Technical Aftermarket spring shackles, really?

Installer?? A spring shackle is a part that can put a car out of control and kill you.
A good one should be difficult to break INTENTIONALLY! If that part were forged, stripping a thread would have taken serious inep***ude, breaking the thing off should have required Larry, Curley, Moe, plus the Pep boys and an hour of hard work. A suspension part is designed:
1. To be real damn strong.
2. If attacked by something even stronger, to bend rather than breaking. This is a normal and universal design goal.
Those are fundamentals.

 

I took the other one off. Threads look like ****. I went and checked the rear shackles I bought (haven't installed them yet) and the castle nuts go on with ease by hand. Stopped at my buddy's house on the way home from work and he had some repo shackles from back in the day. They went on with no effort. I am not *****ing about price, I am just amazed at how easily they broke. This is a pretty important part of early ford suspensions. What if it broke like the one Gary showed while driving? Scary.


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I'd like to see that

 

You think that's bad, look at the quality of Speedways shackles.......downright scary!

 

probably a good thing it broke now........

 

Not sure how any of us can make any judgements about how he torqued it since we weren't there. But IMO if you look at the discoloration where that threaded part snapped, there was some fracturing of that area before he began to tighten it. There is VERY little meat left around that area due to the hole being drilled through it, and it just doesn't look quality to me.

If it were me I would be on the phone with them and asking them for a newer better part. I just had to do that with an unnamed supplier of 48 Ford brake shoes. They came in damaged and also the quality of the relining was horrible. They pulled a good set off the shelf and sent them to me, so now I am ok.

Don

 

Just got a set of Speedway stainless steel shackles with shock stud mounts and I don't see any issues.


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It seems hit or miss when it comes to shackles. Mine will NEVER be on a car. These early reproductions were made here in u.s.a. and they fit.


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more like breakoff....

 

I have a set of the same shackles that came from Mikes a Fordable Parts. I had to make new bushings for them because the set I had were a very loose fit to the shackle. The od of the shackle was loose in the perch as well as a loose fit to the shackle. Also the shackles had a lot of taper on the shafts, which I was able to fix within reason. This post has me worried about using them now, I have fixed what I can but can't make the material better! Is there any aftermarket shackles that have an original look but are proven good, Has anyone on here had good experience with these and this is just one bad part? Also a note on Mikes A Ford Parts, I am very hesitant to buy aftermarket parts and these guys have been straight up with me when they have something that may be questionable in fit or quality. They still sell it but will be up front with you if you ask.

 

Fitted mine today. The two pegs with threads weren't cylindrical, they had a waist that was higher aprox. 1/2 inch from the bottom plate. Took me a lot of adjusting to make them fit my bronze bushings. I used the original nuts since they threaded a lot better than the ones included in the kit.

 

So what aftermarket ones are the best these days?

 

I think I used Macs on my Model A. They weren't great, but threaded up fine.

 

I went through a similar deal with a model a rear u bolt brand new it was just barely to snug to slide over the rear crossmember so I pulled it apart with my hands and heard a tink tink! One side boke off in my hand and cracked on the other side got my money back and just cleaned up the originals.

 

None, IMO. I'd look for a set of gennies.

 

The set I ended up using were very old replacements, possibly Ford but I am not sure. I agree with Gary, try to find originals if you can.

 

Having been in the antique Ford reproduction parts manufacturing and sales business I have a good idea where those shackles were made, India, they are forged, and what you are seeing the result of some joker in an office somewhere trying to save a buck or two. The nut is likely metric threaded and the shackle standard threads or the reverse. Also the threads on either piece could have been done with worn out tools. Those holes for the cotter pin and grease sure look BIG too. The sloppy bushings are the result of not following specs.
All the original style shackles for early Fords for decades, and likely now, were made in India, including the steel-sleeved rubber bushed 32-48 styles. We occ***ionally had problems which the manufacturer corrected and replaced the shipment or sent new nuts whatever it took to make it right. This something that should be brought to Snyder's and Mac's attention. Sometimes things go wrong and if they don't get told bad things can happen.

 

^^^^ This. As I have stated before, old parts re-used is always the best option. Heck even parts like shackles with some wear are better than repops.

Lots of ch***is parts that aren't that glamourous get overlooked at swap meets, parts like bolts, shackles, etc. can be had for next to nothing. Scoop these parts up and stash them for later use, you will eventually need them.

 

I got a pair of new spring U bolts for the model A rear spring and one side just pulled apart at the bend. On the other side the threads pulled off. I was very disappointed. I ended up making my own.

 

Interesting thing I noticed today....

My front shackles are from Snyders....on the package it says "Made in the USA"

 

No ****!

 

Maybe the installation was flawed but a LOT of this reproduction stuff is junk. I had a pair of model A spring clips from macs or snyders can't remember which.

They were on my ch***is during mock up.
They had never been fully torqued.
The ch***is never left the shop.
They had no road miles on them.

Undid the nuts (by hand) one day to pulls the axle. One of them fell to the floor from a height less than the top of a Firestone 760x16. It broke in 2 pieces. It was cast, vintage Ford are forged. It was a Ford (who I work for) licensed part. I contacted the head of licensing and sent pics so he could see the kind of junk we are putting our name on. Got a bunch of babble about random testing, etc etc. No one cares. Buy original Ford, there's still plenty of it out there. I started a thread about it with pics. Not sure if I can find it after the change over to new forum.

Found it! Complete with the pics.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...model-a-spring-clip-bars.709400/#post-7887973