Uh oh... bent and twisted metal
 

I'll snap a picture as soon as I can, but heres the situation -

I crawled under my truck today to investigate a metal groaning sound I've been hearing off and on. I noticed the back half of my front passenger side leaf springs were twisted, and the shackle is bent outwards towards the side of the truck. The inside shackle is hitting the frame and is most likely the source of the noise I was hearing. I'm guessing this isn't a good thing...:td:

Check your track bar and track bar drop bracket...

Here are some photos

and a couple more

one last phot of the passenger side

Here are some comparison photos of the drivers side

Looks like the spring is bent too. As I said before, check your Track bar drop bracket.

I looked it over and I don't see anything wrong with it or the brackets. I also have no idea what I'm looking for either, so I bet that doesn't help. Nothing looks bent or out of place though. It is kind of dark out so I'll give it a look in the daylight tomorrow. Here are some photos, maybe you can help spot issues that I'm not catching:

Nothing in those pictures looks out of place...

I dont like how they have the track bar attached to the top of the spring pack, but with that much lift I dont know where else you could mount it.

What do you use the truck for?

I use it for daily driving to and from work. It also serves as the school bus for my three kids, and grocery getter when the wife says it's shopping time. Aside from that, it gets abused by me and my friends when I find the random object to run over, hill to climb, and river to forge. I don't use it for any real off roading - I know it's way to impractical for that - but here in Texas, it's easy to find many non paved areas to play around in.

Put simply, it's my daily driver that substitutes as my toy when I'm feeling wiley.

I found some beefy looking replacements online, I'm going to order them up and see if I can get this fixed.

Again... Shackles are not the only thing wrong there... spring looks bent too.

I completely agree with you on that, especially after looking over the truck again. I'm going to go ahead with the shackles first, and once I have them off the truck I'll try to assess any further areas that need to be addressed.

Knowing my luck, the springs will need to be reworked or replaced, but between now and then I'll keep my fingers crossed the bent shackle is holding the spring in that funny position.

I'm willing to bet you know something I don't... :humm:

Have you had that thing airborne ? I can see what looks like witness marks on frame rail where the shackle came up and touched it

You would be correct about the shackles smacking the frame rails. I've been known to be rough on my vehicles in the persuit of big grins. As for having it airborne?... I plead the 5th. :w2:

I purchased a new set of 2" lift shackles that are insanely beefy. I should have them on sometime next week and I'll take some pics of the new vs. the old.

I can't imagine going taller than you are now... What are you going to do in the back ?....to level it back up ?

What's that saying about guys with lifted trucks? The bigger the truck, the smaller the ... wallet? I'm sure it goes something like that, right? :humm:

I'm just going to leave the back end where it's at and let the front ride up a little. I've always been a sucker for that look when done right. I'm pretty sure I've decided to let a local shop do this for me. I gave my last jack away when it started having leaking seals and weight holding issues plus I don't have enough wood to crib it up if I wanted. To go buy a new jack and a small stack of wood probably costs about the same as sitting at home with the A/C on and sipping some iced tea while someone else sweats and gets dirty. I must be getting old - I used to really love turning wrenches.

I'm lifted.....just not that high.....
Iced tea huh ?.....WTF....where's the beer ?? :tttt::c:

i agree the higher the better!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ive got a 2000 f350 7.3(535 hp) 40inch pitbulls,15plus inches of lift fox duel shocks fabtec ect... im wanting to go to 44 inch tires next summer which means..............MORE LIFT!!!!!!!! you do what you feel is right and lift that baby!!!! as for taking it to a shop.......... come on thats part of the rewards of driving your rig is knowing(or bragging)about doing it yourself! im 46 and disabled(lower back fused from my ribs all the way to my tail bone)and still do all the work i can. so if you can handal it then DO IT! by the way your truck looks great!

Hahaha... I'm getting rusted pipes. I promise I drink my fair share of the lords blessing when the buddies are over so don't go thinking I'm a wussy. :c:

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Sounds like you've got a beast! Where are the pictures at?? My father taught me to do things yourself to get them done right. I've lived by that rule for many many years. I agree with you on the satisfaction of doing the work on your own too. Promise you, I'm no pansy with the tools. I've rebuilt a 1964, 1965 and three 1966 bugs from the ground up. Out in my driveway I'm working on a 4th right now. I've swapped motors and transmissions into cars they never should have been in, and handfuls of motor pulls/rebuilds/swaps for freinds with busted trucks and cars. Lots of lowering, lifting and suspension work under the belt, turbo charged N/A cars etc. I still think I'll pass on this one job. :tu:

Huge kudos to you for overcomming your injuries and keeping greasy! Not many fellas like you left out there, that's for sure. You keep doing what you're doing buddy!

I am tryn to figure out how to post pics i put one up i will try again. Once again nice truck!! I will try again to put up sum pics. Its been in two magizines has chip foose paint job(the guy i bought the truck from said he dropped over a hundred grand into it and thats why i bought it! Keep on wheeling amd dont let anyone convense you to do your truck any differnt than you want it cuz i think its bad ass!

So the new shackles are on and I'm very pleased with the outcome.





Not so pleased that my front drive shaft needs to be extended :argh: I should have it back and installed by tomorrow.