SICK MOAB PICS w/ our 1st Gens

[79-83earlyota]

does the blue one have the marlin hanger too or no?
i like the black spray paint on the front fender of the blue one where you cut it mine has that too

yeah, it has the entire Marlin 4" kit.  We cut out the old front hangers, and used Marlin's hanger and set it forward to move the front axle forward.  The rear axle is moved back a little too.  It now has a 105.5" wheelbase, compared to the original 102.5".

[79-83earlyota]

I think having the underside of the bed chopped makes them look even longer.  I've come close, in Moab, to hitting my stock rear shackles on ledges so I'm surprised that you have not had any clearance issues along the way.

man, you're just hatin' on my shackles aren't you!      I am a Certified proffesional ARC welder, so I welded and fabricated the rear shackles out of 3/8" flatbar hardened steel, and welded the hangers in with plenty of gusseting, and boxed the rear frame, all of which was done with 1/8" 7018 on a diesel-driven 480V DC ARC welder.....so they are NOT going anywhere.  Sure I drag them on ledges, but so what?  They slide right off, and never pose a problem.  They're never going to break, the whole set-up is welded properly with structural rod!  I needed them to be long to make up for the lack of lift the Chevy springs have.  Whatever they lack in lift, the Chevy springs are worth it, they make up for it in articulation!  The long shackle posts are      Just giving you a hard time, don't get bent out of shape.......but thought I should defend myself a little here, that's like the 3rd long shackle comment from you.......WE ALL GET IT, THEY ARE LONG.......they work great for me, and are fabricated and welded properly, and are not dangerous.  I drove the truck out to Moab from Denver and back, some 600+ miles, and wheeled it extremely hard.  End of story.  They're a non-issue to me.

[toyotanner]

VERY NICE

[blackdiamond]

man, you're just hatin' on my shackles aren't you!      I am a Certified proffesional ARC welder, so I welded and fabricated the rear shackles out of 3/8" flatbar hardened steel, and welded the hangers in with plenty of gusseting, and boxed the rear frame, all of which was done with 1/8" 7018 on a diesel-driven 480V DC ARC welder.....so they are NOT going anywhere.  Sure I drag them on ledges, but so what?  They slide right off, and never pose a problem.  They're never going to break, the whole set-up is welded properly with structural rod!  I needed them to be long to make up for the lack of lift the Chevy springs have.  Whatever they lack in lift, the Chevy springs are worth it, they make up for it in articulation!  The long shackle posts are      Just giving you a hard time, don't get bent out of shape.......but thought I should defend myself a little here, that's like the 3rd long shackle comment from you.......WE ALL GET IT, THEY ARE LONG.......they work great for me, and are fabricated and welded properly, and are not dangerous.  I drove the truck out to Moab from Denver and back, some 600+ miles, and wheeled it extremely hard.  End of story.  They're a non-issue to me.

No worries, I've considered going with slightly longer shackles on the 4Runner, but have stayed with the longest ones Marlin Crawler sells.  I think I saw that the shackles were actually a "H" shape making which should keep them strong.  If they work that's what matters.

[twistedtoy92]

whatever works and holds up!!!! its all about the functionallity

[skipnrocks]

whatever works and holds up!!!! its all about the functionallity

yep!!

[79-83earlyota]

No worries, I've considered going with slightly longer shackles on the 4Runner, but have stayed with the longest ones Marlin Crawler sells.  I think I saw that the shackles were actually a "H" shape making which should keep them strong.  If they work that's what matters.

thanks for being cool dude, I was just razzin you a bit.

Yeah, the shackles I fabricated have the "H" configuration, purely for strength.  You can use just the solid side by side plates without the middle gusset, they help the articulation as they move individually with the angle of the spring, but I added a square piece of 1/4" wall square tubing to make the "H", as you put it, just to strengthen such a long shackle.

Either would work, I like Marlin's shackles, I would probably just stay with his if you find they work!!! 

[GrenadedToy]

does the blue one have the marlin hanger too or no?
i like the black spray paint on the front fender of the blue one where you cut it mine has that too

i'll take the credit for that one haha

[ajordan1975]

loks great. i'm going to try to get to moab next summer. it's a long drive from houston.

[toyotanner]

i'll take the credit for that one haha

you can take credit for the overspray too
.
.
.
as for the shackles... whatever works!