just thought i would share my lift shackle design and pictures of the finished product. the shackle is .25" thick and 2.5" longer than stock and gave me around 1.75" of lift on my ZR2.

 

Any pics of it installed on the truck?

 

not on hand. i just took it for an alignment so i should be able to get some up for tomorrow.

 

Yeah pics, and those look pretty good. I like em. I'm debating on store bought or having someone make me a set.

 

auto zone has some for 18 bucks but there is no piece across the middle so i took some angle iron and cut it to length and welded it in. works good for me and it was under 20 bucks.

on another note yours look awesome. very nice work!

 

Nice work, those look solid! I bought some for $45 like a chump because I don't have access to a welder rihgt now.

Was the install hard? I could barely shake those nuts and bolts loose with a 550ft-lb. impact so I figured I'd let the garage do it when they align my wheels...but they're saying that their manual says to bill for 2 hours. That means way too much $$ to pay someone else to do it. The way I see it, it is simply 4 bolts. Is it tough to line up the leaf springs with the shackle holes or something? Thanks!

 

depends if its two or four door. with my zr2 i had to drop the gas tank 3-4 inches to get the top bolts out. i think it ended up taking a few hours because we pretty much tried every other possible way without dropping the tank. it would be fastest if you picked up new bolts and just cut the old ones off with a grinder. mine were rusted, but not too too bad. i always try to break my bolts loose with a breaker bar and snipe before i use the impact on them. once the bolts are out its like a 15 min job. but if you have a four door, just go for it, shouldnt take long. sorry about still not having pictures. ive been busy with final exams this week and havent been able to remember.

also, i know they can be found for pretty cheap. but i wanted to build my own design because then i know they are strong enough and will handle the abuse, and they can be as long as i wanted. i took the truck wheelin on the weekend and i had it flexed so much that the driver front and passenger rear wheels were off the ground. the shackles held up strong. no flex marks or chips in the powdercoating. im happy with them so far.

 

I have a 4door and did some prelim work on them yesterday. I was able to pull the two upper bolts out no prob, so I greased them up so I can get em out in a jiffy next time. The two lower bolts are seized to hell, despite all of the penterating lube and the impact wrench and breaker bar I had.
For those 2, I'm going to cut 'em with a hacksaw or sawzall and put new ones in. I think my old shackles are bent because they're all rusted and chipped (so they're weak) and one rear wheel sticks out further from the wheel well about 0.75" further on one side than the other.

 

fiiiiiinally got some pics... but in the rain. and my passenger rear tire is sitting on the curb so the rear wheel gap looks a like its not lifted at all. but when its on flat ground its just as high as the front.
before pic:

crappy after pic:






ive put the truck through quite a bit of abuse with the lift shackles, ive flexed it out quite a bit. so i just thought i would throw in a few pics of that...











got high centered, had to get my buddy and his pathfinder to pull me down:




about to pull out a buddies blazer...

 

Nice, and those pics look like fun!

Do you or anyone else happen to know the size of the lower bolts that hold the shackles to the leaf spring? I'd guess something like 0.5"x4.5" and no idea on thread, maybe 20 or 24tpi.

That would be helpful as I'm planning on finishing my shackle lift today, and will probably cut the existing ones off and then knock out the bolt shafts that are stuck in the leaf bushing. Having one car, it would be good if I could buy the new ones in advance. Thanks!!