cheap auto-zone shackles????

[EBexplorer]

My friend gave me some shackles from auto zone, all they look like are long pieces of metal with holes in them, these probley not as good as the warrior shackles but do you think they are ok to put on??? Since they were free and all??
thanks

 

[Robert]

Brass colored, 3 holes in one end, one hole in the other, about 10" long, cost about $11? If so then I have been running them for over a year without any problems. I do accelerate agressively and to get off into the rocks once and a while. They've held up fine. I did paint them black though, the brass looked very ugly.

 

[EBexplorer]

ya those are the one's, how high did it raise your explorer, about 1-2 inches? They don't stick down and look like "fangs" do they? thanks

 

[Robert]

They brought up the back about 2", however my back was sagging pretty badly to begin with. I figure I am probably about 1"-1.5" higher than stock. They don't look bad when they are painted black, however you will see them. With the stock shackels I could just barely see the end of the leaf when standing behind. Now you can clearly see about 3" of the shackel and the end of the leaf. The three holes give you a choice of three different heights to choose from. The shortest setting is the same length as my stock shackels were, the second hole brought it up about an inch, the farthest holes brought it up about 2". As long as you use the farthest spaced holes, it shouldn't look like fangs.

 

[Clint]

i have seen roberts truck and it looks fine yeah u can see them but it doesn't look crapy

 

[914x4sport]

so are you guys saying you actually replaced your stock shackles with those little things? And they havent broken or bent to the side at all?

 

[Robert]

Yes I have them on and no they haven't bent or broken. I tend to accelerate rather aggresively and will take my Explorer through anything she'll clear. The Autozone shackels are a lot thicker than the stock ones, however they aren't connected by a cross brace like the stock ones are. I frequently take my Exlorer out into the Arizona deserts. It has seen everything from rocks and sand to snow and ice. I've never had a problem with them. And, at $11 the only problem would be the inconvenience of breaking down if they do break.

 

[914x4sport]

Hmmm...interesting...*rubbing chin with interest*

 

[Yomie]

I also have the same $11 shackles on my truck, and also no problems! They brought the back of my '97 sport up just over 2 inches.

 

[2Fast4U]

I also have Autozone shackles on my truck. Although, I did weld a plate connecting them to add a liitle strength. On for about 1 year now and never have had a problem!

 

[bluethunder]

heres what i did

this is what i did with my $11 pep boys shackles, they are the same thing as the auto zone ones or wherever you got em....i took the extended shackles and bolted them to the outside of the stock shackle, so the stock shackle forms a cross memeber for more stability. then i have one bolt through the top hole of both shackles, a second bolt through the first hole in the extended shackle and the only other hole in the stock shackle and a third bolt that holds the spring in the very bottom hole on the extended shackle. this set up has worked very well for me, if you have any questions about it feel free to ask.
-jonathan

 

[4U2NV]

I am running the "Vatozone" shackles and have had no problems... i bought them as a weekend project to see how my X would look... If i liked it i was going to order the warriors but never did these seem to work fine.... I am intrested in what bluethunder did maybe you could post pics

 

[bluethunder]

i would love to post some pics about my setup, unfortunately i dont have any way to get pics onto my computer....hmmmmm...ill check to see if anybody i know has a digital camera that i might could use.
-jonathan

 

[95eXplorerXLT]

im interested very much in lifting my 95....u said u get these from autozone or pep boys....humm...interesting...what do i need to ask for when i go in there???

 

[Yomie]

In auto zone, they are nomally located in the back of the store where they have the bumper balls (hitches), and draw tite's (shure pulls), and lowering/lift blocks. It is in a black and purple box (identical to the lowering/lift blocks)and it is called something like a Universal shackle lift. If you don't see them, you could always ask someone at the desk-

 

[Yomie]

OK guy's as you know because of this thread, I have been using the Auto-Zone shackles on my explorer with absolutely no problems whatsoever! Well my Warriors came in yesterday, but i havn't picked them up yet. My question is.........Which one of the shackles are longer? I know that the Warriors are much much stronger, and may look a lil better, but are they longer also? If anyone has seen the two shackles or has compared them before, please let me know! Thanks

 

[Yomie]

ok guy's i felt like a little kid at Christmas knowing these were here, but i didn't have em yet, so i took a lil time off work(Shhhh, don't tell the Army) to pick them up, i haven't put them on yet, but held them up to the cheap ones. The Warriors are ~.5 inches longer that the Auto Zone's, so of course i will be putting them on this afternoon, plus they look much much more stronger and beefier! Now the only thing i gotta worry about is the Lock-Tite on the bolts that are on the Auto-Zones (didn't want the bolts to fall off)

 

[LoneStarExp]

I am also considering purchasing some shackles for my 95 Explorer Eddie Bauer. I was just wondering about the difficulty of instillation and the amount of time it should take?

 

[LoneStarExp]

I was also wondering if anyone had any pics of their mounted shackels??

 

[Maniak]

shackle length

The WAR153 shackles are 8.5" long from bolt to bolt.. stock shackles should have been 5.5" bolt to bolt.. that should give you a way to compare the ones you have now with the WAR153.