2wd rear suspension experts needed............& velvet ride shackle impact advice
 

OK, here's the deal, I took out my velvet ride shackles when I installed the Caltracs. Now I really miss the smooth ride I used to have when they were installed. :(

The reason I took them out was because I wanted to take any chance of wheel hop out of my rear suspension setup, well, I know I don't get wheel hop and my rear axle doesn't twist anymore, but, I'm not sure I needed to take them out, and I'd like to re-install them if I can..........

I need your advice :)

heres a stock shackle:

http://www.drivetrain.com/vr1.jpeg


heres a velvet ride:


http://www.drivetrain.com/vr2.jpeg

you can put them back in.

axle wrap and wheel hop are issues with the front of the spring pack. since you have that covered with the Caltracs, you are good to go.

OR, you could sell em to me. You're the one that got me on the idea of those, and now I can't get em. Summit keeps pushing bach their ship date, they must not be back in production, yet.

You could sell them to me. :D

The front part of the spring is mainly used for axle location, while the rear is used for suspension. If you look at springs, the rear portion is usually longer for that effect. With axle hop or wrap, the front part of the spring will deform. Caltracs fix that.

My hudson has so much torque and the springs are so soft that the driveshaft will contact the rear floorplan under hard acceleration. I need slapper bars badly.

On a side note I have one more day left of my MSF license course. I got to rock a honda nighthawk 250 today. Not quite like dad's busa. :jest:

Tell ya what, I'll trade ya a nice big pillow to put under your butt for them. :jest:

4 Link it all ready you cheap skate. :)

I'm broke! :bang:

I was paying bills off the other day and got carried away :(

I would also say that you could put them back in. The Calvert Racing bars work by using the torque force of the axle to apply opposite twist on the spring near the forward perch. The back one is just along for the ride. I think you will notice with the Velvet Ride shackles reinstalled with the Cal Trac bars, the rear will tend to lift a bit when you really get on the throttle. Glad you've got something. Leaf springs under serious torque without the aide of some type of axle-mounted device is pure torture on them.

One thing I would suggest checking is the amount of play in the driveshaft. Try to judge how far the slipyoke is plunging into the tailshaft housing when you launch. You should be able to tell from where the clean part ends and the undisturbed dirt begins. The thing to look for is that the slip yoke is not bottoming out which would be putting thrust loads on to the transfer case. This geometry has probably now changed (for the better) with the CalTrac bars, maybe you could mark the slipyoke somehow.

I don't know if you've seen this, but here's my Hoe (half-ton leafs vs. your 2500 leafs) on a launch with no bars:
http://bertok.us/pics/launch2.mpg
The reason it moves that much is because the splined driveshaft I have lets it without bottoming out. You don't want to push the truck foward with the tailshaft!

I really have no love for leaf springs.... I just deal with them.

Try using a zip tie around the yoke to measure travel.

ive never heard of these . are they a 2 inch lowering shackle and a smoother ride . doe sit help launching with more weight transfer to the rear ?