Rear shackle flip vs. Lift springs?

[Critter]

I have seen a lot of info on both of these, but never a direct comparison, keeping in mind, particularly, the short wheel base of the K5. I plan on redoing the lift on my 72. I will probably go with a soft ride 6”. Obviously, blocks are out of the question, but which option should I use in the back? I will be around 50% street and 50% moderate off-roading (trails and creek beds). I doubt I will ever put it though any extreme rock crawling or anything like that. Anybody have a pros and cons list? Thanks for the help.

[johnnywagon]

I have had zero problems with my rear 6" springs, although I put them on during a 3/4 ton axle swap, giving me the opportunity to weld on the new spring perches at a corrected pinion angle.

[Burt4x4]

I run 4" springs in front and 5.5" springs in the rear. My hwy cruzing is awesome and my offroading is awesome!
I think I read some negative comments once about a shakle flip and towing issues...so if you tow anything with your K5 may want to check on that...

Also remember that pre-made spring packs are most likely made to Pick-up weight specs not Blazers so a 4" front and 4" rear will have a saggy butt look. mY setup with a hard top sits level...with out the hardtop it would sit a bit higher in the back...wich I liked better than a saggy butt!
Also time will alow springpacks to relax a bit and bring the lift down a bit....

[makovai]

I run 8" softrides in the rear. I dont like the shackle flip for cosmetic reasons, It moves the centerline of the rear axle. It is a personal preferance because there are many peeps with the flip that love it.

I'm in the process of a major overhaul (cross steer with coomplete 3/4 ton conversion) as we speak, and the shackle flip cross my mind again but i doubt i will carry through. the reason it cross my mind is i'm at 11" of lift and wanted to remove my body lift and put 12" springs up front and a shackle flip in the rear. but my new 39x18 mickeys fit fine under 11" so it'll prolly stay the way it is.

[Musclerodz]

K5 axle already doesn't sit centered but it is not really noticable until you install larger diameter tires. ORD makes a zero rate pad that will center the axle properly. I have always been told not to tow anything heavy with a first gen k5 due to the fairly short wheelbase and high center of gravity. The 2 nice things with a flip kit is it retains the original ride quality and also alters the pinion angle where shims may not be required depending on lift.

Mike

[florida4x4]

The problem I had with a shackle flip was that it flattened out the springs and made the ride pretty damn rough. If you do a flip with a flatter set of springs it would work out nice. Of course everytime I post this someone chimes in saying their flip was the best thing since cloning hot celeberties for sex slaves... I digress.

[Musclerodz]

Originally Posted by florida4x4

The problem I had with a shackle flip was that it flattened out the springs and made the ride pretty damn rough. If you do a flip with a flatter set of springs it would work out nice. Of course everytime I post this someone chimes in saying their flip was the best thing since cloning hot celeberties for sex slaves... I digress.

Your post makes no sense. Your truck flattened the springs and made it rough and putting flatter springs would be better? The springs movement does not change at all, just the location of the rear spring eye vertically. Who's flip kit did you use?

Mike

[florida4x4]

What I meant is that the factory springs are designed to go above the piviot point of the shackle. this requires more natural curve. A set of "flatter" springs, with less natural curve, that are designed to mount with each spring eye much closer to the horizontal plane would work better in this application. I fabbed my own flip kit, FYI.

[MNorby]

I vote for 56s on shackle flip. The long/ flatter the sping the more it can work. Put a big arch in it and it won't flatten out as easy and let the shakle work. Shakle angle is everything on how it works though. Too inline with spring and it will ride rough and not flex. Too far back and it will be really really soft.

[BUDDY]

Originally Posted by MNorby

I vote for 56s on shackle flip. The long/ flatter the sping the more it can work. Put a big arch in it and it won't flatten out as easy and let the shakle work. Shakle angle is everything on how it works though. Too inline with spring and it will ride rough and not flex. Too far back and it will be really really soft.

I vote 63"s & a flip. Take the rear springs, remove the overloads, (if you have them), move them to the front. Get some nice shocks. It'll ride like a cadillac. Plus you can use stock springs from the junkyard for an 88+ truck, +/- 100.00. Should give you about 5-6 inches of lift in the rear. Moving your rears to the front should lift it about the same, just have to do some hanger relocation front & rear. Nothing a torch can't fix.

Of course, you'll probably want to setup some sort of swaybar, because it sure won't handle like a slot car anymore, but the off-road advantages should be tremendous.

Later,

Buddy

[vtblazer]

I've always viewed it as two different ways to achieve the same thing, an in crease in height.

Dead springs would be replaced but if I had springs I wanted to continue using, I'd go shackles.

New springs can make the blazer ride alot better OR alot worse, depending on the brand/quality/lift amount and leaf number per pack.

Then there's doing both, new springs with a shackle flip will really give you some lift.

This is over simplified and of course other issue's come into play. (towing, flex, load capacity, etc)