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2" Drop shackles for 2015 2500HD?


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I put on a set of McGaughy's 2" drop shackles on my 2015 2500HD shortly after getting it. I am quite satisfied with the result. At least the rake in the back doesn't look so bad. Before the new shackles, my pickup looked like it had it's butt in the air like my cat when I pet it. Was beginning to think the cat belonged to someone in GM R&D at one time an he missed the cat so bad that he designed the 2500HD rake such a way as to remind him of it.

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Thanks for the report. I'm currently running a leveling kit. Great for keeping the truck level while snow plowing.. Harsh ride in return. Think I may go with the drop shackle kit.

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I put on a set of McGaughy's 2" drop shackles on my 2015 2500HD shortly after getting it. I am quite satisfied with the result. At least the rake in the back doesn't look so bad. Before the new shackles, my pickup looked like it had it's butt in the air like my cat when I pet it. Was beginning to think the cat belonged to someone in GM R&D at one time an he missed the cat so bad that he designed the 2500HD rake such a way as to remind him of it.

 

 

The rake is there so when you load the truck to max payload or put a trailer on back, it sits level.

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Thanks for the report. I'm currently running a leveling kit. Great for keeping the truck level while snow plowing.. Harsh ride in return. Think I may go with the drop shackle kit.

Just curious, what leveling kit are you using

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The rake is there so when you load the truck to max payload or put a trailer on back, it sits level.

 

 

True, but it is like the OEM recommended tire pressures. I am not going to run the recommended pressures all the time as the ride is terrible and running tires at such recommended pressures when not carrying the load that the pressure is meant for can decrease handling and increase tire wear. When I have a load on that requires it, I will air the tires up. Even heavy commercial trucks have different recommended tire air pressures based on loading. As for the rake in the back, it is rare that I am running around with maximum load in the back, but if I was going to do that regularly, I would still keep the back lowered 2" and use air bags on the rear suspension for keeping the truck level and to also improve the ride and handling. What GM hasn't quite figured out, some of us have to compensate for. My semi truck grosses up to 80,000 lb, but it rides totally on air bags. Not a suspension spring in sight. Irregardless of the weight, the truck height is the same. Except in some situations, leaf springs are an archaic way to have a working truck suspension.

 

While I really like the 2500HD and am quite happy overall with the pickup, no pickup is perfect, so I do not like running around looking like I am sticking my butt in the air waiting for someone to whack it with a baseball bat. Since the GM engineers are still living in the mid 20th century when it comes to suspensions and tires, I have to improvise to overcome either their incompetence or thinking that we are a bunch or rubes who cannot think for ourselves (regarding the tire pressure thing).

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How are they stuck in the mid 20th century in regards to tires?

 

Air ride is nice and all but should we really be expecting it as OE on a pickup truck? If it were an option I would have given it a look but these trucks ride pretty nice with their archaic spring ride systems, considering their capabilities.

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Yes, we should expect it from the OEM. Heck they got just about everything else as an option or part of a package, some of which seems like a joke. To expect air ride as an option is very realistic. Dodge offers it! It is not like air ride is something new. It has been used on heavy trucks for decades.

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  • 2 months later...

Do you guys have height adjustment on your seats? I just bought a 2015 double cab WT with a utility box. My seats have no height adjustment and I find it very hard to see out of. I'm 5' 10" and am reluctant to level, because without any rake it might be worse.

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I use the height adjustment. I am 5'8", and with the 2" drop in the back, raising the seat a little is important to me. But I am so used to massive visibility when in my semi truck, that I try to get as much as I can when in the pickup. It will never match the semi, but at least I can see a little better with the seat up a little. But I am not all that sure it is a critical thing if one puts on 2" drop shackles on the back. All depends on what one is doing with the pickup. Mine goes off road on my property frequently, and I like being able elevate the seat to see as much as possible. For on road, it is not so much of an issue. Even before I dropped the back, I would elevate the seat to max when off road anyway.

 

I realize the rake is on these for the leafs to deal with max loading, but that is why there are add on air bags one can put on. The ride would be sooo much better anyway. I don't really have any issues with back end dragging under heavy load. 2" is not that big of a change. But I never put on a 14K 5th wheel trailer anyway. I just haul stuff around and tow light.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for this insight on shackles. This is my first truck ('15 2500HD/LT//CC/standard bed/Z71) and experience with truck-specific tweaks. At 6'0 tall, even I find the rear to be excessively high, both through the rear view mirror and for routine access to the bed. I have no demanding payload, towing (or plowing) requirements, thus no need for this exaggerated feline-pouncing pose. Plus, this beast is long/tall enough without making reverse gear maneuvers more challenging. I first trolled upon the concept of lifting the front to reduce rake. But that seems like a double-negative by comparison. Plus, the concept of bags if/when and regardless of shackles makes the case for shackles even more appealing. Heck, even early Mercedes Benz sedans used bags.

 

I have to imagine too that although modest if even perceptible, lowering the rear by even 2" would lower the center of gravity enough to improve handling. Especially if combined with a reduction to tire pressure.

Sounds too like a 2" shackle would still leave a modest and pleasant rake.....

I'm seriously pondering this one!

 

Thanks!

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How are they stuck in the mid 20th century in regards to tires?

 

Air ride is nice and all but should we really be expecting it as OE on a pickup truck? If it were an option I would have given it a look but these trucks ride pretty nice with their archaic spring ride systems, considering their capabilities.

 

Air pressure recommendations for different loads. They haven't figured out that many pickups, regardless of class, are not grossed out on weight 24/7. They haven't caught up with modern tire methodology. Not even close to how commercial trucks manage tire pressures for different loadings. Guess that is why I got 447,000 miles out of the drive tires on my commercial truck. I just took the same logical approach to commercial tire pressures and applied it to my 2500. By running the pressures lower than OEM recommended, when empty or light loaded, the handling is markedly improved and the ride is better. I especially noticed a significant improvement in handling on the rural gravel roads I have to drive several miles on daily. But again, GM figures that their pickups will only be used on city streets to get 2000 lb of groceries

 

Yes, it is realistic to expect air ride as OE on a pickup. There is that other pickup OEM, Dodge, that has figured out that air ride is a good option to spec. They offer it on their pickups. Again, GM is still living in the last century. And it does beg the question, since virtually all of modern commercial semi trucks and trailers, except for a few holdouts and some fleet spec'd straight trucks, are riding on air, and have been for over 2 decades, why would it be an extreme position to expect pickup OEM's to offer the same thing? If nothing else, but a compliment to the spring rides they have. Especially for those that tow and haul heavy. They seem all fire concerned with pickup comfort, and having a pickup mimic a modern carpeted living room with WiFi. Yet they forgot that the ride is conditional on the springs and suspension.

 

Again, I really like my 2500. It is a magnificent change to the 2013 1500 I had before. All I ever did with that one is invent new swear words. This 2500 is great, but the user still has to account for nincompoops at the OEM. It has been that way since the dawn of horse drawn wagons. We always have to improvise on what the maker failed to do. At least we are talking about little things here that are easily manageable.

 

This is my 2500 with the 2" McGaughy lowering shackles on. Still a modest amount of rake, but the feline aspect is gone. It takes quite a bit of weight to really squish the suspension down. I can throw in several 55 drums of oil and hardly affect the tilt. And this beat up, old Cavalry soldier has no problem climbing in the back now! :lol:

 

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