Homemade shackle lift

[krsowles]

Anyone remove the shackles from back of leaf springs and lengthen them? More importantly, can anyone remind me why I shouldn't? Want to lift van 2-3" but wife says no money for it now, maybe next summer blah, blah, blah. I have front taken care of, thinking this might hold me for a while. Thanks, Kelly

[MountainManJoe]

viewtopic.php?p=76705#p76705

[krsowles]

TB, thank you very much. I searched around because I knew I had read stuff but could not find any answers. One more clue that my smart phone is indeed, smarter than I am! Gonna sneak me a pair and will post pics/thoughts as long as you all remember that, my phone is indeed smarter than I am! Kelly

[krsowles]

Am I doing something wrong or just been in the sun too long? Those shackles from the post say they lower or level ride. I don't see lift shackles. Am I really reading it wrong?

[LiftedAWDAstro]

They do indeed say they are for lowering but they work on our vans for lifting. I am not a fan of the shackles as they can change your pinion angle enough to cause vibrations. I would get the S-10 replacement leafs and swap them in and do the front end lift. After that, see how it sits and if you need a little more lift in the rear, go with those shackles. It may save you $40. Depending on arch, you can also modify the new springs by using 1 or 2 of the old leafs in the new spring pack for additional lift and capacity.

[krsowles]

What you say makes good sense. It also leads to another question; I currently have some "good vibrations" happening. If I use the shackles until I can get the springs, will it make my vibrations disappear? The springs are the way to go and I know better. I just feel like a poor lift is better than no lift! And again, I know better! Thanks for the input, Kelly

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Without knowing what the vibrations are from I can't say if it will be better or worse. They make shims to correct the pinion angle with lift shackles. It's been discussed on here a few times. Search for it and you will see how to measure for proper shims.

If you want to get a cheap lift, go to a junk yard and source some leafs from another Astro, Safari or S-10 truck/Blazer. You are looking for a leaf pack 2.5" wide. You can then disassemble them and use 1 or 2 of those leafs inserted into the leaf pack on your van to give some lift. When you do this, remove the thin shims that are between the stock leafs. You may need to add a washer or 2 under the clamshell so the inside bolts tighten up steel to steel with no gap. The u-bolt on the outside should be long enough to add a leaf or 2.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Here are the OLV instructions for dis-assembly and modify of the stock leaf packs for the addition of the add-a-leaf. If you need a longer center bolt, find a big truck spring shop and they will have them there on the shelf. Don't use a standard grade 5 or 8 bolt.

[krsowles]

Thanks! Very useful!