Shackle Flip Kit - The Official Armor Tech Offroad Thread!

...And What is the real difference between the OME kit and the factory kit? Does the OME kit just simply sit further back? 'Cause I eventually wanna upgrade the factory springs...

Another note, What about the AllPro springs?

 

The OME springs are a little longer than stock so for the shackle flip they can't sit in the same spot.

 

You will see some gain but not much. You'll be totally fine with with the stock length 5100's - but they will now be your limiting factor.
Which shocks are you going with?

 

Just goin w the longer 5100's from wheelers. I wanna be like Craig

 

So I ordered these and I have the stage 4 Icon (05+ Taco) suspension that includes an add-a-leaf. Are the remote res. shocks in that kit sufficient to deal with the extra travel provided by this kit or do I need to ask Icon if they have something longer

 

I would install the flip, take off the icons, flex, and take some measurements. I am almost positive that you will want longer shocks though....

 

We'll have custom made shock mounting solutions available "soon" as well. The system will be engineered to work specifically with our shackle flip and how it changes the suspension.

If you are just street driving until the upgrade you'll be fine. The longer shocks are really only needed on the down travel side and I sure hope you don't drop out that far cruzing the mall! BTW I still haven't gotten pricing back on those shocks, so good thing you went ahead with Wheelers.

The OME and Allpro Expo springs are longer for some reason. The OMEs would "work" but it won't be quite ideal. The numbers I got from Slimwood say the expos are very different and really would not be a good idea on the stock flip kit. He and I are working on getting a set made up for him so we'll have some answers there within a few weeks (still waiting on the parts from laser, story of this spring so far).

You'll need to find out what the travel of that shock is from Icon. On factory springs you need a 16" collapsed length / 27" extended shock, add to that whatever changed you get from your aftermarket springs.

Craig, LOL!

 

Good to hear!

 

Flip kit installed today , but no write up :/

 

Couple notes, some obvious, some not so much.
Remove spare tire (if mounted) and both rear wheels, makes install much easier. Jack stands under frame, and floor jack under pumpkin, as you will need to raise or lower the axle at times. I purchased 8 additional 1/2" grade 8 washers; I wanted to have washers on both sides of the frame on each bolt. I also used anti-sieze. Will retorque after a few miles.
First, I unbolted the shackles (19mm bolts) after the load was off of the springs. I used a cutoff wheel to cut the heads of the rivets, a center punch (hammered as close to center as possible) to knock them through a little (when they actually budged). I then pulled off the old POS shackle mounts. I then used a right angle high torque/ low speed drill in order to get into some tighter places to drill out the rivets. First I used a smaller bit (approx 1/4") to get centered, then finished out with a 1/2" bit, as the bolts supplied with the kit are 1/2" (3/4 heads). You will need to unbolt the shocks (17mm, one side at a time) in order to get the rear axle to drop further to get the new shackle mounts between the top of the spring end and the frame. Time to bolt up the flip kit brackets. The bolts all lined up pretty well, using a drift pin when needed(only on 2 holes, guess I got lucky). Tighten these fully.
Flip the shackles, apply grease and anti-sieze to the bushings and bolts. You will now need to jack up the rear axle to get the spring ends to line up w the mounts. Put the bolts through, washers and nuts on them, but do not fully tighten! You may now rebolt the rear shock (I just did the bottom, applied grease to bushing while I was at it, antisiezed the nuts back on do not fully tighten these either.
Put everything back together (wheels, etc). The truck may now get off the jack stands and put its own weight on all 4 corners. NOW you may tighten shackle bolts and your bottom shock bolts; the load is now on them and bushings are much less likely to torque and gouge themselves out upon lowering the truck back on its own load.

This is all that I did, there may be other ways to do it, but all worked well for me. I found that the air chisel did not work well. All in all, it took me a little over 4 hrs, with beer and lunch breaks. The rear springs seem stiffer for some reason, and I definitely gained some height in the rear. Now I just need to have the extended shocks to arrive

 

What leaf pack u have?

 

Just stock w 2" aal. Ill upgrade eventually

 

Cool

 

If you just swap pass and driver sides with the kit, wouldnt that move the point where the spring mounts to further back? Maybe that would work with the longer leaf packs?

 

The parts really aren't symmetric at all so that won't work, that and the difference isn't that much.

 

Meh. It's fine. Just gotta unbolt the e-brake bracket from the leaf pack. And e-brake cables are easy to fix anyway.

 

Has anyone towed with this setup? I am looking at doing this kit with either the OME Dakar springs or All Pro Expedition leafs and would like to know how it handles the extra weight?
Thanks,

 

I have not heard of anyone towing with the flip yet. It should not have a major impact to the handling though.