Shackles Om SFA te lig

[klippe]

Het iemand al sy eie shackels op die vere gemaak om 'n SFA te lig? Ek wil graag weet hoe hoog kan mens gaan met hulle en of daar 'n spesifieke " plan" is met die shape ens.

[Mr_B]

Hi Gerhard,

I fitted the Mikem extended shackles, it was supposed to give a 25mm lift, but in actual fact the lift is more like 50mm... the shackles are 100mm... just be careful if the shackles are too long the front driveshaft will be too short!

I bakkie stands as high as one with a 50mm body lift!

B

[klippe]

Thanks for the info, What did it cost you more or less?

[Mud Dog]

Remember that the shackles and the pins are made from carbon steel, not mild steel. These are important components of the suspension and affect the safety / stability / roadworthiness of the vehicle. It's my opinion that this is not something you should be making up yourself, unless you have the neccesary materials, equipment and know-how. Especially if it's an everyday vehicle. Rather get the Mikem ones .... it'll cost you close to 2K, but you cannot put a price on life.

[klippe]

Thanks Mud Dog

Just popped an email to Mikem to get the price, I thought there will be some or other catch to the shackles. Do you get it in different sizes?Or is it just one standard size

[Mr_B]

Gerhard,

Darren from Mikem will give you the exact answers you need, I do believe there are length options, but be careful... I wouldn't go over 100mm for an everyday runner, simply because you do lose some stability on the road. The Mikems I got are greasable and included new bushes, and the cost was much less than 2G's... but I had to fit them myself... and in the end Hoppy helped me with the fitment!

B

[Dadz Toy BFI]

On Darrell's advice I've canned the idea of installing Extended Shackles :Geek:

They only give 25mm more than the "regular" Mikem shackles :roll:

Gerhard, unless you have OME blades you gonna have serious problems with sagging

[Mud Dog]

I've never liked the ext shackles idea myself. Consider that in a corner, the only thing holding the axles in place are the springs (leaf packs) and the only thing holding those are the shackles and hangers. What stops the packs from being swayed to either side by the centifugal forces in a turn is the hangers, shackles and the bushes inside them. There are no swing-arms or tortion bars on SFA's. Now the longer one makes the shackles, the more leverage they have over the bushes, and the more they are likely to flex. Any resulting sideway movement of the packs makes the vehicle unstable. the last thing I would want is for my Lux to start fish-tailing on a mountain pass or on a curve in the face of on-comming traffic.

Lifts are far safer achieved with the springs themselves (OME will give you about 100mm .... don't know how much with Mikem), OR with block spacers between the axle and leaf pack (You would need longer u-bolts and I don't think it's safe to space more than 60mm there) OR to have spacers professionally fitted / welded between the chassis and the cradles for the shackles (and) cradles for the hangers (this would involve the cutting off, spacing and re-welding the suspension anchor points or cradles. Professionally done, it's a safer option) OR a body lift where the body is lifted higher off the chassis by means of spacers (this is the safest spacing method as it does not interfere with suspension components).

The reason for looking to achieve extra height is important as to which you choose. Body lifts are really only done for the purpose of gaining body clearance for modifications like bigger wheels and motor conversions, whilst the others are done to achieve better ground clearance on transverse obstacles. Linear obstacle clearance on an SFA can only be achieved with the fitment of bigger radius wheels / tyres since that's the only way to increase diff / axle height.

So after a long story, my suggestion would be to first get a suspension upgrade (OME or Mikem) which will give you not only lift but more importantly, axle articulation. This will significantly and safely improve the vehicle's off-road capability. Other benefits are a smoother, more comfortable ride. If you still want to go higher after that, the other options above are still open to you.

M25CW

[Spartan]

Baie goeie inligting daai oom Andy, dankie ek het ook iets by geleer Jy kan ook maar n ou groot uil badge kry want die info koop jy nie met geld nie, dis net ondervinding.

[Mr_B]

Well put Andy! I agree with you, even though I fitted extended shackles . The Mikem extended shackles I have fitted are seriously engineered, thicker steel than the old ones, and are only 25mm longer than the std shackles. The reason I went for the extended shackles was to give better clearance in the wheel arches for the 33inch tyres, they were still touching at full articulation, full steering lock previously. The old shackles and bushes were totally stuff, and the pins were pitted, worn and the bushes were binding on the pins, making an aweful noise... so essentially I killed 2 birds with one stone! And they are greasable!

B

[Mud Dog]

Bretton I don't think that an extra 25mm shackle length is either here nor there in terms of what I was saying IRO safety / stability. It's when the guys go for a 50 to 60 mm ext. that it becomes a factor. If the extra 25mm gets you just that extra little clearance required for your 33's then I say "why not". And as you said they're sturdier built to compensate.

Greasable shackles are definitely the way to go if you can swing it. I have had to drop my suspension out completely a couple of times to do it manually , what a drag. I did'nt mind when I was a little more keen and 'spritely' but it's not a lekker task for a 'ou toppie' on his own

Just as a matter of curiosity, the Mikem greasables with bushes are a little cheaper than the OEM non-greasables from the stealers! (Here I'm including the spring hangers as well). So if yours are worn (the pins do wear), and pitted .... well, you now know where to get replacements!

[Mr_B]

The funny thing on my lux is that the 25mm longer shackle gave a 50mm lift, the extended shackles stand up straighter, as opposed to the std ones that were lying at an angle.

B

[Mud Dog]

That's interesting and sort of makes sense, but I would have expected that to only come into play with longer extensions. Cool! You don't have any 'swaying' issues IRO handling, I take it?

[Mr_B]

Nope she travels pretty well @ 130km/h... but i do have a steering box that appears to be worn, any tricks to share on steering boxes... so far it looks like I am going to have to buy a second hand one @ about R2500 ... the play adjust screw appears to be on it's last!

B

[Mud Dog]

are you talking about the box itself, or the draglink?

[Toybox]

Have you tried adjusting the little screw on the top of the box?

[Mr_B]

It's the box itself... and no I haven't fiddle with that screw yet, Allan says the screw has been adjusted pretty far in already, which is a sign of a worn box...

[Mud Dog]

and you can't get a re-conditioned one anywhere? ... there used to be a place here in E.L that did gearboxes, diffs etc .... and they did steering boxes / steering racks as well. check the yellow pages

[klippe]

Thanks for all of the info. Spoke to the guys from Mikem and the long and the short of the whole discussion is simply that if I would like to get at least a 50 mm lift it is going to cost me abot R10k. Something that the bank manager does not understand quite well. :roll: A lady of course and not driving a Hilux 4x4 but a VW Jetta.

[Mud Dog]

Budget and save toward it .... it is the way to go

[klippe]

Budget and save toward it .... it is the way to go

Thanks Mud Dog

With the opening of our shop in Boksburg that is rather impossible to do at this moment, But definatly for the future. Hopefully then the word budget will not be some sort of swear word