Carli Rear shackles with factory springs

[Avslash]

Curious to see what you think, been thinking about one as well with stock suspension.

I'll let you know in a couple weeks. I'm interested to see how it works as well.

I've considered doing the full Carli thing and still might, but I'm a bit leery of reducing payload and I would really prefer not to make the truck any higher than it would be whenever the Duratracs wear out and I move up to 37" tires. So start in the middle I decided to do the shackles and sway bar to see how much that softened it up. I'll decide where to go next.

 

[MrFancypants]

Carli shackles aren't really known to drop the ride height. It's not a thing to worry about.

Unloaded, no, but loaded yes. Given that so many people on this thread are installing them it would be good to collect some more definitive data.

 

[Stroke250]

First drive on normal roads and there does seem to be subtle improvement with harshness in the rear on bumps. Or this is placebo and me telling myself it was worth the price. Either way I’m happy and will report back after exploring some mountain roads.

 

[majorbison]

I regularly bumper tow 6k pounds with the stock leafs and Carli shackles and it rides amazing. Now I have onboard air I’ll maybe do the Carli leafs with bags at some point

 

[Utah Ford]

Got mine installed the other day and I am very pleased with the ride quality. There's less of an initial jarring over small bumps and highway expansion joints. The truck doesn't seem to get that "harmonic" bounce either over the expansion joints either.
I towed my camper a few miles as well from my house to where I store it and the ride seemed improved as well towing.

I guess it's hard to quantify the improvements but for the $$ I think this upgrade was well worth it.

 

[bugeyedmonster1]

For those that have installed these, any tips/tricks/pointers you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I have shocks, the rear shackles, and rear shock protectors all going in at the same time.

I have a total of 4 jack stands and two jacks, so I should be good. From what I've seen in various posts, I should be good to go with just jacking up the rear and nothing needed for the fronts other than cranking the wheel side to side.

 

[Utah Ford]

I jacked from my trailer hitch to raise and lower the rear to get to a point where there was no load on the bolts to easily remove/install them. It would help to have someone else run the jack for you so you're not crawling all over the place.

I originally tried to jack just a corner at a time and that actually puts some twist in the springs that makes the bolts bind up. So yeah, jack from the hitch

 

[bugeyedmonster1]

I jacked from my trailer hitch to raise and lower the rear to get to a point where there was no load on the bolts to easily remove/install them. It would help to have someone else run the jack for you so you're not crawling all over the place.

I originally tried to jack just a corner at a time and that actually puts some twist in the springs that makes the bolts bind up. So yeah, jack from the hitch

Did you need to pull the wheels off the rear? Where would you suggest to put jack stands while lifting at the hitch, or are you doing this with the rear wheels on and no jack stands?

 

[HeavyAssault]

Place the jack stands just inside the bottom mounting plate for the U-bolts on the axle tube. Drop the spare tire out the way, remove one rear wheel at a time. DO NOT let the cable from the spare contact the hair on the back of your neck or rub along the back of your neck.

 

[bugeyedmonster1]

Place the jack stands just inside the bottom mounting plate for the U-bolts on the axle tube. Drop the spare tire out the way, remove one rear wheel at a time. DO NOT let the cable from the spare contact the hair on the back of your neck or rub along the back of your neck.

awesome, thank you!

 

[Utah Ford]

I just left the tires on and didn’t use any jack stands. The sweet spot is to jack it just before the tires lift off the ground.
M I’m not really sure if having jack stands is beneficial from a safety point of view either. If the jack slips the real risk is pinching your hands on the springs