Hey guys, I'm trying to get the rear of this 02HD to sit better with a set of drop shackles from Belltech. I'm wondering if anyone is getting any kind of shudder or vibration during acceleration or braking from the pinion angle change. I thought I felt some funny sensation under braking. I'm just trying to figure out if its common, or is it just me.
BTY--what's the foglight mod that everyone is doing?---I'm new to this truck. Just sold my 99 SuperDuty diesel and picked up this sweet 02 supercharged HD. I'm trying to brush-up on all the cool mods. Your help/recommendations are greatly appreciated.

 

Do you have the shackles yet? Your sig states "Stock - for now." I have the Belltech 2" drop shackels and haven't noticed anything strange. Though, I only drive the truck about once a week. I can't notice anything but that darn LOUD brake squeeking everytime I hit the brakes. They are relatively brake dust free, but are loud as hell. My 530i is quiet and brakes like a dream, but the wheel are covered in brake dust after about 100 miles. It's embarrassing to have a $38K truck that squeels like a banshee.

Let me know if you have height variations in the left and right heights with the shackles. Mine is consistently 1/4" lower on the left side - full tank of gas or not. It was 1/2", but the thing leveled off a bit after I installed the Helwig anti-sway.

From one of my previous posts:
I used superglue to reassemble the lightswitch module and didn't wait for it to fully dry. The next morning, I awoke to a white haze around the switch assembly. Came off with dash cleaner, but had to take out the assembly again to get in behind it.

Edited for spelling corrections.

 

I installed the drop shackles at about 200 miles and I havent felt any shudder or vibration. I've got 700-800 miles on her now.

The only thing I can think of, is if you loosened the C-clamps and didnt get the tit on the axle to seat back in the springs right.

 

I put them in then took them off, after I felt the slight vibration. I only took off the shackles, didn't loosen the diff from the spring perches. But I did notice in my before and after measurements that my rig is about 3/8" lower on the left side; and it stayed that way even after I tried the shackles.
Thanks for the 411 on the foglight mod too!

 

powerfind and others... did you shim your shackles? I think it comes with 3 degree shims standard. A couple of people i have talked to added another degree to that making for a total of 4.

Neither of them have experienced any shudder...

Ken

 

My kit did not come with any shims. Only two drop shackles.

As for the rear height variance, I took before and after measurements (as the instructions stated) and the before results were both 20". Immediately after the install of the shackles, without moving the vehicle an inch, the results were left-18.5" and right-18". After the Helwig (presumably), the left is now 18.25" and right still 18". (All measurements are from the bottom of the fender flare to the center of the rim.

 

Well I thought just once I can do a mod to my truck that wont cause any problems. Wrong!!! I too installes the Belltech shacles today and have a shudder on take off and low speed braking. Can anyone confirm that it requires a 3 degree spring shim. I just happen to have a set. Thanks for the help!!!

 

Guys, it may take some playing with to get it right. Since some of the response on here is by Harley S-crew owners, and some are not, there may be a difference.

I don't know about the standard S-crew, but the 02 Harley uses a 1" lower spring, and it has a shim already. It have no idea what degree it is, but it's not much.

Shackles "normally" don't require a shim. My 02 Harley did not shudder after I put the shackle on. Today I added the spring hanger, and the larger shim that came with it.

At first I tried it with the shackle and hanger at the lowest setting. The shocks bottomed out, but it didn't seem to shudder. Unfortunatly, it was lower in the rear, than the front, so we raised it up a notch on the shackle. It doesn't bottom out as bad, but it does shudder.

We didn't install the camber kit yet, so when we do that, I will have to try another shim. I guess nothing is "bolt on" , but it sure looks better now...