Tow shackles?
I recently bought a 1978 CJ5 frame, body, and axles. The frame appears to be in decent shape so far. The body looks good on the outside, but the floor boards will need to be replaced. I don't know if it has been lifted, but it has a flat set of 32" tires on what appear to be 15" x 9" wheels. Based on the VIN, it looks like it was an HD, with AMC 304 and 3 speed manual.
I hauled it home on a 12' trailer that my fiancée has for her RZR. While that works for the stripped down condition that I bought it in, I won't be able to pull a fully dressed CJ5 with my Colorado (4 cylinder = 3500 lb towing limit). I had looked at flat towing it with a tow bar for short distances, and I came across a few recommendations to other people about using tow shackles.
Before I go any farther, is it worth going this route? I had never heard of this option before last weekend, but I had seen bumper mounts for tow bars pretty often. I'm not planning on lifting this CJ. I'm thinking maybe 31" tires. I doubt I would tow it often, but it could be useful to tow it around while working on it. I might also consider towing it to Pennsylvania for Jeep Fest once a year.
The first set that I found were RockJock shackles. They claim to work with most lift kits, as well as replacing stock shackles. The Quadratec site shows it as 0" lift, with lift range as 0-1. The RockJock site shows that the shackles are 4 1/2" from center to center, and claims that is about 3/4" longer than stock. My shackles are 3" from center to center. Did they misword the information? I was under the impression that 1.5" longer than stock will give a 3/4" lift. Is that what they meant?
The next set that I found were Daystar Rockrusher shackles. The Quadratec site shows that they are stock replacement parts, but there are also versions that give 2 1/2" of lift, depending on your application. It doesn't appear that there are any optional sizes for a CJ. Under specs, the lift height is shown as 2.5", with a lift height range of 2.25" to 3".
Would 3/4" inch shackle lift cause any problems with driveline angles or anything else?
I hauled it home on a 12' trailer that my fiancée has for her RZR. While that works for the stripped down condition that I bought it in, I won't be able to pull a fully dressed CJ5 with my Colorado (4 cylinder = 3500 lb towing limit). I had looked at flat towing it with a tow bar for short distances, and I came across a few recommendations to other people about using tow shackles.
Before I go any farther, is it worth going this route? I had never heard of this option before last weekend, but I had seen bumper mounts for tow bars pretty often. I'm not planning on lifting this CJ. I'm thinking maybe 31" tires. I doubt I would tow it often, but it could be useful to tow it around while working on it. I might also consider towing it to Pennsylvania for Jeep Fest once a year.
The first set that I found were RockJock shackles. They claim to work with most lift kits, as well as replacing stock shackles. The Quadratec site shows it as 0" lift, with lift range as 0-1. The RockJock site shows that the shackles are 4 1/2" from center to center, and claims that is about 3/4" longer than stock. My shackles are 3" from center to center. Did they misword the information? I was under the impression that 1.5" longer than stock will give a 3/4" lift. Is that what they meant?
The next set that I found were Daystar Rockrusher shackles. The Quadratec site shows that they are stock replacement parts, but there are also versions that give 2 1/2" of lift, depending on your application. It doesn't appear that there are any optional sizes for a CJ. Under specs, the lift height is shown as 2.5", with a lift height range of 2.25" to 3".
Would 3/4" inch shackle lift cause any problems with driveline angles or anything else?
