what do leaf spring shacles do?pros & cons? how much of a lift do they give you?

 

I assume ur talking about lifter shackles, not normal shackles. They increase the distance of the leaf springs to where they bolt onto normally, therefore raising it up.

the pros, you can fit taller tires I guess, and a lot of people simply prefer the look of the "butt in the air". My dad calls it the "surfer" look because I guess people that did that way back when were surfers? haha.

the cons, I guess is some people think its tacky (some, I don't think so), and I hear the handling will get a little squirlley at high speeds.

And how much life do they give you? depends on what setting you put it at. Probably like 3 to 4 inches or so on the highest setting, maybe someone can verify this.

I have shackels on my car, but the previous owner put them on. I think they're alright for now, I don't see a need to take them off, but don't know if I'd put them back on if I redo my suspension.

 

I can only think of cons. Less traction and sloppy handling.

 

it gets the "classic" (i hate it) stink bug stance, lots of people think thats how a muscle car should sit, with the *** end in the air, i dunno why [&:]

 

Coke bottle look of the late 60's. Thats what its for but get rid of them, especially if you're going for ahigh performance setup.

 

Back in 'the day'... we didn't have all these options for wheels and tires you have today. Nobody made wheels with backspacing that brought the wheels up under the fenderwells. Everything was 14s and 15s. Tires were E70-14s or G60-15s... on 3.75"backspacing. So to clear the fenders, you had to jack them up. We thought it looked cool back then. It was so bad you had to have your front end realigned cuz the angle changes your settings so bad.



Plus.. everyone was trying to copy the look of the drag cars...

 

I like it, but why not just get raised leafs? because the cost was cheaper for just the shackles i assume. -Jon

 

Yeah, the extension shackles were like 2 bucks each. I had a stink bug 68 Cougar in 1972. Drove me crazy trying to keep from losing that sucker under hard power.
I guess you could tub it and put the extension on then have a cool drag car like mine.

 

the 71 fastback my dad had lifter shackles in the back of it even with the 6 banger it sucked for traction and in the rain was like ice skating

 

Do not get shackles. The car will look like sh..t & handle like sh..t. I would go with air shocks before I would go with shackles. I would'nt go with either to be totally honest. Get new leaf springs and don't screw around. Do it right the first time.No mickeymouse crap.

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