Autozone Shackles

[cybergasm]

I have been running these same shackles for last month or so. I like them
have 3 wheelin' trips on em so far and no issues at all.

BTW Hartman what size tube did you use to form the center section?

 

[stev0n]

what exactly do you ask them for at autozone?

e.g. "I need some leaf spring shackles." or "Hey, I need the lift shackles for the ford explorer leaf springs."

thanks guys & hartman, i too want to know what size tubing you used.

EDIT: is this them? http://www.autozone.com/R,NONAPP1981/store,56/shopping/accessoryProductDetail.htm

 

[mltsaccord]

i also just bought the autozone shackles and have had no probs, but i dont go off roading much, more of a daily driver but there nice! i dont think i would go balls out 4x4 on them tho, there pretty thin

 

[tx_rooney]

No problems

Installed the AZ shackles Friday and drove almost 600 miles the next day; nice ride and gained about 1 and 1/2 inches. The passenger side bolt was a monster to remove; finally cut off both ends, slammed it and the metal part of the bushing out with a sledgehammer, then removed the bolt. Driver's side was done in less than 20 minutes? Thanks to all of the folks that posted info, it is greatly appreciated. The AZ will be fine for me, the only off-roading I do is our 400' gravel driveway several times a day.

 

[eXcali]

I am using the autozone set as well. They run about 5.5 mm or 5/16" thick, the stock ford shackles are about 1/8" thick so they are by far better than stock. Also the use of a cross beam in the middle is debated, off-roaders of other vehicle models swear by no cross member because it allows the spring to flex with less stress.

 

[red101]

Auto Zone Shackles

I have put them on my explorer. No problems. I was also aprehensive so I went to the steel fabricating shop down the street and spoke with the superintendent and he said that the autozone shackles are more than adequite given that they are heat tempered, zinc coated etc. In any event he said he would GIVE me the metal to do it but that I did not need to. So far he is right.

 

[cybergasm]

Well i had a small issue finally with the AutoZone Shackles

One of the bolts broke and i was'nt even wheelin'. Was driving down the road going over to the Zukman Residence while heading over there i changed lanes after i did i heard a loud POP but did'nt think nothing of it since i was next to a Pepsi Beverage truck and thought it his truck that made the noise.

Explorer continued to drive normally so i forgot about it.

to make a long story short the next morning i was outside looking at the back of the X and saw the driver side shackle was askew look under there and saw the broken bolt hanging half was out of the shackle

so some might wanna consider upgrading the bolts to better quality bolts than what comes with the kit.

 

[patrick112390]

go grade 8 or go home-warrior FTW lol

 

[IZwack]

They run about 5.5 mm or 5/16" thick, the stock ford shackles are about 1/8" thick so they are by far better than stock. Also the use of a cross beam in the middle is debated, off-roaders of other vehicle models swear by no cross member because it allows the spring to flex with less stress.

By itself, Id say the AZ shackles are probably not better than stock because, w/o the the center piece linking both sides, the AZ shackle has nothing to stop it from flopping sideways (laterally). Like for example, if the rear axle was hit by another car from the side at 30 mph, the AZ shackles will lean/bend sideways where as the stock shackles would probably will not. My friend ran a copy of the AZ shackles for a few months on his Blazer and it eventually started leaning to one side. Remember that these shackles are acting pretty much as the panhard (or "track") bar - so there is quite a bit of lateral force on them especially on off camber trails.

Desert guys run unlinked shackles (that is, w/o a center piece) but each one has a section of tubing welded to the side to prevent them from flopping sideways (see attached image).

 

[crazyflights]

I used Autozones for awhile on an explorer I had, didnt have any problems, but they are cheap that was only reason, I now am going to use the Warriors, but strength for llittle more expensive is worth it to me.