ok so my leaf springs have lost their arch and I can't drive with back seat passengers or a full trunk without riding very low. Can't even put my spare tire and jack in trunk, afraid to bottom out if I hit a bump too hard. I cannot afford to buy new leaf springs yet or even get them installed. Can I just use a shackles kit for now? Any other ideas?? Thanks
You could try a set of helper springs to get you by till you can afford new springs. A shackle kit will make it worse handeling/brakeing wise. New springs should run you around 200.00 when your ready.
http://www.maverick.to/mmb/showthread.php?t=49782&highlight=bfv Best solution for the budget challenged. This is what I did with mine and I'm quite pleased with the results. I can't think of a single situation where shackles are the answer.
Another case of "Not enought time to do it RIGHT.....but always enough time to do it OVER". As stated, shackles will cause more harm than good. Save you pennies and get some NEW leaf springs. Or....quit hauling people around. Also.....I sure hope you carry a spare tire with you at all times. Without a spare tire, you are just one nail away from a 3 mph drive all the way home that will take you a good 2 hours (I speak from experience.....longest 6 miles I ever drove)
Lol, I just did that 6mph drive home last night....1/4" sheet metal screw....ugh. so, where can I get new leaf springs anyway?
I can tell you, just save your money for new springs. The ones I removed the other day, I flipped them over, and stepped on them, they went right to the ground, I'm @ 230lbs, so just figure what they were doing holding the car up....nothing..
If you're talking about my tire situation, I was driving slow because my exhaust clamps were dragging because of too much weight and bad leafs. While driving the shoulder, I picked up a screw. It was in the middle of a rain storm at night, plus I was close to home. Tire didn't survive due to the size of the screw.
So anyway, where can I get some new leaf springs? Maybe I'll just learn to do it myself in my driveway.
This is where I got mine... http://www.generalspringkc.com/index.php?p=product&id=26&parent=0 I got new shackles at NAPA
Well for me.....I was a young college kid...and my Maverick was a daily driver. I had numerous rims and tires back home. What I didn't have was a spare tire with me. Drive slow enough one can get home. Yeah....the tire was trashed, but the rim was fine. Carried a spare tire ever since that day.
They change brakeing by takeing weight off the rear tires and moving the vehicles weight forward enough to affect brake bias...This will cause the fronts to lock prematurely (earlier than they normally would sounds better) Especially if the car still has drums up front. This will cause rear traction to go away due to the weight shift.(this also causes the rears to lock up due to the weight transfer) Hence the advent of ABS brakes (which were originally only on the rear brakes)Soo...It could be very dangerous in a panic situation. The longer shackles...Create more flex (side to side) than the suspension allready has. (this is why shackles are engineered as short pieces that attach the springs to the cars chassis) If long ones were good/safe...I'm sure a few muscle cars would have had em from the factory. They also increase body roll due to the added flex caused by their length, which causes the springs to sway from side to side...This will unload the tire on the outside of a turn momentarily creating a potentially dangerous ( or fun situation) depending on how and where you are driving your car...Lateral acceleration is generally frowned upon on public roads...
