoming on all but the smoothest of roads.

Anything over 4", no matter how you get there, should be notched.

Originally Posted by cris well

this is how i'm talking about doing it.

i wonder if it would be alright like that or if i should weld them so they won't move in the middle.

Weld them.

[BigBlocksRule]

If you're going for 4" of drop, you'll have to do 8" on a single end of a leaf, so you'll need another 4" from what you have now. Pinion angle is going to need attention, moreso because all the drop is on the rear.

[k5hart]

I agree with 1badgmc's notch comment. When I did my flip the leaf pad on the driver side was hitting the corner of my notch because the previous owner put it in a little too far forward. It was hitting on the wavy road and I thought the truck was going to beat itself to death before I fixed it. You definetly do not want the shackles to bend in the middle. It would make for an interesting ride in the rear. I would imagine the pinion angle will be an issue. Probably pointing down to much which could be shimmed. I wonder too if you will have problem with the pumpkin bottoming out on speed bumps and large ramps, etc. That would be putting it pretty close to the ground I think.

[cris well]

interesting comment bigblocksrule.

i'm not sure if that is the case or not. i have another truck with 2" lowered shackles that are 6" (hole to hole) instead of the 4" stock ones which does it all at the rear.

on paper this should give me 4" instead of 2" because i have 8" hole to hole with the shackles bolted together.

update:

bigblocksrule was right. i measured my lowered shackles and they are 8" hole to hole (the same as two stockers bolted together)--not 6" as i thought, in order to get 2 inches of drop.

[benoit454]

well on the flip kit I'm going by what I saw hear with guys having 73-87's flip kit no notch and had a couple inches or clearance once the bump stop was removed from the rear frame and would work fine unless they hauled something. I don't know who it was but I can remember talking to them about it.

I had always assumed flip kit you HAD to notch, but they said they had room and had pics, it did have an inch or 3, looked like 2-3 inches in the pics but not being in person, not sure.


here's the link, with pics, flip kit no notch...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...flip+kit+notch

[1badgmc]

Originally Posted by benoit454

well on the flip kit I'm going by what I saw hear with guys having 73-87's flip kit no notch and had a couple inches or clearance once the bump stop was removed from the rear frame and would work fine unless they hauled something. I don't know who it was but I can remember talking to them about it.

I had always assumed flip kit you HAD to notch, but they said they had room and had pics, it did have an inch or 3, looked like 2-3 inches in the pics but not being in person, not sure.


here's the link, with pics, flip kit no notch...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...flip+kit+notch

And that's all correct...if you have a '73-'87. But we're talking '88-'98 trucks here and for these trucks, you NEED a notch with a flip.

[benoit454]

well that part i did not know anything about for sure.

It's good info though, because I would have thought an 88-98 would be the same w/ a flip kit. Good to know it's not. I had no idea or info on it since this is my first 88-98 truck and it's 4x4.


But, I am sorry about that, thought it might be the same.

I figure shackles and hangers would be easier then a flip kit, only since you have to cut the frame and notch it. I'm afraid of doing that myself.

I would have to agree, they need to be welded so they don't flex, may want to plate over the side or something.

[1badgmc]

Originally Posted by benoit454

well that part i did not know anything about for sure.

It's good info though, because I would have thought an 88-98 would be the same w/ a flip kit. Good to know it's not. I had no idea or info on it since this is my first 88-98 truck and it's 4x4.


But, I am sorry about that, thought it might be the same.

Nah. It's cool. It's all part of learning. The '73-'87 trucks can get away with a flip and no notch, but the '88-'98 GMT-400 and '99-'06 GMT-800 trucks need a notch with a flip. I believe that with the '07+ GMT-900 trucks you can again do a flip without a notch.

I figure shackles and hangers would be easier then a flip kit, only since you have to cut the frame and notch it. I'm afraid of doing that myself.

I'd rather do a flip kit with a notch than shackles/hangers myself. The notching bothers me less than having to jack with the hangers. They're a royal pain in the butt.

[cris well]

ok. so now i have a new plan.

after taking bigblocksrule's advice i'm gonna use the 2" drop shackles and then the stockers bolted to them.

that will give me 12" all together (8" over what the stock shackles have) and hopefully get 4" of drop out of it.

i found some pinion shims for about $20-25 bucks if i need them.

now i just have to cut my bed floor up!

[benoit454]

All good info because I haven't personally worked on much lowering, lifting, I have done lift but not lowering. I want to, be it a square or gmt400 88-98, whichever.

The hangers don't bother me, I've had to change 2 already in the last couple years, due to rust, not an issue, my grinder makes quick work of them. I am scared to cut a frame but it doesn't seem bad and seems to be pretty easy to flip the axle.

[k5hart]

Let us know how this works. It's an interesting idea.

I would still make sure the two are welded together in the middle. Your rearend is going to be all over the place if you don't.