SLR 2" Shackles Install & Review - Return to Stock Attitude

Thread on ITW -

http://www.insidetheweb.com/messageboard/mbs.cgi?acct=mb428752&MyNum=981647001&P=No&TL=981647001


------------------
philosopher@angelfire.com
Philosopher's Xterra

Mid-Atlantic Xterra Club

Kind of ironic, I was thinking about these puppies the other day. Between the torsion bar adjustment and these - just enough lift for larger tires, and restores the original X stance.

Glad they're looking good... The install pix are sweet and the raised X looks rather intimidating!

------------------
2001 Solar Yellow SE 4x4 V6 5spd

Hehehe, yes my X does look a little more manly now (not that it needed help )

Seriously, getting back to stock attitude made a rather large difference for my visibility--I noticed on our night run that I could see rocks a good 6" closer to the truck before they disappeared under the hood.

The only real complaint I've got is the powder coating is not the strongest stuff in the world, Philosopher and I flaked a bit of it off installing them...the shackles are also quite noticeable (since they are bright silver), which seems needlessly flashy to me. When the time comes I'll probably just Rustoleum black them...

------------------
gothamist -- MAXC member
http://www.beatdriven.com/xterra.html

Can anyone explain the negative implications of a shackle lift? Im sure this put more stress on something or everyone would do it? Especially for the price! Thanks in advance for the responses!
John

------------------

If there's that much difference you should have your headlights readjusted to make sure they are pointing where they should.


------------------
Gary

It's all in the ITW thread.

Simply put, more than a couple inches of shackle lift makes the vehicle more unsteady, and can result in bad handling under emergency manuevers, which we tested and were happy with the results - namely, the truck acted them same as it did without the shackles.



------------------
philosopher@angelfire.com

Philosopher's Xterra

Mid-Atlantic Xterra Club

I cranked my torsion bars to get rid of the stock attitude.......

I personally prefer a leveled off Xterra.

Good info though, for future lifts.

------------------

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1479294&a=11140594&p=38897161&Sequence=0&res=high

Greg Moultrie
00 Aztec Red XE 3-pak
4x4 Auto

I just checked the price of these puppies on SLR's web page and they're now listed at $50/pair. The new price is listed as "all necessary installation items included". Makes life easier, but they're still making a couple bucks more on each set than they were before they had them bundled.

------------------
2000 Silver Ice SE 4X4 Auto
MAXC member (killerx_xoc)
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1406935&a=10805120

Do you have to get longer shocks if you add the taller shackles and front torsion lift?

------------------
Join the Heartland Xterra Owners Club!
www.hxoc.net

[This message has been edited by XTERRA4EVER (edited 03-03-2001).]

Replacing the stock shocks in the rear (and removing your swaybar) will allow you to take full advantage of the suspension articulation. If you add the SLR shackles then you have even more articulation potential and retaining the stock shocks will really limit you taking advantage of the additional lift. I believe the Rancho RS9000s have an additional 2" of travel compared to the stock shocks.

I have the Ranchos and the SLRs and I am very pleased with the results!

------------------
2000 White XE 5spd
Member-MAXC

BTW.

I put install instructions for the shackles on my web page under "Mods".


------------------
Join the Xterra Offroad Webring

2000 Aztec Red 4x4 V-6 XE-3Pak
www.xterra4x4.com

I got my set last night!

They will probably go on next week when I install my new Bilstiens, 15" rims and 31" BFGs

WOOOHOO!

------------------
Xavier
"I said, Reading is GOOD, can we start the story now?"

I have a question about these shackles, I'm about to install...I read somewhere in a thread that installing these 1 1/2 to 2 inch shackles will kill my springs within the year, is this true?? and why? I want to put on some BF muds 32's and I know I need the additional clearance.. Thanks

------------------

Put my 2" shackles in today! I also adjusted the torsion bars for an extra 3/4" and my truck sits really nice. I highly recommend this upgrade.


------------------
ChuckH
2000 SE 4x4, Aztec Red

I can't speak as to the spring wear...I could swear I just started noticing mine sagging, but I hardly think it's due to the month and a half I've had the SLR shackles installed. Anyway, I just wanted to say--you don't need shackles to clear 32" BFG MT's...MT, FSRBiker, Synchro, and I believe Mosi (among others) all ran/run those tires without the extended shackles with little/no problems.

Nonetheless I see no reason not to do this mod, so long as you don't mind having a raked X again.

Thinking about it, I've heard that inverting the arch of a leaf-spring is what really stresses/sags them, and it's probably easier to do that if you do have the shackles installed. Either way the anecdotal evidence suggest that if you offroad w/ more than about 100 pounds of stuff in the back of your X, your springs probably will need replacing at some point before your warranty is up. Me? I'm probably just going to wait and replace mine w/ the SLR/National springs...

------------------
Vikram/gothamist -- MAXC member
http://www.4x4LO.com

If I'm not mistaken, with some 32" tires, people were noticing a slight hit on full compression, one person mentioned the gas filler tube.

With the 2" shackles, this problem should be eliminated, but people are still saying that there's some rubbing going on.

Besides, I like the rake of the truck. Like women, it looks good ass-in-the-air.

/me ducks for cover.

------------------
2001 Solar Yellow SE 4x4 V6 5spd

[This message has been edited by BoarderPhreak (edited 04-03-2001).]

"Face down ass up, thats the way we like to F---!"

Man BP, that was funny.

------------------
Xavier
"I invented electricity. Benjamin Franklin is the devil"

Just an FYI, I thought the 2" shackles would be enough to eliminate rubbing with my Super Swampers (which are 32.5" tall, basically 33's), but it's not--when I stuff, especially on the passenger side, they rub on the edges of the wheelwell a bit, and all over that fuel line cover. You hear a distinctive thunk as each lug passes by (and rubs) the plastic. Oh well. :-|

------------------
Vikram/gothamist -- MAXC member
http://www.4x4LO.com

unfortunately, not quite - my 32's (BFG AT's) barely rubbed on the fuel filler cover thing. not bad, but it did rub...fyi.

Conditions-
32" Tires
2" SLR shackles
Rancho 9116's set on '5'



------------------
Cheers!,
-john aka areuin
Silver Ice, '00 XE, 3-pk, 32" BFGs, bad morning hair

My 32" TSLs (32.1" tall) have not produced any signs of rubbing in the rear with the SLR shackles / Rancho mix. My tires are 32x10.5s so the extra width of the SSRs/ATs seems to be the ultimate culprit.

------------------
2000 White XE 5spd
Member-MAXC

[This message has been edited by wbroadus (edited 04-03-2001).]

Just finished installing my SLR 2" shackles and adjusting the torsion bars. I like it alot.

The 2nd generation shackles have been re-designed to eliminate any play that was mentioned in earlier posts. No more having to crush them down.


------------------
My wife calls it the "Intrepid Bee", I call it "Tonka".
craigs-tonka@home.com

I notice that many of you are using the shackles to help "return the rear to factory height"

I wonder how long it will take for the factory springs that you are using to completely lose their arch now that you are changing the geometry of the spring.

Shackles (to me) are nothing more than cheap, quick and more importantly temporary fixes to the problem of crappy OEM springs. The real cure is the replacement spring pack.

just my .02

------------------
2000 Xterra White
4x4 3pack w/xtras
SWXC Member# 2
TMTC (Texas Motorized Trails Coalition)Member # 653
KD5MQO

Carlton_McMillan@swxc.org
www.swxc.org

agreed, that is why philosopher and I both had Nissan replace our spring packs under warranty before putting the shackles on, his origianl spring pack was saggng really bad and mine were getting there. we shall see how long this set lasts with the added weight of my rear bumper. i am guessing that i will end up going with a set of SLR springs here sometime in the next 12 months.

------------------
Synchro (aka Kirk)
synchro@xterraoffroad.com
2000 Xterra SE, Alpine Green, 4x4, ARB, 32" BFG MTs

[This message has been edited by Synchro (edited 04-09-2001).]

Agreed. Eventually I will be going with the SLR spring packs, they seem to be getting really good reviews. I don't have the money for those now though, and want to run 32's without rubbing. My X is still under two months old, so my springs are still in good shape, but I can easily see how they'll flatten more easily due to the changed geometry. If it buys you time to save up for good springs, I think the $40 for the shackles is worth it. I understand that the SLR springs increase ride height even more than the shackles. What are people doing for the front end to balance out the spring packs? That seems like a lot of torsion lift, and I would not feel comfortable cranking it up that much (if it even would go that far).

------------------
Chris McCracken
"Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle and quick to anger."
Join the Heartland Xterra Owners Club www.hxoc.net

[This message has been edited by Caver-X (edited 04-09-2001).]

Carlton, I disagree. I would say shackles are a far superior option than the add-a-leaf route many others (including you, correct?) have gone.

Also, has been mentioned, these do not eliminate rubbing w/ 32's...which should be pretty obvious considering 31's rub stock.

------------------
Vikram/gothamist -- MAXC member
http://www.4x4LO.com

When I said rubbing, I was referring to the fuel filler neck. That's not an easily modifiable area. Of course, they will still rub on the fenders, but that takes a few minutes with a sabre saw to fix. Also, my understanding of the SLR spring packs are that they are not simply an "add-a-leaf" like many products out there, but are designed from the ground up for the purpose they are used for. When you use the shackles, you are using the factory springs in a configuration that they were not designed for, causing extra stress (wear?) on the springs. The shackles are a workaround (albeit a fairly good quality one), whereas the spring paks are meant to be a permenant solution. Just my $0.02
~Chris

------------------
"Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle and quick to anger."
Join the Heartland Xterra Owners Club at www.hxoc.net

I wasn't talking about the SLR spring packs...those are indeed a complete replacement but the only two X's I know of running them right now are SLR's and Pikachu's.

When I said rubbing I was talking about the fuel line cover in the passenger rear wheelwell. You will rub that with 31's, I've heard that some people rub it stock once they remove the rear swaybar. That's the thing I rub on the worst with my 32's (which are bigger than most other 32's.) (And yes, I have shackles...look at the earlier posts in this thread.)

------------------
Vikram/gothamist -- MAXC member
http://www.4x4LO.com

Qualify your opinion please.

The add-a-leaf actually support the spring.

The shackle does nothing more than change the mounting location of the spring.. it offers no support on an already weak spring.

------------------
2000 Xterra White
4x4 3pack w/xtras
SWXC Member# 2
TMTC (Texas Motorized Trails Coalition)Member # 653
KD5MQO

Carlton_McMillan@swxc.org
www.swxc.org

They look good to me. Cant wait to get em.

------------------

Wow, I missed the fact Carlton had posted back in this thread a while ago.

What I meant was that I think, if someone is simply looking for increased ride height and a touch more suspension travel, shackles are a better way to go. Yes AAL's add support for the spring pack, but honestly I don't mind the ride my truck has (in the back...the front still sucks.) I wouldn't want to stiffen it up anymore than it already is (w/ shocks on 4.)

The installation is also easier with shackles, and can be removed easier/quicker if someone wishes to ditch them.

Finally, for the time being, shackles are 1/3 the cost of the AAL setup.

------------------
Vikram/gothamist -- MAXC member
http://www.4x4LO.com

One thing I'm curious about on the SLR spring packs is they're rated quite differently than the stock spring pack. The stock pack is rated at 120lbs. per square inch whereas the SLR pack is rated at 90lbs. per square inch.

How does this change on-road feel?

------------------