revolver shackles

[95offroadx]

ok i have a gift card for summit($150) and im looking for stuff to buy and i ran into these teraflex revolver shackles, they are only made for jeeps, but which jeep model shackles would fit a explorer the best? cj7or cherokee?

these seem like a good simple way to improve rear flex

 

[ExplorerDMB]

I don't think your suppose to use these on the road though, but I may be wrong. On fitment though, I would guess Cherokee would be the closest fit.

-Drew

 

[supergildo]

Xj. have the same width leaf springs I beleive.

i wouldnt get them though. they are pretty unstable in off-camber situations...

 

[Rick]

And they can unload going down steep hills which will take all the weight off your rear end at the worse possible time.

 

[RockRanger]

Closest match would probably be a Yj one. They use 2.5" wide springs but im not sure how close they would be to proper width at the frame end. I wouldnt run them eather. A good set of spings will get you better "usable" travel

 

[95offroadx]

im kinda confused, i dont see how they would be unstable down a hill, wouldnt they be just like having really flexy leaf springs? i see what your talkin about, i just dont understand

 

[Rick]

They open up and allow the rear end to pull away from the axle. Some guys use a winch to keep the body pulled down tight so it doesn't unload. If you did that there wouldn't be a problem. Without doing that you make an inherent problem worse.

 

[Rick]

Do a search for revolver shackles on POR there has been a lot of discussion about them over there.

 

[Stic-o]

im kinda confused, i dont see how they would be unstable down a hill, wouldnt they be just like having really flexy leaf springs? i see what your talkin about, i just dont understand

Ok imagine, you start to go down a real steep hill, and the revolvers are still in there normal position. then you roll over a rock , and the revolver start to do there thing, now the rear of the truck just came up 2" inchs and there is a suden weight transfer or the truck(same as slamming on the brakes), while your going down this real steep hill. now your rear end is coming over the top of you, your seeing the ground, and then where you just were, and the roof is now caving in. At this point your thinking, maybe this wasn't such a good idea

with out them, they may not flex enough (mine flex's plenty ) but going down that real steep hill, the weight is already tranfered as you go down the hill.

I'd pass on them

 

[95offroadx]

ok i see what you guys mean now, after doing alot of seaching in 10 mins lol thanks for the heads up

 

[RockRanger]

When you get ready to go down something steep they will cause the body to fall away from the hill more and make it feel like you will go over end over end. Picture droping off this hill and then having the back come farther over the top of you. Makes it that much harder to keep from rolling. Yes I drove off that and the from my understanding the grill kissed the ground as I was coming down. I wouldnt want it to unload much more then it already did or I would be putting a new cab on my truck.

 

[supergildo]

thats an awesome pic too...

 

[james t]

After wheeling with a guy who had them years ago, i saw they are useless. Everything Rick described and more. He made one trip on them and took them off. They make great flex and work awesome on the ramp. If you really plan on wheeling it dont get them.

 

[GJarrett]

Here's another place you wouldn't want them...

White Knuckle Hill, Moab

I used to want them too, and then figured out that though they would improve "flex", the flex would do little to no good on the trail. Think about it, one major reason you want flex is to keep all your tires on the ground for improved traction. But if the Revolvers are extending, that means there's no weight on them besides the partial weight of the wheel and tire dangling loose - not the greater weight of the vehicle pressing the tire down into the ground to gain a lot of traction - so the tire could still easily spin.

If you did want them, Matt was right - the closest match would be the YJ Revolvers since they have identical widths to an Explorer. However the Explorer weighs twice as much as a YJ and I strongly suspect that weight would destroy a set of Revolvers designed for a YJ in short order.