Does this shackle angle look acceptable to you

[treetrunk]

Just purchased and installed a set of lift springs and shackles on a mall crawler I am prepping for my daughter. 7" lift springs and 6" long shackles. Spring along the arch is 48.5" and eye to eye at frame is stock 47" or so. Looking for advise. Vendor is telling me this is fine and normal for lift springs. I dont buy it as I have used other less reputable lift springs and they were not so short as to invert my shackles the wrong direction. I have about a 9 degree angle the wrong direction. The vendor advertised these springs to be optimised for each vehicle, unless this is something new I would think 9 degrees back would be much better. What do the experts say. Yes I have posted this question on another squarebody specific site. All my searches aside from taking various measurements to obtain a specific angle and adjusting it with shackle angle have led me to believe this condition cannot be corrected with shackle length. I think I know the answer just want a few more opinions. Thanks!!

 

[bdkw1]

As long as they don't go parallel to the spring in full droop, run it. Having them angled back puts you that much closer to bind in full bump. To me, that looks pretty good but you would need to take the pack apart and cycle it to get the real picture. Bump and droop are important, ride hieght is what it is.

 

[NorCalJalopy]

Typical for a Chevy. Run it.

 

[treetrunk]

Thanks for the responses. I did cycle the springs, very little droop due to the poor static angle. These are custom springs, I guess I'm just a little disappointed they dont ride like the vendor described they would. I think with a little rearward angle the spring rate would decrease a bit and not have to "break over" in a sense on compression. Attached is what is optimal to me. These are 8" skyjackers 52". They ride as good if not better than the custom springs and surprisingly handle well at highway speeds despite the stupid high stance. Go ahead and let me have it on the non existent front drive line, working on cut & turn on the 60 as well as a fix on the 10 sline 205 yolk and 700r4 oil pan clearance issues. This truck is also in mall crawler status for now.

 

[total newb]

Let them settle a bit before you start yarding shit apart.

I may have missed it but motor? Winch/bumper?
The more weight the better on gm suspensions.

Lighter trucks like a swb/sbc with stock bumper wont ride the same as a cc/bbc with a still bumper and 120lb winch with the same springs.

 

[bdkw1]

A 6" shackle moving from 9* to vertical only gains .078 in hieght. That's slightly over 1/16". Going the other direction it would "break over" the same amount. Devide this about in half to get what the axle movement would be. I doubt this would make a significant difference. The friction in the springs makes more of a difference. Shock valving also comes into play, are they valveable or off the shelf "lift" shocks?

 

[bdkw1]

Let's look at this another way, say you have a 200# spring rate. The lack of gain coupled with the regression would equal 1/16" of travel change at the axle. It would be like going down to a 187# spring rate. Not a huge change.

 

[bdkw1]

How tight are the bushings? Did you tighten all the bolts with it sitting on the ground? There are a lot of things that can effect ride, any number of these can cause issues.

 

[treetrunk]

Understood although as I said the springs were supposed to be taylored to my setup. Those questions were asked by the vendor. Yes it is a swb/sbc stock trim. I was led to belive the designed spring rate would take all those parameters into account. I have attached a photo of another rig with too much angle in my opinion this thing rides like a dream unfortunately it handles like shit. Death wobble at about 25mph when I hit the train tracks. These are 56" on the front. Getting ready to put 52 back on. It is too scary to drive down the road. The articulation is phenomenal though.

 

[treetrunk]

How tight are the bushings? Did you tighten all the bolts with it sitting on the ground? There are a lot of things that can effect ride, any number of these can cause issues.

All good info and I appreciate the feedback and explanation. I guess I came with the preconceived notion that this was wrong. Adding to this would be the snide remarks one hears on forums and youtube videos seemingly everytime someone drops a photo of a truck with this type of shackle angle. Typically a mall crawler with off the shelf springs. Is it just low hanging fruit jerks go after or is it ok? You explanation is compelling enough that it is OK. I still dont like it on a custom set of springs but I will live with it and quit bothering the vendor. Thanks all for your feedback

 

[bdkw1]

Understood although as I said the springs were supposed to be taylored to my setup. Those questions were asked by the vendor. Yes it is a swb/sbc stock trim. I was led to belive the designed spring rate would take all those parameters into account. I have attached a photo of another rig with too much angle in my opinion this thing rides like a dream unfortunately it handles like shit. Death wobble at about 25mph when I hit the train tracks. These are 56" on the front. Getting ready to put 52 back on. It is too scary to drive down the road. The articulation is phenomenal though.

Big soft springs with no track bar? That does sound scary.

Do you know the spring rate your leafs are supposed to be?

When I raced a leaf sprung truck, delrin bushings were the go to due to reduced friction. At the time Kalgard had some friction reducing paint that we used. All these things made a difference in how it road. At one point I put UHMW tape between the leaves. Without the shocks on you could move the rear suspension with one finger on the bumper. Unfortunately it would start spitting the tape out after a couple hundred miles.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

As others said, let them break in a bit before you start changing stuff. I sometimes pull a few leafs to speed this up. Then ad them back as needed.

More spring arch will need a more vertical angle to work right.

Maybe a 5" shackle would be better though.

 

[treetrunk]

As others said, let them break in a bit before you start changing stuff. I sometimes pull a few leafs to speed this up. Then ad them back as needed.

More spring arch will need a more vertical angle to work right.

Maybe a 5" shackle would be better though.

Thanks I considered a shorter shackle and might do that.

 

[treetrunk]

Dont know what the spring rate should be?

Yes agreed on the track bar. Panhard kit is still sitting in the shed waiting to be installed. Waiting to get springs sorted out, the soft spring issue is on another truck. I have three rigs. 1 too hard 1 too soft and 1 just right.

I think I have been reassured the custom springs are ok. I will run them for a while. I'm doing flip in the rear. Now just trying to figure out if I want 56 or 52. DIY kit so I can flip either way. New exhaust and ready. I guess the good thing about stiffer springs is no Panhard needed.

Big soft springs with no track bar? That does sound scary.

Do you know the spring rate your leafs are supposed to be?

When I raced a leaf sprung truck, delrin bushings were the go to due to reduced friction. At the time Kalgard had some friction reducing paint that we used. All these things made a difference in how it road. At one point I put UHMW tape between the leaves. Without the shocks on you could move the rear suspension with one finger on the bumper. Unfortunately it would start spitting the tape out after a couple hundred miles.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

Its a square body, pick your poison. You you want super droop, flex, stability, lift? Do you want to run a panhard, oor not. Crossover steering or not.

I went thru all the springs, 48/52/56/63. Best combo I felt was the 56/56, Tho I wasnt impressed with the durability of stock 56" springs up front. I think if I were to go thru it again, I would do ORD 48" up front and ord 56" rear, or 63" in tension. 63" in the rear with a shackle flip means you are always dragging the rear of the spings.

 

[treetrunk]

Its a square body, pick your poison. You you want super droop, flex, stability, lift? Do you want to run a panhard, oor not. Crossover steering or not.

I went thru all the springs, 48/52/56/63. Best combo I felt was the 56/56, Tho I wasnt impressed with the durability of stock 56" springs up front. I think if I were to go thru it again, I would do ORD 48" up front and ord 56" rear, or 63" in tension. 63" in the rear with a shackle flip means you are always dragging the rear of the spings.

What I want is a set of custom springs for the front that bolt up and ride and perform as advertised. I dont believe I got that. I still believe the lack of what I belive to be proper shackle angle left some comfort and droop on the table. What I can say is the best combo I have had is 52/56. The custom ORD springs did not impress me for thr cost but I am going to live with it for now as consensus says they are fine. Just for fun I adjusted shackle angles this weekend on a 52 setup went from 45degree to vertical shackle and also removed a leaf. The ride was noticeably stiffer too stiff. So that right there tells me shackle angle affects spring rate despite what a few have mentioned.