First... I had great spotting on that leg. Kissing that tree was part and parcel of the hobby and we only found the better line as a result. So, life's good.

Second, I had maybe 2 1/2 tires on the ground and, even with the extra droop, I'm not sure I would have had the extra contact that would have been helpful on backing out. In hindsight, it's possible that I could have backed myself out of that with one more tire touching, but in context of this string, I would rather have more flex on the front than to have had revolvers on the rear. The reason being that I was nose down on that and would have been able to use gravity to help my traction situation.

So, long story short, I think revolvers work if your setup has the ability to pivot with the flex. Without that, the variables increase, which just makes the equation unpredictable.

So, give me less droop and more predictability every day. While I may need to get strapped out sometimes, I'd rather go down giving it a try than to feel the confidence of a setup that may not help me get to a solid footing.

So would a rear locker.
Hi Jeff.

I bring nothing to the table.

Rear locker (aka, the easy button)....

That's on my list.

Great posts. However, common sense is not prevailing on this issue. I've got to give porsche some credit for trying.

These are things that revolvers have been blamed for:

* Ruined leaf springs
* Rollovers
* Body damage
* Spring hanger damage

They have also been almost universally maligned by all respected 4x4 publications.

I understand that they probably have a very slight advantage in certain scenarios. However, on this issue, the cons out weigh the pros by a long shot. I looked into this product about two years ago and decided it would be detrimental to my vehicle.

Revolver Shackles are traditionally misunderstood. Otherwise bright people will insist that a drooped tire with Revolver Shackles has no weight on it, and that Revolvers are just for great RTI scores, but without weight on the tire, the great articulation is just pretty.

To test this question a Nissan Xterra, a 50,000 lb freight scale, and a forklift were used.

The rear tire of the Xterra was placed in the center of the scale and the front tire was lifted in one inch increments, recording the weight on the scale at each given height.

Lifting the front end causes the rear suspension to droop as the front is raised by the fork lift, similar to a rig climbing a rock with the front end, and the rear staying on the ground to push you over the rock, etc…

Performed once with Standard Shackles, and once with Revolver Shackles.

After recording the data a graph was made:




The left side of the chart is the weight (LB) on the freight scale (the tire’s weight available for traction)

The bottom of the chart is the amount the truck was lifted with the fork lift, in inches, to UN-Weight the drooped tire on the scale.

The 0 inch (No droop) numbers were the same, the scale begins at 1”.

Both graphs show approx 1,300 lbs on the rear tire with all tires on the ground.

Both graphs show the rear tire "unweighting" in a fairly linear fashion as the front tire is lifted.

The standard shackle is down to 0 lbs at a front wheel height of approx 19".

At this same height the Revolver setup still had over 400 lbs of weight on the same tire.

The revolver shackle reaches 0 lbs at a front wheel height of approx 24"….5 more inches of droop….WITH weight on the tire.

So the traction of the regular shackle and the Revolver shackle is similar for the first 8” of droop…

At about 8”, the regular shackles’ droop is starting to be resisted by the leaf pack arch, and, the amount of down force it can apply to the tire is less linear, and the tire starts to unweight more sharply.

The Revolver Shackles’ droop stays fairly linear – applying down force to the tire long after the regular shackle’s down force at the tire was zero.

At ~16” of droop, the regular shackle’s down force had dropped to ~ 400 lb, but the Revolver Shackles’ downforce was still ~ 600 lb, about a third more than a regular shackle could provide.

At NO point did the Revolver Shackle provide LESS downforce than the regular shackle, it provided about the same until the regular shackle reached the leaf pack’s arch range….then more and more than the regular shackle could.

As soon as the regular shackle started fighting the leaf pack, the leaf pack started to allow less and less weight on the regular shackles’ drooping tire.

From that point on, the Revolver Shackle provided MORE AND MORE of an improvement in downforce on the drooped tire.

This improvement not only provided more down force as the tire was drooped, it also allowed that traction to be available for more inches of droop, allowing an additional 5” of USEFUL droop over the regular shackles.

Of course, after the added 5” of droop, the leaf pack arch ALSO pulls back the tire for the Revolver Shackle the same way…as its still just a shackle.

If you picture a coil sprung rig with a live axle, the dynamics are similar…

The coil provides less and less down force as the tire droops, but, even when a live axle’d rig is drooped far enough to let the coil fall out, its’ STILL receiving down force at the tire.

A coil sprung rig applies the same down force as a Revolver Shackle, as its still just a drooping live axle that’s not being held back by a leaf pack on droop.

So, a coil sprung live axle should be about the same, or better than a Revolver Shackled live axle, as the physics are about the same as far as tire weighting on droop. (no one worries that their TJ will “unload” on them and flip them, etc…as it just doesn’t happen, just like it doesn’t happen with Revolver Shackles….because the physics don’t make it happen…it’s a myth)



IE:

1) Revolver Shackles add droop, and, add traction during that droop, providing MORE weight on the tire than a regular shackle can.

2) A live axle with Coils, and a live axle with Revolvers, will follow roughly the same physics, as far as axle weighting, under articulation.

3) A leaf spring fights droop once the pack has arched, and is being pulled down by the tire/axle, rather than pushing it down...robbing the tire of traction as droop increases.

4) A regular shackle swings inward to allow the pack to arch more, providing more droop and more weight on the tire.

5) A Revolver Shackle unfolds, and then swings, to perform the exact same function, but over a longer distance, improving droop and tire weighting even further. Note that there was no evidence of a transition from unfolding to swinging inwards in the data, indicating that this doesn't have an impact upon weighting. (Which remained essentially linear)


And, for good measure, the Revolvers also pivot, as do the Alcan Orbit Eyes, etc....to RELIEVE stress on leaf packs.

So, essentially nothing the Revolvers are accused damaging is true....and, every thing they claim to benefit IS true.




The tests were done by MMnIAC at XOC




The above has been universally misunderstood by almost all off road publications, and by many otherwise knowledgeable wheelers.

Facts speak louder than myths, no matter how often the myths are repeated.

Those with the ability to think for themselves can look at the facts, and come to their own conclusions.

Those who can only parrot what they were told will of course continue to repeat the myths.

Nice info