shackles

I wanted to know if shackles were a good idea to lift a Jeep. Looking for about a 2" lift want to run 31x10.50- 15 tires. Or is there a better way to do it on a budget. Also are welded or bolted shackles better?

 

a small shackle lift is fine but remember you only gain half of the amount of lift so if you want 2" of lift the shackle will be 4" longer then stock. Also they can throw off your steering geometry because your actually titling the axle. I'd go with maybe an 1" or so over stock length shackle . You should be able to run 31's stock I thought.

 

Thanks for the info. Are your shackles welded or bolted in the center?

 

Shackes can mess with the camber I believe. If the steering Geometry is set up correctly a vehicle wants to go straight down the road. Shackles lifts can do a number of things...
- make it "wander" around the road
- make it feel like over or under steer on corners
- bumps or pot holes can throw you around a bit more, recovery can be harder.

Some shackle lifts can make a jeep nearly undrivable. Anything under 3/4 inch in shackle lift generally doenst cause any issues. sometimes it just depends on the jeep. I have seen dozens of people on the YJ boards go with 1.5 or 2inch shackle lifts, white knuckle down the road and dirty some underwear, then promply remove and sell them in the same day.

I went with 1/2 inch lift on boomerangs. so they are 1 inch longer than stock hole to hole. I feel a litte difference on winding roads but the lift gained far outweights a little additional wandering. I also have axle shims in between the springs and axle to battle that a bit. I would do it again on a YJ. simple to install.

I am assuming my YJ shackle knowlege applies to CJ's the same.

 

I think he is refering to the center brace on the shackles themselves. Mine are bolted in the front. and bolted in the rear. I took a piece of pipe I had laying around, cut it and used it as a sleave over the center bolt between the two shackle side pieces. When I go wheeling I sometimes remove the center bolts to gain a fractional amount of flex. The negative? that bolt helps to prevent spring inversion. The gain by removing them is so minimal its really not worth the work. I am sure welded is stronger, it has to be.

Mine are custom water jet cut from military armor plating!

 

They mess with CASTER.

 

at stock height i ran 31's with no problem whatsoever. i put some wide 33's on and had to chop the fenders to clear them, still worked as far as body clearance, the problem was my fenderwell headers hit the tire-those are being swapped.
back to you-i believe 31's will fit with stock jeep and your fenders untouched.

 

Caster angle.... Thanks. I was typing more and thinking less.

 

Just a thought.... I still have all of my stock YJ Shackles. which should be longer than your CJ shackles.... they are just gathering dust.

I will measure mine, you measure yours... if mine is big enough for ya... I ship'em out

 

Unless your springs are really sagging, you don't need a lift to run 31" tires. If the springs are worn, change them and leave the shackles alone.

 

my springs ARE really sagging and my 31's clear no problem.

 

I use a 1 1/4 shackle Lift and a 1" spring lift and it seems to handle fine but everything is still new.