I am thinking about getting a "cheap" quick lift in the rear and thought a longer shackle would be the way to go. As I was looking through some DIY's and parts online, I started wondering about why do they call it a drop when in fact a longer shackle would lift the vehicle. What am I missing?


Also, would you advise against using blocks in the rear to lift the spring from the axle? seems to me that this way isn't the safest to get the truck off the ground.


I have always loved a stance of a truck when the rear is slightly higher than front. Would lifting the rear just a bit cause any rake problems in the front?

 

If they're labeled or sold as drop shackles they're probably drop shackles which will lower the rear. You'll need lift shackles.

I don't recommend blocks, it puts too much stress on the U bolts and can fail in a panic braking situation or when towing. People will argue this but I've seen both happen and don't recommend.

As for the effects, lifting the rear will cause alignment problems, it will decrease caster and tweak the camber and toe slightly. You'll need an alignment after installation.

Is it 2wd or 4wd? Most people try to level their trucks because the forward slant looks weird.

 

I'm assuming that wherever you saw "drop shackles" the people were talking about lowering kits, people usually use blocks to lift the rams.
Lots of people use lift blocks, as long as they aren't extremely tall (think more than 4-5 inches) or stacked you should be fine...
If your truck is stock you should already have some rake... Do you not have any?

 

It is a 4x4. The pictures clearly show longer shackles. Longer shacles = axle further from the frame = taller stance.

It is stock. I am not sure what you mean when you say do i have any rake, i've not measured the angle but it is solid axle and i did not think that an inch or two of lift in the rear would make a huge impact on relative angle in the front...

 

Why dont you just post the product you are referencing and we can go from there. Yea longer shackles on the 3rd gen Ram 1500 raise it.

 

First: you should post what truck you're talking about in the begining, I didn't realize you have a solid axle, my bad.

What do you consider "rake problems"? To me, rake is when the rear of the truck is higher than the rear. Anybody can correct me if I'm wrong, but even the solid axle trucks have a little bit of rake already when stock. Like bigsloth said above, any "problems" can be fixed with an alignment, although you can't adjust camber on a solid axle.