well hello , i am new to the site here, i got a 85 w150, with a 6" lift an i want to gain a few more inches for flex reasons. i would like to stay away from body lifts if possable, i have ben reading about a shackle flip for the rear says i will gain 4" so i found a set on ebay for $60-$75 now i just got to worry about the front wich i know they make a shackle drop for the front but not for the year of my truck, so what do you guys have in mind lol, with the shackle flip an my 6" suspension lift i will gain a mudpounding 10" wich would be great in case in the future i want to run bigger tires wich is my plans. i am on a kind of small budget so any help will be appreciate thanks guys

 

I would steer clear of tall shackles as they can cause more problems than they are worth.

There are a coupld of things you can do.

1. If you are good at fabrication, then you can build a set of hangers that are intergrated into a cross member and have them hang down a little loower than normal. You can do the same thing for the shackle hanger.
2. If you do not have the knowledge/tool do fabricate, call Alcan Springs and have them custom build you a set of springs. THey will build them to how ever you want.

 

ok so like this then?? this is useing the factory shackles

 

Right, that is great for the rear but as for the front I believe that it is set up differently. I believe that the springs are located under the frame. If you can get a couple of pictures of what you have so far, we can better help you with deciding what is best.

 

that ant my set up thats a few pics i found on RCC, but i will do some more research on the front an post back thanks

 

ok i was searching on here an found a pic of this jeep, i was thinking about this front set up??

 

I will just say those in your first post look real weak...In the second post they look better...please be careful in you selection. We all want you to succeed and be safe in doing so.

 

The pics that you posted look to be of the rear suspension. I'll see what I can find for pictures of the front end. I may be wrong.

 

THis is how your front suspension should look.

In the first pic, you can see the springs are hard mounted to a set of hangers that are mounted under the frame (red arrows).



In this second picture, you can see the front hangers (red arrow). At the back of the front spring is the shackle that is mounted into the frame. Having the shackles moutned this way is much stronger than having them mounted to a hanger.

 

I've seen something like this built many, many times and it fine to use.



It allows you to build your hangers right into the crossmember and you can have is sit lower to gain more height. The issue with this is that if you only do this, it will cause your pinion to be pointed too high. You'd have to install some hangers with shackles on the back side to help lower it also to keep the pinion angle the same.

I still think that ordering a set of 10" lift springs or placing an order with Alcan would be easier, but if you have the fabrication knowledge and can plan something like this out, by all means do it.

 

well after doing some hard thinking an more an more research i think the shackle lift will be put on the back burner for now, by me doing the shackle lift ya i will gain 10"s of lift but then i got to custom make the drive lines then install cv joints, brake lines, new shocks ect ect an money is tight, so i might just swing with a 2"-3" body lift for now or maby go for a add-a-leaf set up.

 

If you have 6" lift springs, add-a-leafs will not help (they will actually hurt what you are trying to achieve) as most are only good for 1-3" of lift over stock.

With a body lift make sure that you have enough play in your wiring, brake lines, steering shaft and if you have a mechanical cooling fan on the motor, you'll want to remove it and attach an electric fan to the radiator.

What about trimming the fenders to get larger tires on? It'll help your truck keep it's COG low.

 

i dont really want to hack the body up lol, but i might check in to that. thanks for the help man

 

I don't know if they are still available but you used to be able to get some nice fiberglass fender flares that gave huge openings and a nice clean finished look. Maybe try to find a used set on forums or inner net auction sites. Just another option. Once the tires start getting bigger they look a little odd under an opening they are bigger than.