Hammer Hangers® by Archive Garage 2005-2023 Tacoma Shackle Hangers

Ok, so after a couple months putting of the install I finally started today. Of course, my procrastination has led me to do this install a month away from the shortest day of the year. Suffice to say, I didn’t finish, but tomorrow will be a cakewalk.

Some observations from my install:

Stock hangers are trash. I very easily bent them with a hammer so I could have easier access to the rivets.

On the passenger’s side, you’re going to want to either drop your exhaust or cut it. It’s so much easier with it out of the way.

One hanger took me several hours to get off because I was testing a different method to remove each rivet. The second one took ~30mins. What I did was grind down the rivet so it had a flat head. I didn’t grind it flush with the hanger because I found it tough to find a true center once it was flush. Once I had a flat surface I drilled through with the small bit. Then drilled with the large bit until I could pop the rivet head off. Once the rivet heads were off, I removed the hanger. Drilling through and removing the rest of the rivet is a breeze once the hanger is off the truck.

How rivet removal is described in the directions is by far the second fastest method for me. I’ve seen/heard of people cutting X’s in the rivet heads and a whole bunch of other stuff. I tried. Didn’t work well for me.

I’ll try to post a picture when I’m done tomorrow, but I’m suppose to be helping a friend work on his Subaru and I have no idea how that’s going to go.

 

Installed hangers, shackles, and HC cross tube on a buddy's 2nd gen last Saturday.

The first one was a little slower due to not certain about either one of us doing it. Second one took maybe 20 minutes.

Grind off the rivets flush with a tool of your choice (first was an angle grinder with a battery) second was a pneumatic cut off wheel.

Air hammer is your friend and makes life to much quicker.

After air hammer removeal of the stock hanger grind the two rivets that require drilling to flush (bottom of frame) then use the awesome drill bits you should order to drill the center 1/2"

The two on the side just pop out with an air hammer.

After the drilling it's very quick to finish. After the last hole was drilled it was 1 hour before it was done and that was after removing one hanger side and redoing it with thread locker.

If I were to do it again, not counting prep like equipment ect. Would probably take 2 or 3 hours working just at a care free pace.

After handing these and the shock relocate on @Brian422 it's a no brainer go with archive.

 

Install done. Hammer Hangers w/ cross tube.

Truck feels extremely smooth and planted through turns and at speed. Also felt great in my long, bumpy, gravel driveway.

Once the rivets are out everything is a breeze and it all bolts up well and fits like it's OEM.

Totally worth the money and the pain in the ass it is to deal with the rivets.

I should note my suspension is completely stock. I have Stage 2 Deaver's I'm going to put in once I get some more weight in the rear and for shocks I have something very special coming.

 

Thank you for your feedback, results and install experience Marcus and @Dirk Diggler

 

What is the longest shackle you can use on the hammer hanger? As in how much drop could I get?

I currently have the Tundra Racing lowering kit which is SUA with stock leaf and shackle flip off the stock hanger. I carry enough weight that I need a different solution. I think the Archive shackle flip would work for me with a long shackle but all of the positive reviews of the HH make me wonder if it is possible to either go back to soa and use a longer shackle with HH, or stay sua and find a spring with more arch to use with HH. I find it frustrating that many of these leaf offerings don't list dimensional specs.

 

I recommend calling me to discuss options, and so I can understand what you have. The current version 3 Hammer hangers, the longest shackle you can run is 4.0", which we offer.

And you can read here how I feel about "mid-travel" SUA:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...nversion-facts-for-tacoma-2nd-3rd-gen.726873/

 

Appreciate the quick response, I will definitely reach out however it may not be immediately. This is the kit I am running but have realized there are more compromises than I anticipated.

https://sosperformance.com/products/tr2037-2-front-35-rear-lowering-kit-fits-2016-tacoma

 

Looks like you could remove that kit, and put the stock pack over the axle, you'd be back to stock height except that added weight would lower it. In that case, I absolutely recommend Hammer hangers.

 

i'm about to purchase hammer hangars i noticed the note said that there was a 5% discount for TW members, is this still available

 

You're in luck! Use code nov2021 for black Friday discount of 10% (Ends 11/30)

https://archivegarage.com/explore-archive/ols/products/tacoma-hammer-hangers

 

I will soon be getting my 2022 OR and will install the HH, while keeping everything else stock.

Do I need extended brake lines? If yes, how much longer?

 

Nope!

 

Looking for some maintenance advice.
I have the hammer hangers and shackles installed for a couple years and been very happy with them. Oddly my rear leaf springs have shifted to the passenger side inside the shackle.
This has caused my rear axle to be slightly shifted to the passenger side by about half an inch. It is currently time for me to disassemble my leaf springs service them and add a couple extra leafs due to adding camper #450lbs
What bushings would people recommend for the rear leafspring so that it stays more centered in the shackle?

 

Allpro springs?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ailable-made-in-the-usa.539958/#post-17429710
These springs were made by an TW guy who is not on here anymore. They were designed to carry heavier loads with a small lift over stock.
Also, I don't have the stock shackles anymore to compare but I wonder if the Archive version has a wider shackle opening?
I could just add some grade 8 washers but was curious if others have this issue

 

The archive shackle is the same width as stock.

 

I don’t think this can be solved by getting new bushings

 

I installed hammer hangers, shackles, and the high clearance cross bar last week. I would like to thank everyone that has shared their installation tips in this thread. The install was not terribly difficult, but reading through this thread and Archive's detailed instructions made it much easier than other projects I have done in the past. I suggest that anyone planning to do this to read the instructions BEFORE starting. The ride quality has defiantly improved as well as the overall feel of the truck. Thank you Archive for you great products.

 

Looks like you just had a bushing failure in the spring. You will need to measure the ID of the spring eye to source a proper bushing, or try to contact who made the springs. You will also want to know how wide the spring material is if you try fitting poly bushings to the spring. Is it 60mm [2.375"], or 2.25" or 2.5" material?

Proper stock bushing sleeve width is 2.875". Stock spring width is 60mm [2.375"]

Take a look at your u-bolt situation, do you have a U-bolt flip from a hack company? Are the springs off centered on the perches? That could possibly be a contributing factor

 

Spring width is about 2.4" measured with caliber.
The OD of the spring eye is 2.3" Will need to disassemble to get the ID dimension.
I will definitely check the spring center pins. But I know they are in the holes on the perches.
I'll try to order a few different sizes of bushings and see which ones fit best.
Thanks Eric