Product Review: Offroad Design Shackles - Trucks 4x4 @ Off-Road.com
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Product Review: Offroad Design Shackles
Publish date: Feb 1, 2000
By:  Shawn Spickler
Source: Chevy at Off-Road.com
When looking at 69-87 Chevy/GMC (69-91 Blazer) front spring shackles, one word comes to your mind….. WIMPY! The flimsy front shackles are just crying to be upgraded. The stock shackle bolts are also small in diameter and it's amazing that they can even support a full-size truck. Besides being inadequate, the stock shackles have problems with taller springs. The springs tend hit the frame when compressed. This will limit the flex of the front springs. You'll also find that the stock shackles tend to twist a little when the truck is at full articulation. The twisting might be better for off-road but this could cause the shackles to eventually break. When you add larger tires, you're asking too much out of your stockers.

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The stock shackles.
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Luckily, Offroad Design has a fix for this. They carry heavy duty zinc plated shackles which are easy to install. Offroad Design's shackles are 1/2 inch longer which keeps the springs from hitting the frame. This will raise your rig 1/4 of an inch which only increases your castor by 1 degree. They are 3/8 inch thick (stock is 1/8") which will keep them from twisting on the trail. The bolts that come with these shackles are 1/2 inch in diameter which is a big improvement over the stock bolts. The bolts come rifle drilled plus the sleeves are drilled so you can easily lube the bushings. This upgrade doesn't hurt the wallet either. It seemed like a great mod so we called Offroad Design and ordered a set for our project Blazer.

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The kit comes with shackles, larger rifled drilled bolts, sleeves, and poly bushings.
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Installation: Installation starts by jacking up the front high enough so that the frame can rest on a jack stand. Remove the front tires so that the axle can be dropped low enough to take the tension of the shackle bolts. You might have to raise and lower the jack to get that perfect spot where you can remove the lower bolt. After the lower bolt is removed, the top bolt can then be removed along with the stock shackle plates. You will also need to remove and replace the bushings in the springs since the newer bushings have a larger hole for the 1/2 inch bolts. The bushings that come with this kit are fluted which help lubricate. Be careful not to damage the sleeve. A plastic headed hammer or a rubber mallet is recommended. The new shackles can then be installed. Again, you might have to play with the jack to get the bolt through the hole. Offroad Design recommends tightening to 45 ft lbs. At the same time, we elected to replace the bushings and bolts at the front spring hanger (near the front bumper) with a greasable set from Offroad Design. This comes with the rifle drilled bolt, drilled sleeve and new poly bushings. This makes it nice each time you lube your truck and you know the bushings are getting the proper amount of grease.

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We also upgraded the front bushing bolt to a greasable.
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When driving with the taller front shackles, you may notice a difference. Steering and handling seemed improved on our Blazer. If you're replacing old bushings, you will notice a big difference since the old bushings are just shot and new poly bushings are even better for control. If all the parts are worn out, like the bolts and shackles, you can get a lot of play which can cause some strange things to happen. Also, the extra 1 degree of castor can make a difference. Usually it's a combination of effects. The extra strength of the HD shackles will be appreciated when some difficult trails are encountered. Your bushings will also thank you each time you lube them! This small upgrade is definitely worth it. Note: At the time the front shackle kit was purchased, we had ordered bushings for Skyjacker springs (black bushings). Before this kit was installed, we had switched from Skyjacker to BDS springs which meant the bushings were a different size. Since new bushings came with BDS springs (blue bushings), we decided to use those. The inner diameters were the same but the BDS bushings did not have flutes for the grease to pass through. Small channels were cut in the BDS bushings for proper lubrication. Part #: GU37010 (non-greasable)
Part #: GU37011 (greasable, shown)
Application: ’69 to ‘87(to ’91 for blazer/sub) GM
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1314 County Road 110, #2
Glenwood Springs, CO 81601
(970) 945-7777
tech@offroaddesign.com
www.offroaddesign.com
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Source: Chevy at Off-Road.com, 2/1/2000
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