Sulastic shackles

[GVan]

Have a 2001 Ford E350 EB Cargo van with 7.3L believe it has stock coils and leaf springs. Can you provide more information on the coil and rear spring changes you did. I believe my rear leaf springs are done and want something better in the back. Have Bilstien shocks front and rear. Van is 2 wheel drive. Have CCV high pop top. Would love to get the van lifted, but not in the budget right now with all the other things we are doing.

[Davidl13]

I have a 2002 ccv e350.. I replaced my rear springs with sdtrucksprings.com. .... just weigh your vehicle fully loaded and pick the correct weight rating... (Total rear axle weight divided by 2 will give you individual spring weight rating...

Add sulastic shackles if you want a far superior ride quality...

Front springs came from Tim @ 4x4vans.com.. not sure the spec, but I know they are a progressive coil spring

[vandiesel]

I did Deaver springs front and back with shackles front and back same as shuttle pilot. Could not be happier.

[GVan]

Thank you for the information. Will need to do an estimate on what the rest of the build out will weigh. Have some long trips coming up, don't think I can wait to replace the rear leaves.

[ShuttlePilot]

Warning * * * Warning * * * Warning

I have realized that the link I provided in post #23 is not the part # I installed on my SMB. If you follow that link or the part number in my video you will get the longer 2" lifted version of the Sulastic Front Shackle. Using the longer shackle will likely raise the front of your van more than expected. This is NOT the shackle that I used on my van. I used the shorter version of the Sulastic.

To clarify:

I installed the Sulastic model SC-15, which did raise my front about an inch. But did not cause a significant "saggy butt" change in ride height. FYI I have stock rear shackles.

My link and video link show the Sulastic model SC-14, which Sulastic states will raise your vehicle 2" (1 more inch than the SC-15). This, depending on your vehicle, could be a significant change in front ride height.

I discovered this error in my thread yesterday when one of our members PMed me stating they installed the Sulastic shackles front and rear. And, had encountered a larger than expected change in front ride height.

I am now in the process of contacting the Site Team on how I can change the link in the post to the part I used in my build. Due to the fact the post 6 months old I can't edit the post. Any assistance anyone has in changing that link is greatly appreciated. I feel it's important to get the link corrected as this forum is used as a reference by new owners over the years and this correction post is now several pages deep into the thread. Someone will likely not see this post and attempt the modification. I changed the info in the video and video description to reflect the part number I used (shorter lift).

I want to deeply apologize to anyone this error has caused problems. I tried to make it clear in my wright up that this use of the Sulastic Shackles on the front of an SMB was extremely experimental and I'm in no way an authority on suspension or Sulastic products. But, it's my report and the link issue is my error. I have some ideas about how this happened as there are a few players involved but I must own this part of it.

Once again Sulastic's Fornt Shackle part #'s are

SC-15 = 1" taller (the one I installed)
SC-14 = 2" taller

Please contact me or post here with concerns
- Eric

[vandiesel]

That must be why I had to block the rear up after my redo with Deaver. Good catch

[daveb]

Eric try to edit your post 23 now. Hopefully it will work for you; if not PM me.

[ShuttlePilot]

* * * The Link Has Been Corrected * * *

The link to Sulastic's Website in post 23 is now to the part I installed. The SC-15.

Thank you Daveb for your assistance with this. And thank you to the rest of the Site Team for all that you do to make this forum such a great place on the internet.

- Eric

[ShuttlePilot]

I've had to pause the Sulastic front shackle experiment. About six months ago I began to notice the shackles starting to droop. It was a linear process over the fall and winter ending recently with the shackles resting on the compressed stops. Just to recap, two years ago when I installed these I had no expectation on these because I couldn't find any cases of someone installing sulastics on the front of a truck (they are made for F350) let alone on an E series. So based only on my experience they have failed after two years. Note, one year of that time the van just sat in the driveway.

In this photo you can see the shackle sitting on the compressed bump stop. The lower or extended bump is the lip protruding downward.


My plan is to contact Sulastic to see if there are any alternatives or solutions. I have red in other forums that Sulastic is very personable to work with and have a generous warranty policy. I'm not pursuing a refund or warranty claim as I installed these on a vehicle never intended for their product. Ideally I would like to find a long term solution and continue to run the sulastics.

In the mean time I wanted to find a shackle that would work while asolution was investigated for the sulastics. I have learned through the sulastic shackle experiment that on my van a shackle that is 7" bolt center to center is the sweet spot for ride quality, caster angle, and handling. Also through the Sulastic experiment my font springs and frame pivot is now the same as the 1999 - 2004 F350 and Excursions. I was not able at the time to locate an off the shelf shackle that was exactly 7". The orginal shackles are all 5". There are a lot of shackles that are labeled as leveling shackles for both the EX's and the trucks but those are all 9" which is way to long. I purchased these leveling shackles off Amazon and modified them to be 7" shackles.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1







With the shackles on the bench you can see the separation of rubber from the metal.




So I'll contact Sulastic and see if there are any other options for these. It has been a good learning exercise.

- Eric

[vandiesel]

This is not good news. I love how mine rides on them. Maybe I'm the only other person who did this. I figured you were like Obi Won on the suspension after I followed suit. Mine are still fine after a year so fingers crossed. Keep me posted. I weigh in at 11k so most likely can expect a fail.