when i see shackles on worn out leaf springs, the springs will end up sagging even more. usually they will end up with a reversed arch. the ride height ends up being about the same and the ride is worse.
this is all very true and all one needs to do is slam the brakes and turn in quickly to see the effect that you speak of. They can be even worse than air shocks for unloading the rear tires during braking/cornering in that regard. longer shackles would only be a temp fix/bandaid until it was done right, IMHO.
thanks everybody I think I will just drive it locally and empty until I have the money to replace them myself
You could just buy 2 cheap coil over kits from autozone, there 15$ each. Jack the car up put them over your gas/air shocks and it should make them stiffer and not bottom out. Should get you by for awhile until you can get new leaf springs.
Yeah, that's kinda my problem. I know the right thing to do, and I will once I have the funds to do it, but right now I'm trying to get by for a short while. That's why I posted this thread, thinking a shackle kit would at least give me a couple of inches to work with for a while. I've always remembered seeing them on our cars and other cars in the 80's and thought, hmm maybe that's a temporary band aid for now. I think I'm feeling like I shouldnt have brought it up though....ugh...
If you can find some used leaf springs of the same width you can add a leaf to each of yours. I cut the eyes off the main leafs of some six cyl Maverick springs and used those for a fourth leaf. Worked very well and it should be pretty cheap to do. Reused the U-bolts so total cost was the price of the leafs.
this is a good topic to have. sure there is some heated debate but good info is contained in the thread. putting the coil over helper springs on the shocks is the same as using air shocks. the top mount for the shock is not strong enough for air shocks or coil overs. as for braking with shackles, with the car siting on scales, there will be no weight difference front to rear, but when in motion and the brakes are applied is when the problems happen. with the rear of the car low there is less weight that will transfer off of it when the brakes are applied. when the rear of the car is jacked up the higher center of gravity will allow for more weight transfer off of the rear tires.
I'm still running my junkyard Econoline van springs, best $40 I ever spent. I fixed it cheap, it rides great, and I don't have to worry about anybody seeing my shackles/air shocks/helper springs and telling me I did it wrong...
I see what you mean now. I put coil overs on mine and the metal the shock connects to is very flimsy.
I just spent 2 weekends pulling apart Bronco rear ends and the entire time I was thinking about you and your E-Van springs wishing I was pulling apart just 1 of them. I think a junk yard leaf spring pack is in my future. It fits my rust-rod approach very well.
True but...You cant scale the car while under hard brakeing or cornering...The physics change man...You can scale the car with out shackles and the weight wont change...With the car static... I have read Daves book...Great read/info...
When I lowered the shackles on my car, the spring went from straight to having an arc again. Ride height was unchanged. While they provide a little bit of lift in some applications, it's not enough to fool with on a Maverick. New springs, re-arced springs, or the add-a-leaf are much better ideas. My fear on the shackles was them collapsing sideways in a curve. If that happened, the rear would suddenly steer the car, and no telling which way it would go, or if you could correct it before you crashed. Way too risky.
This is the point we are trying to get acorss here. Although I think we may be taking it to the exreme level for the OP's intended bandaid approach here. There's avery good reason that road race cars do not have the rear ends jacked up and that is because the rears will unload under hard breaking and results in less contact patch on the rears in general and even changes in geometry on hard turn in. Front ends dive.. rear comes up and lighten the back tires grip. Basic physics and all you need do is watch a road race car lose it when coming into a corner too fast to see it in plain site. So, from the debate standpoint here?.. there's not much to debate really. Raising the rears CG will in fact hurt turn in braking performance from a simple physics standpoint. Especially when you add the other variables of shackle and spring eye flex into the equation. Taller shackles act as levers to push/twist the sloppy and already too soft spring bushings even moreso than usual. Shackles are old school/low budget bandaids.. plain and simple. BUT.. after all the debating dust settles?.. if I were trying to reduce cost, buy time and gain wheel well clearance on one of my cars with worn out springs?.. I'd install shackles in a heart beat(and I have in the past). But I damned well learned what it did to my rear suspensions bite as soon I braked, leaned hard into a corner, and spun a 180 quicker then I could countersteer to stop it. And if you have higher compression?.. engine braking will only add insult to injury. You have to make compromises to get gains sometimes and that's just life in general. Just good to know what you've traded and change the driving limitations to better suit those compromises, is all.
