Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Most of you wont really be interested in this as you all have the luxury and comfort of coil sprung rears, but for those that have / or are thinking about buying the pickup, this is my extended shackle story...

Most of you know i have had my Pickup for some time, but for a long while i had wanted to install some extended shackles in order to slacken the spring rate and create a more linear travel through its stroke,.... also, its just more comfortable, sits slightly taller, and flexes better,... with the 400kg constant load springs, i needed all the help i could get.

Last year in june i went past my local store in CT, LA Sport, and asked them to supply me with a set to my spec length, and these they would outsource to MIKEM. weeks later still no answer . Called MIKEM directly, sent them a drawing,... weeks later, they say they cant make them. NOT COOL. so i made them myself.

I tried getting the plates CNC / Laser cut to spec but at the end of the year no engineering shop had the time to look at it,... so i was forced to go old school.

This is how i got along.

I looked at a few designs i liked online,.. and decided on which type would suit me.. I started off by sourcing a 1m length of steel 10mm thick, i needed something strong, very strong,to be able to take any torsional forces during flex. 1000x50x10
And then i cut it of using a cut off saw, sparks aplenty. Then i drilled them out Then i put a radius on them and used the long sander to remove material And they ended up like this..
12mm HT Grade 8 Standard Head 100mm shoulder But then i went on my usual Overkill way,.. and swapped them for these.
16mm HT Grade 12 Hex Head - 100mm shoulder and HT Nuts and HT washers..... i was happy... When i then pulled my originals off and saw they had a stepped shoulder,... so i made 2 sets of compression sleeves for mine too. Then i stated the install.. Will add more pics soon of finished item.

Flippin' nice job mate !!!

Thats nicely done.

I have extended a set on the rear of the Sani, and built a new set for the front end. I must say the type that has the pins welded to to the one side of shackle is a pain in the backside to take in and out.

I will be doing mine over soon front and back. Need another 20mm now that my springs have settled and it will fix the castor angle as well. Rear end is a total rebuild of spring perches and all and I want drop out scissor shackles.

But a like your over engineering, I am a firm believer in the practice, I just need to find a bigger engine to carry all the extra weight that comes with that.

Revolver shackles and scissor shackles only work well on light leaf packs, HD springs are too strong for them. They also tend to throw the rear up on steep descents as the shackle unhinges itself and moves through its travel design,which is very unstable when its not a level drop off, .... just something to think about thats all.

I was thinking of going this route, but for a heavy truck like a loaded patrol pickup (3.5T) i needed strength, reliability, and something thats works over and over with no issues.

This design of mine works hard and there is no deformation at all, so its def proven itself.

For further flex i can take out the centre pin, which then allows more torsional flex,... Personally, im not a fan, but this is common practice amongst many who have custom shackles, but, ja, not my vibe, i'd rather work on getting my spring packs to do more work.

I’ve seen that flip out you mention on revolvers that have been installed on the front as the guy is trying to climb something hectic. I actually never thought of the problem you mention, I am definitely going to give my setup a re-think. Maybe fourlink suspension front and rear after all.

A Bit Dusty and Dirty from a 4 day backroad camp trip, but you get the idea.

In time i'll take the bolts to be drilled out and tapped for grease nipples, ... hence the massive 16mm Grade 12 High Tensile bolts.

Very nice.
I only saw this thread now.

How long are these shackles compared to the originals?

If i remember correctly they were 70mm or 75mm longer. but remember, that will only give you a max lift increase of 35mm-45mm.

It was more about extra leverage on the rear packs, as i'm running 400Kg constant load rear packs, wich are much stronger than originals, so they need the help when it come to flexing with little load in the rear.

They usually sit back at an angle, but when i took these pics i had Zero weight in the pack, which is not usually case as i'm always carrying tools and gear. Its good to have the shackles laying back at an angle rather than directly down,thats why often a shackle install on original spring packs can be an issue as the spring packs themselves are not long enough, whereas aftermarket packs are usually slightly longer.

The Original Patrol rear leaf packs though seem like they may be ok tho. I will try measure y old packs and my XGS packs and report the difference.