shackles vs. add-a-leafs

[NedFlanders]

Hi you guys!

I've tried searching for this for a while, without any luck finding any good answers. I've desided to lift my '96XLT with the torsiontwist in the front. I'm just wondering what to do in the rear.
Preferrably I would like an add-a-leaf set, since I think that looks better than the scackles. I just wonder if I loose a lot of travel/flex since the susp. will be stiffer/firmer both in front and rear. Have anyone tried both leafs and shackles and compared? Is the truck heavy enough to still flex all the way(like when I drive one of my frontwheels up a ramp, the wheels(255/70-16) don't start lifting from the ground before they rub slightly inside the wheelwells). Since I just have the limited slip in the rear I would really like to keep all wheels on the ground as much time as possible..

 

[Robert]

I found that the easiest way to keep my wheels on the ground was by disconnecting my front sway bar when on the trail. It allows the front wheel to go up by itself without taking the whole vehicle with it and lifting a rear tire. I was amazed at what a difference it made. I haven't tried add-a-leafs since mine is a mono-leaf sport so I can't answer that question.

 

[Jefe]

Hi,
I'd suggest just the shackle with the TT. The shackles seem to give just enough lift in the rear to balance out the front.
I have both the add-a-leaf and shackle set up. I did it for that extra 1/2" of lift. I don't know about flex, since I never took my truck off-road much until it was raised. However I would not suggest the Pro-comp add-a-leaf. It is very short leaf and so my springs are already S shaped after only 6 months.

 

[soupbone]

I think the shackles would be easier to install.

Robert... is it hard to disconnect and then reconnect the front sway bar after the trails? Im going to scrap the mono leaf and put in a leaf pack from a 4dr i just got used. But alot of folks say trail performance is much better with the sways disconnected.

 

[Robert]

The front one is very easy to disconnect. Do it at home first in ase the bolt is rusted. Here in Phoenix rust isn't a problem though. I have only disconnected the front but the rear should be just as easy. It only takes a wrench on the top of the bolt and a socket on the bottom. Remove the nut from the bottom of both links and pull it out. Leave the bar where it is. My bushings are tight enough to keep my sway bar in place. It takes about 5 minutes to remove both bolts. I usually break them free at home so they aren't real tight when I am laying in the dirt to remove them. I have on occasion removed the links at home and just driven it that way to the trail if it wasn't very far. I don't like the floaty feeling on the highway though. Off-road it feels completely different. By allowing the front tire to go down into holes farther, the rear tires don't lift nearly as often.

 

[NedFlanders]

My truck actually didn't have the swaybar-link on the leftside when I got it.. I didn't realize before I saw the holes and wondered what might actually fit in there. I figured out it had to be some konnection between the swaybar and the wheels, so I called Ford, and they actually squeesed me in after just a couple of days and fixed it for free. And what a difference! I belived it leaned so much in tight turns because it was a big and heavy amtruck(you always see amcars do that in films)...
Anyway. I don't notice very much difference during offroading, except the truck kinda swayed like crazy from side to side, but I guess that will change when i lift it and the susp gets stiffer..

Anyway.. thanks for the answers, guys! Guess the swayb.disc. is a good idea. Anyone knows how to disconnect the rear one?

But I would still like to hear from someone who's tried both leafs and shackles.. The leaf I'm thinking of is a full lenght one, that would rise the truck abt 2-2.5 inces..Not sure abt. the brand though.. The Pro-comp is the one that's just half the length, right?

 

[soupbone]

Hrmm seems easy to take off. So is its easy to put back on? Anyways I think I will try this tomorrow morning just to see myself.

THanks