OME leaf spring suspension trouble

[cornfarmer]

Reversed up a steep sandy bank at about 20 kmph the other day. There was no real impact or nothing out of the ordinary felt. As i was driving home I notice the front of my cruiser sitting a lot lower than normal. On closer inspection both spring hangers were folded down toward the rear of the vehicle lowering the front end by about 40mm.
I started to drive home at about 40kmph on a gravel road had gone about 2km when I noticed that the front was up again. I checked underneath , couldn't see anything broken or missing . Tried breaking hard both foward and reverse, swerved the truck from side to side to check steering, everything seemed ok so continued home.
Got home, jacked up the front to check the full suspension travel , and it looks all good.
Got me buggered why it would do this. I've had the OME gear in the cruiser for 2 years now and had no trouble up to this point, and have driven it alot harder than what I did on the weekend.
Any ideas?

[4wdnuts]

is it possiable that the front shackles had inverted? ie gone the opposite direction to what they are suppossed to? have heard of it happening but ive never had it happen.

[philux]

2nd that, my old fj40 used to do it on the drivers rear side

[Sadam_Husain]

Its a Cruiser thing, all my cruisers have had problems with shackels inverting and flicking inside out, usually when the truck impacts on something.

You can weld plates on as shackel stops but that probably needs certifying or put anti-inversion shackels on.

Dont drive the thing with the shackels inverted or you'll bend the spring leaves as they cant swing backwards and forwards on the shackels. Yep I've bent 3 or 4 springs doing that

[haynzy]

Welcome to the club Jack the truck up to check you havent bent the springs as when I did mine every time that wheel left the ground the shackle inverted due to a bent spring. Anti inversion shackles are the best solution bout $50 I think from 4wd bits

[curly12]

And once it happens it then become's a regular thing

[Sadam_Husain]

And make sure you get greasable anti inversion shackels and pins so you can keep pumping them full of grease to keep the bushes well lubricated

[cornfarmer]

I'm pretty sure it's got anti inversion shackles on it, but will look into it. Seems to be back to normal now. will give it a blast on the weekend and see what happens.
Cheers for your advice.

[Sadam_Husain]

I'm pretty sure it's got anti inversion shackles on it, but will look into it. Seems to be back to normal now. will give it a blast on the weekend and see what happens.
Cheers for your advice.

usually the anti inversion shackels are triangular looking things although there are a few other variations around. Have a look at 4wdbits website to see what they look like and if you already have them in your truck?

[cornfarmer]

Did it again on the same piece of road. The road goes from seal to gravel and the bump of it going to gravel seems to fold the shackles back over the leaf springs. I gave it a gentle shake on the bullbars and they popped straight back up. I wonder if the bushes are getting poked. Will put in some anti inversion shackles next week. How do you tell if your shocks are getting poked?

[Sadam_Husain]

I wonder if the bushes are getting poked. Will put in some anti inversion shackles next week. How do you tell if your shocks are getting poked?

These are the type of shackels you need to put on your truck to stop them flicking back all the time. ARB anti inversion shackels are made out of solid gold so you'll need pretty deep pockets if you want ARB stuff otherwise theres plenty of other aftermarket brands like the stuff 4wdbits list that are more affordable. They should come with new bushes and make sure you stick them in with plenty of grease.

If your shocks are rooted you'll be able to extend and compress them easily but hand without much dampening resistance

[Engineer]

gidday, this is offtopic abit but what sort of shackle angle should ya aim for? do they differ from leafs at the front compared to the leafs at the back? what are advantages/disadvantages of steeper/lesser angles?

Thanks
Ryan

[Sadam_Husain]

The closer the angle is to vertical the more likely they are to invert

[cornfarmer]

Ok so I got some new anti inversion shackles for the front of the cruiser BUT the only way I can get them to fit is like this


I'm pretty sure they're upside down. But the angled steel plate (to the left of the top bolt in the top photo) gets in the way. and there's not a lot of clearance between the shackles and that plate.
Anyone got any pics for putting the things on the front?

[Sadam_Husain]

Yep there upside down cornfarmer

That welded plate is a homemade shackel stop somebodys already welded onto the mount, I had some welded onto my last cruiser. Grind the plates off (or back) and the new shackels will fit the corect way around

[cornfarmer]

Cheers Mate, I thought that was the case. Will crank the grinder up tomorrow and give it the bad news.

[Sadam_Husain]

Yeah grind the welded plates back, flip the shackels around the right way, pack the bushes with plenty of grease when you put them in and you'll be right as rain

[cornfarmer]

Cut the plates back today and flipped the shackles over. Does it matter if the grease nipples are on the inside or outside?

[Sadam_Husain]

Cut the plates back today and flipped the shackles over. Does it matter if the grease nipples are on the inside or outside?

Usually on the outside to make them easier to access, did you replace the fixed pins at the other end of the springs for greasable ones as well?

[cornfarmer]

No, I didn't think of that. Will get on to it at some stage.