Still Raking

Cowpie · March 7, 2016

Had a load in the back of the pickup today. Just shy of a ton of stuff total. The pic of the pickup with 2" lowered McGaughy's a couple of posts back, and these show rake on pickup with almost a ton of stuff in the back even with the McGaughy's 2" lowered shackles on. No air bags for support.

As a side note.... the tires have my normal 55 PSI in them instead of the 60/70 OEM recommended pressures. I suppose going up to 60 at least in the back might have been a good idea, but the drive home with the stuff was only about 50 miles.

ShotgunZ71 · March 7, 2016

Not bad at all, Cowpie. I've actually been tossing the idea around of going to the next slot on the shackles to add about an inch of rake back and see how I like it. Have you ever adjusted yours?

Cowpie · March 7, 2016

No. Just installed about a year ago and haven't changed them one bit. Give it a try and see how you like it.

royg6677 · March 7, 2016

No. Just installed about a year ago and haven't changed them one bit. Give it a try and see how you like it.

Cowpie did you have to modify any body parts to install the drop shackle kit?

Cowpie · March 7, 2016

I had it done by a shop that was putting on a Magnaflow muffler for me, at the same time. They did not indicate they had to do anything out of the way to put the shackles on. I have heard of others having to cut a bed seam, but I haven't seen any evidence of that on mine.

royg6677 · March 7, 2016

I had it done by a shop that was putting on a Magnaflow muffler for me, at the same time. They did not indicate they had to do anything out of the way to put the shackles on. I have heard of others having to cut a bed seam, but I haven't seen any evidence of that on mine.

Thanks for the info. Red Rider

KMGZ400 · March 7, 2016

I personally like a little rake so they level out when towing. They seem to tow so much better when the rear end isn't sagging. For you guys that level, do you get the rear end sagging when hooking a moderately heavy trailer up?

my 2500 is completely level, when i tow more then 6 to 7k it sags pretty bad, but nothing crazy. if you have the load properly placed in the trailer it helps too.

ShotgunZ71 · March 8, 2016

I adjusted mine yesterday afternoon and set them to the 2" drop. When measuring them against the OEM shackles, I found the top hole spacing to be a 3" drop and the other hole spacing to be a 2" drop. My rake is now 2-2.25" front to rear, whereas stock was close to 4-4.25" Gives a little rake when unloaded, but shouldn't sag quite as much as the 3" drop when I hook the 9k lb+ camper to it.

rocnrol · March 9, 2016

What do you have going on by your tail lights, on the bed side there Cowpie?

bigsby · March 9, 2016

Getting pretty close to pulling the trigger on the drop shackles. Does anyone know the max tire size you can run with a stock front end on these trucks? Having trouble pinpointing that info.

Cowpie · March 10, 2016

What do you have going on by your tail lights, on the bed side there Cowpie?

Those are air tabs. They are used by commercial trucks to improve aerodynamic air flow across and behind trucks. I have them on my semi. I had a bunch left over and so I stuck them across top on the back of the cab and on the sides as you see. Was curious if they helped any. Can't say that they have done a lot for mpg, but since I put them on, I get a lot less dust build up in the box and on the back running up and down our gravel roads. So it must be helping a little. Was cheap. They are just peel and stick. I painted them the color of my semi truck for that application. They come in white or black and I had white. So just stuck 'em on.

rocnrol · March 10, 2016

Those are air tabs. They are used by commercial trucks to improve aerodynamic air flow across and behind trucks. I have them on my semi. I had a bunch left over and so I stuck them across top on the back of the cab and on the sides as you see. Was curious if they helped any. Can't say that they have done a lot for mpg, but since I put them on, I get a lot less dust build up in the box and on the back running up and down our gravel roads. So it must be helping a little. Was cheap. They are just peel and stick. I painted them the color of my semi truck for that application. They come in white or black and I had white. So just stuck 'em on.

hhmmm........ cool beans, thanks