So a few months had passed and I was done with driving a stock Jeep; something had to change.  I had taken my stock Jeep offroad and had fun, but my tires were getting close to bald and I needed new ones.  I wanted bigger tires and they sure weren’t gonna fit on a stock Jeep. I was only 17 and my parents’ money had bought the Jeep, so I could only do what they allowed.  They were weary of me putting a big lift on because they were worried it would raise the CG and I would flip, so I had to find the best option without spending much money.  My dad didn’t like the idea of 33″ tires at all and I couldn’t sway him on 32s so the biggest I could go would be 31″ tires. I can’t remember what research I did because I hadn’t joined any forums yet, but I decided to go with a simple and cheap 1.25″ shackle lift – probably off of ebay (I think they may even have been advertised as 2″ but I can’t remember anymore). It would be enough lift that I figured I would be able to run 31s with no problem (more on that in another post).

Is a shackle lift for you?

Shackle lifts are appealing to a lot of new Jeepers because of their low price and ease of installation.  They come in 1/2″ lift all the way up to 1.25″ lift for YJs, and even 2.5″ lift for CJs from some manufacturers.  They also have lift shackles for XJs but Cherokees have coils in the front, so they’re only for the rear.  Longer lift shackles could be made custom, but I would highly recommend against doing that.  Lift height will also vary depending on the age, abuse, and overall quality of the spring you’re using them with.  What a shackle lift essentially does is extend the distance between the spring and the frame on one end of the spring.  Stock YJs have 4″ between shackle bolts, stock CJs have 3″ between bolts, and stock XJs have 3-1/16″ between bolts.  An extended shackle will add half as much lift as the difference in shackle lengths.  The distance between bolts on my lift shackles is 6.5″, therefore: 6.5″ – 4″ = 2.5″ and 2.5″ / 2 = 1.25″ of lift.

While shackle lifts are cheap, fast, and easy to install, they DO have some negative implications on the Jeep that a lot of people don’t think about when they first install them (I certainly didn’t back then).  In providing lift to the Jeep, the shackles rotate the axle slightly.  This can affect your driveshaft angle and, in the front, change your vehicle’s caster.  When I first did my shackle lift, I didn’t really notice any problems, but that’s not to say you won’t run into vibration or steering problems after installing the lift.  A lot of different factors come into play and a steering setup that is close to being a problem could be pushed into bad territory after a shackle lift.

Installation tips

Installing lift shackles is a pretty straightforward install; remove old shackles, install new shackles, and you’re done.  But just because it’s an easy install doesn’t mean it can’t be dangerous.  Anytime you’re working with leaf springs, you never know how much force they are just WAITING to exert.  So without proper safety, you can very seriously injure yourself.

When we installed the few sets of shackles among my group of friends, we used a basic hydraulic floor jack between the spring and the frame in order to remove the tension and get the bolts out.  In doing this, you have to be very careful that the jack is VERY secure in its placement both on the spring and on the frame.  My guess is that a small bottle jack might be a little easier to deal with, but it’s possible with any jack really.  Since the install is pretty quick, I don’t think it would be an issue, but I would recommend not taking any breaks when the jack is in place between the spring and frame and the bolts are removed.

One issue that you might run into when installing shackles on a late-model YJ is the gas tank.  I’m not sure if it’s every YJ or not, but on a 1992 that we installed shackles on, the bolts must have been installed in the factory before the gas tank was installed.  This meant that without removing the gas tank, there was no way that the shackle bolts were going to come out.  If your Jeep has the same problem, you have basically two options: remove the gas tank or cut the bolts.  So unless you already planned on dropping the gas tank for some reason (skid plate or something), I would suggest being ready to cut the bolts in half and install the new bolts from the outside direction.

I would also suggest that if you don’t want to spend the money on greaseable shackle bolts, to grease the bolt and bushings before reinstalling everything.  Definitely use nylon locking nuts and be careful on how tight you make everything.  If you compress the bushing too much, it won’t be allowed to pivot as easily when driving and you will end up with a very rough ride (well…  rougher than normal I guess).

So overall, the installation is pretty easy with a shackle lift and you can get some lift on your Jeep for pretty cheap usually.  Whether you are planning to run the shackles as your only lift or if you’re using them to add a little more height to a full suspension lift, keep in mind a few safety things and be sure to consider your driveline and steering.