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FAQ - Extended Shackles

PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2009 11:39 am
by Pissy
Generally Extended Shackles will lift the rear of the vehicle by half the length of the shackle extension; therefore a 4" extended shackle will give approx 2" suspension lift. Basically they are good for a cheap suspension lift, but please check the legals about using extended shackles in your area, in some cases they are illegal and other places they are OK. Over doing the length will not only make your vehicle unsafe and illegal but will also affect your drive train angles and may/will cause issues and damages.


There are many places and companies that make and sell these which have been engineered properly to withstand the stresses and loads but if you going to make your own be sure to get them inspected by a professional before you install them. There are several ways of making them as they are quite easy to make when using the correct materials and methods.


The 2 main methods used for making the shackles are either a BOLT or a BRACE in the center of the shackle. The brace is prefered as it is usually stronger than the Bolt method.

Standard vs Extended (Bolt Method)
MU - Shackles 2.JPG


Brace Method
Calmini shackles.jpg



Most people doing extended use 10mm thick plate and for approx 2" lift, 200mm long (260mm for 3") with a brace in the center and greasable pins. Non greasable pins can be used but it’s allot better in the long run for maintenance and greasing.
All pins should have or be machined to have a shoulder to support the shackle sides just like the original ones do this prevents crushing the bushes by over tightening.

Materials for Bolt method
MU - Shackles Construction 1.JPG

If you are going the bolt (14mm high tensile) in the middle method you should run a crush tube over it to help support and space the shackle sides and prevent the inward side crush of the shackles.

When using poly bushes you also need to check and apply grease periodically, APXT seems to the choice of greases but it appears that any poly bush grease will do the job.

Drop Shackles
Another set of shackles which I will breifly mention are the drop shackles. Some types of drop shackles will have a pin which allows the user to pin the shackle in a standard length while on road and then unpinned for extreme flexing while off road. These shackles are usually only used in extreme vehicles and often illegal to have on road.

drop shackles2.jpg