Help Me Make Some Shackles...

[mdeluca]

Hey all...

Bought me some new Prothane shackle bushings for both ends of the front and rear springs and need some info to make my own shackles.

My shackles are slanting outward from the center of the Jeep, the bolts are various lengths, and the bushings are gone. I don't trust taking the spacing measurement from mine.

My plan is to make an "H" shape shackle similar to Warrior.

What I need:

1. Spacing (inside measurement) front.
2. Spacing (inside measurement) rear.
3. What grade are the bolts (5 or 8)... I was just planning on getting 8.
4. Do I use lock nuts (with nylon insert)
5. Do the bolts need to be solid shank except for the nut location or can they be threaded all the way up to the head.
6. I'm planning on welding a center bar to the "H". Was going to make it from 1/4" steel with 1/4" wall square tubing as the connector.
7. Planning on stick welding it with 7018 rods.
8. I plan on making them stock length with stock bolt spacing with the connector in the center.
9. Type of steel (mild or other?).

We don't do rock crawling, just dirt roads and street.

If I'm going wrong anywhere, please let me know.

Thanks in advance.
Mike

 

[Jimbocker]

Hey all...

Bought me some new Prothane shackle bushings for both ends of the front and rear springs and need some info to make my own shackles.

My shackles are slanting outward from the center of the Jeep, the bolts are various lengths, and the bushings are gone. I don't trust taking the spacing measurement from mine.

My plan is to make an "H" shape shackle similar to Warrior.

What I need:

1. Spacing (inside measurement) front.
2. Spacing (inside measurement) rear.
3. What grade are the bolts (5 or 8)... I was just planning on getting 8.
4. Do I use lock nuts (with nylon insert)
5. Do the bolts need to be solid shank except for the nut location or can they be threaded all the way up to the head.
6. I'm planning on welding a center bar to the "H". Was going to make it from 1/4" steel with 1/4" wall square tubing as the connector.
7. Planning on stick welding it with 7018 rods.
8. I plan on making them stock length with stock bolt spacing with the connector in the center.
9. Type of steel (mild or other?).

We don't do rock crawling, just dirt roads and street.

If I'm going wrong anywhere, please let me know.

Thanks in advance.
Mike

Hey Mike,

Here's my take on it. I've been thinking of something similar.
1&2. I can get you measurements tomorrow if someone else doesn't beat me to it.
3. 5 is probably all you need, but 8 probably won't hurt anything (except maybe your wallet)
4. You probably want some type of locking nut. Some people don't like nylocks, but the sway Bar links in my Tundra are held on with them, so I think they work just fine
5. Threaded to the head probably won't negatively impact performance, but it may make it hard to install/remove them. Threads love to grab onto things (like bushings), especially in tight places.
6. Given your stated use case, you probably don't need a center brace. I don't think the stock shackles have them. That said, if you want one (any nobody can fault you for that) just make sure the middle brace doesn't interfere with spring motion. I am thinking of making a similar shackle brace in my build. Just about anything in the middle will improve the lateral rigidity.
7. I am not a professional welder, but I think just about any common stick electrode that is suitable for your machine (don't use a DC only rod on an ac machine) should be more than adequate. Frequently the weld is stronger than the base metal. Just follow good fab practices and watch for warpage, but that probably goes without saying. I would just pick whatever electrode you weld best with.
8. For your use, I don't think you can go wrong with stock dimensions. I think the stock length is probably good in most use cases.
9. Standard cold rolled will probably be just fine. I'm not sure what the factory used or what the industry prefers.

All of that said, please take input from the other brilliant minds on this forum. We all have our own takes on it and our own experiences, and I'm just as interested as you are to see what the others have to say on the matter. I'll probably use their input for my own shackles!

Jeff

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[mdeluca]

Hey Mike,

Here's my take on it. I've been thinking of something similar.
1&2. I can get you measurements tomorrow if someone else doesn't beat me to it.
3. 5 is probably all you need, but 8 probably won't hurt anything (except maybe your wallet)
4. You probably want some type of locking nut. Some people don't like nylocks, but the sway Bar links in my Tundra are held on with them, so I think they work just fine
5. Threaded to the head probably won't negatively impact performance, but it may make it hard to install/remove them. Threads love to grab onto things (like bushings), especially in tight places.
6. Given your stated use case, you probably don't need a center brace. I don't think the stock shackles have them. That said, if you want one (any nobody can fault you for that) just make sure the middle brace doesn't interfere with spring motion. I am thinking of making a similar shackle brace in my build. Just about anything in the middle will improve the lateral rigidity.
7. I am not a professional welder, but I think just about any common stick electrode that is suitable for your machine (don't use a DC only rod on an ac machine) should be more than adequate. Frequently the weld is stronger than the base metal. Just follow good fab practices and watch for warpage, but that probably goes without saying. I would just pick whatever electrode you weld best with.
8. For your use, I don't think you can go wrong with stock dimensions. I think the stock length is probably good in most use cases.
9. Standard cold rolled will probably be just fine. I'm not sure what the factory used or what the industry prefers.

All of that said, please take input from the other brilliant minds on this forum. We all have our own takes on it and our own experiences, and I'm just as interested as you are to see what the others have to say on the matter. I'll probably use their input for my own shackles!

Jeff

Jeff... thanks...!!!

These just don't look that hard to make... can probaby make all four for $20 in steel.

I was just thinking that the spring hanger (end opposite the shackle) should give me my width dimension for the shackles... is that right?

 

[Jimbocker]

The spring hangers are probably a good start, but add the thickness of the bushing flange. FWIW, my shackles are about 2 3/8" front inside spacing and 2 13/16" rear inside spacing. That said, my bushings are shot, so take it with a grain of salt.

Other useful dimensions:
Shackle side plate: 4 1/2" x 1 5/8"
Bolt center to bolt Center: 3"

Jeff

 

[Torxhead]

I made a set of front tow shackles and hangars for my CJ. Pics are located in my gallery images but I can't seem to post them up anymore. On my '86, I also had an issue with the rear shackles bowing out. A little tape measure work revealed that the rear axle spring pads were made too far apart. From what I hear this is due to worn out tooling. I used locking nuts and grade 8 bolts with locktite to lightly snug them up, both shackle and hangar have been heat treated. The shackle spacing is adjustable with a sleeve holding the two haves together. If you can use the solid shank bolt surface instead of a threaded surface to support the weight of the CJ that would of course be best. I have also noticed that the bushings are different between the oem spring shackle and the aftermarket type. Good luck with your project.

 

[mtnwhlr]

. Pics are located in my gallery images but I can't seem to post them up anymore.

Try this look up in the top right corner of the page do you see a circle with a line across it next to a heart? If so click on the circle and a box will pop up where you click the unblock button and then you should be able to post pics from your gallery. Works for me hope this helps.

 

[Torxhead]

Try this look up in the top right corner of the page do you see a circle with a line across it next to a heart? If so click on the circle and a box will pop up where you click the unblock button and then you should be able to post pics from your gallery. Works for me hope this helps.

No can find, Mtnwhlr. I do see a red "X" though on the upper right side.

 

[mtnwhlr]

No can find, Mtnwhlr. I do see a red "X" though on the upper right side.

It should be below the red X

 

[mdeluca]

The spring hangers are probably a good start, but add the thickness of the bushing flange. FWIW, my shackles are about 2 3/8" front inside spacing and 2 13/16" rear inside spacing. That said, my bushings are shot, so take it with a grain of salt.

Other useful dimensions:
Shackle side plate: 4 1/2" x 1 5/8"
Bolt center to bolt Center: 3"

Jeff

Thanks... I'll get my bushings soon, then I can begin sorting this out.

I appreciate you taking these measurements...

I made a set of front tow shackles and hangars for my CJ. Pics are located in my gallery images but I can't seem to post them up anymore. On my '86, I also had an issue with the rear shackles bowing out. A little tape measure work revealed that the rear axle spring pads were made too far apart. From what I hear this is due to worn out tooling. I used locking nuts and grade 8 bolts with locktite to lightly snug them up, both shackle and hangar have been heat treated. The shackle spacing is adjustable with a sleeve holding the two haves together. If you can use the solid shank bolt surface instead of a threaded surface to support the weight of the CJ that would of course be best. I have also noticed that the bushings are different between the oem spring shackle and the aftermarket type. Good luck with your project.

I was eyeing up my rear shackle with the spring hanger on the opposite end and it looks like the U-bolts don't quite line up. Might be an optical illusion, but I may take the springs off entirely and reinstall; lining things up in the process.

Will this throw off the alignment? Just had it aligned... I'll get it realigned if I need to.

I need a procedure for this... will start looking.

 

[Torxhead]

For me it just looks weird to have the rear springs bow out due to the axle mounting pads too far apart. it probably is hard on the shackle bushings though. So I had mine corrected along with setting the correct pinion angle so it does not require any pinion angle shims. I am sure it has no effect on the rear axle alignment.

 

[mdeluca]

For me it just looks weird to have the rear springs bow out due to the axle mounting pads too far apart. it probably is hard on the shackle bushings though. So I had mine corrected along with setting the correct pinion angle so it does not require any pinion angle shims. I am sure it has no effect on the rear axle alignment.

Are the spring pads fixed or are they repositionable?

 

[Torxhead]

The distance center to center on the front spring hangars, rear spring hangars, and the axle mounting brackets should all be the same. This would enable the leaf springs to be mounted in parallel. The axle mounting brackets or spring pads are not repositionable. They have to be cut off and new ones installed. That is what I had done anyway. Your vehicle has survived a long time like that, so I don't think correcting it should be a big priority. I also had a problem breaking the lower rear shock mounts on the rocks, so I had new lower shock mounts welded on the rear axle housing and shorter shocks installed.

 

[mtnwhlr]

test with new computer

 

[mtnwhlr]

Torxhead I just got a new computer and have figured out how to post pics from my gallery if I can help you let me know.

 

[mtnwhlr]

Sorry mdeluca for hijacking.