Lift Shackles

[duncanstives]

All... Recently came into possession of a SUPER nice gold Explorer 4x4 with all the options that was practically mint so I did the only logical thing and took it to Rush offroad here in KY and gave it an epic beatdown... I was so pleased with how well it did I have decided to build it a bit. I bought a set of 31s and I am getting ready to do the front torsion twist and rear shackles... I know this has been covered 1000s of times here and I see reference to some cheap autozone shackles and some "warrior" shackles... One thing I have never seen is the actual part numbers for either of these parts so I know what to order.
Anyone have one or both of those part numbers?

Thanks.

 

[Rhett]

Warrior 153 shackles.

 

[duncanstives]

Thanks. I'll get a set on order tonight. Looks like Amazon has them.

 

[WormsExplorer]

Have any pictures of your great find?

 

[duncanstives]

Strangely don't seem to have any detailed ones when it was totally pristine but got a few shots of it in the woods (some are from Daniel Boone National forest from a couple weekends before we took it to Rush).

Poser shot beside Horse Lick Creek in Jackson County, KY (Daniel Boon National Forest in Southeast KY). The red truck with the bike is also ours.

 

[duncanstives]

Same location. Part of the Sheltowee Trace trail which is open to motor vehicles.

 

[duncanstives]

A creek crossing on the way out.

 

[duncanstives]

Parking lot of Rush Offroad (blue truck is a company vehicle we were using).

 

[duncanstives]

My wife Dinah on the bike at Rush... We took turns all day between the KX250 and the Explorer (it was in the high 90s both days so after a couple hours of riding the AC was a welcome relief)

 

[duncanstives]

I was surprised how well the Explorer did. I used to be into rock crawling before switching to bikes and obviously thing is on street tires, is at stock height and has no lockers so its not doing anything really insane but what amazed me was the ability to overcome lack of clearance and traction with momentum and hold together time after time. Two days of running hard all day in blistering heat on Rush's 2nd highest category of trail did not phase the Explorer... That's not to say there were not occasional difficulties as you can see here.

 

[duncanstives]

Eventually all that fun caught up with us. An attempt to back down from a failed hill climb caused the exhaust to dig in, fold around and impale the tire through the back and out the front. Worse still the spare failed in a bad rut shortly into our trip back toward the parking lot (now on the far side of the park)... We drove the explorer roughly 6 miles on a steel rim to the nearest unofficial entrance. From there we rode double on the bike to the parking lot where the other truck was parked. Fortunately the buggy we were riding with part of the day had a brother who owned a junk yard. They made us a deal on a good wheel and tire and we made a few emergency adjustments to the exhaust and managed to roll into our hotel exhausted and covered in mud at about 12:30 at night.... Just in time as I had to be at the West Virginia Toyota plant for a project the next morning at 6:30. It was a long day but we has an AWESOME time.

Up next 31s, shackle/TT lift, steel bumpers front and rear, rear locker and front winch. Intention is to keep it kind of nice while giving it some real capability. No serious damage so far except that exhaust and the running boards are ruined but that was to be expected... Maybe I will build some rock sliders.

 

[WormsExplorer]

Not showing. ☹

 

[toypaseo]

Thanks. I'll get a set on order tonight. Looks like Amazon has them.

You might be able to find a lower price if you dig around online. Amazon is not the cheapest, but do your homework on any business before purchase...

 

[duncanstives]

Fixed pics... Should work now.

Found some knock offs of the warrior shackles on Amazon that appeared to be the exact same design, had excellent reviews and were made by a company I have purchased parts from before (European Motor Werks... They appear to just sell on Amazon and made the lug adapters I used to put super duty wheels on my 93 F350 which have held up very well). $38 for two shackles seemed like a pretty good price... I should have them in a few days and I will update with how they look.

 

[WormsExplorer]

Looks like you had some fun. Sounds like you might have limited slip rear diff.

 

[duncanstives]

I hope not... Need to put a locker in there.

If I do its garbage... It spins one rear wheel easily with no noticeable torque to the other. Can I tell from VIN without opening diff cover?

 

[WormsExplorer]

I hope not... Need to put a locker in there.

If I do its garbage... It spins one rear wheel easily with no noticeable torque to the other. Can I tell from VIN without opening diff cover?

Yes you can tell via your vin.

 

[Rockwood]

you can also tell by the axle code on the sticker inside the driver's door. It will have a letter and a number, such as D4, then compare it to the chart on this forum. it will tell you if you have a limited slip or open and what ratio the diff is.

 

[duncanstives]

Got it thanks. Turns out it's a 3.73 open diff... Almost perfect. They did make a 4.10 it looks like which would have been a little better with the larger tires but at least it's the 2nd highest ratio and open.