I just installed Belltech 2" lowering shackles in my 04 2wd scab. As I was installing them it didn't seem like there was enough clearance between the top of the shackle and a lip on the bottom of the bed where panels were welded together. I called Belltech to be sure I had the right kit and was told that they knew about this and I needed to either cut off the lip or bend it to one side. I wasn' about to cut so I bent it and slowly lowered the truck with no problems. I've done a search on drop shackles and haven't seen this mentioned anywhere. Has anyone else seen this?

Besides having to bend sheet metal, which pi**ed me off, I have the 20-30 mph vibe, so I will be installing 2 deg shims that Belltech also told me I would need.

If I had to do this over again I would go with Groundforce or another shackle that comes with shims and make sure they will fit without cutting or bending.

On a positive note the truck looks and drives great with the 2" drop.

 

I used DJM and had no clearance problems at all. I didn’t need pinion shims either.

 

jr105 ... got any pictures of the new stance ?? I've been thinking about dropping mine once I get my new shoes put on (DBL G 606 20's w/ 285/50's) ... the Groundforce kit looks like it's the best thing out there ... i'll continue to watch .. maybe the price will go down on it soon ..

 

I just finished installing my Groundforce shackles an hour ago. Very high quality product.

The shackles are quick and easy, It's the shims that take a little time but I figured it was worth it after reading all I could here......

Looks and drives sooooo much better! Highly recommended.

By the way, the Groundforce instructions do say that the lip MAY have to be bent over to provide clearance.

 

i have the groundforce shackles, and there was a note in the directions that said there may be clearance issues, but i didnt have any. came with the shims too, couldnt be happier

 

I think ALL the 2.0" lowering shackles require some bending or trimming. I just trimmed a small portion and it works fine.



Kevin

 

Ok. Where can I get a set of the GroundForce shackles and shims?

They have a 800 number?

 

i think truckperformance.com has them for a good price, i just got mine through the dealership at the same price, sans shipping

 

Thanks for the responses. I don't feel so bad about bending the sheet metal.

jmsavoy I don't have any pix yet. I have a black truck and anything that stops moving gets covered with pine pollen here this time of year, so I haven't bothered to take any. If I can get it clean this weekend for a few minutes I'll try to post some pix. If you search drop shackles there are a bunch of pictures around.

John Seavey

 

One more question. What material are the pinion angle shims made from? In trying to find shims I was told by both Belltech and DJM that they don't make 2 pin shims for the new 150s. They said I should buy their 1 pin shim and modify them to fit. If I have to do that I can make my own. I have access to a machine shop.

 

i would contact ground force and see if you can get them from them. my shackles came with shims made for our trucks, one hole and one slot, makes it easier to install, with no modifying. they dont have a part number just for the shims, but it cant hurt to call or email them and see if they can be gotten without the shackles. unless you dont have the shackles yet, then just the ground force ones from the beginning

 

I didn't need to do any bending or trimming to make my 2" DJMs fit, and if I bought a set of shackles that said I needed to, I'd get my money back. I also had a low speed driveline vibration after the 2" drop; I've since raised it up to the 1-1/2" hole and the vibration is gone. I'll get the shims someday, since the truck looked perfect with the 2" drop, it's still got a slight rake at 1-1/2".

 

Where do these "shims" go? I'm going to buy some 2" DJM lowering shackles from Stylin' Concepts. Do these shims go behind the driveline where it connects to the pinion gear?

 

the shims go under the leaf spring on top of the axle, they are use to rotate the WHOLE axle back to its correct position

 

Are the shims steel or aluminum? On DJM's website they look like they are alum.