So I did a ton of reading up to figure out how to install the extended shackles that I bought from Matt at White Rock Fabrication and how to crank the torsion bars. I hit all the nuts and bolts with PB Blaster to make things go more smoothly. I pulled the passenger side OEM shackle off no problem within minutes.

I wish I could say the same for installing the new shackle: The opening of the lower end of the shackle (not the bolt hole) was about an 1/8"+ off the mark in the direction of not having a wide enough opening. Not sure if the welding jig moved as Matt was welding, or if his measurements were off for my 2004 X, but either way they weren't gonna fit without some work.

So I figured I'd be resourceful and try girinding down the metal sleve that's part of the leaf spring pack. Short of the long, I learned I didn't grind it down enough only too late after I lowered the truck down to get the bolt holes to line up and found myself fighting to get the shackle back off after jacking, hammering, and prying from every angle I could. 3 hours wasted in total for that before it finally came off and I grinded down the sleeve more.

On to the driver's side OEM shackle: I got everything unbolted and things were progressing great, that is until the exhaust pipe got in the way and proved to be unmoveable for me to wiggle the old shackle out.

I ended up breaking my jack in the process of all this, so borrowed my buddy's Hi Lift and (sadly) proceeded to re-install the OEM shackles since it was creeping up on 7 p.m., and I needed my truck to drive to work.

Needless to say, I'm feeling annoyed, idiotic, and pissed after this; 4+ hours only to go back to stock (for now) and now need to replace my jack (guess it's just grounds to get my own Hi Lift).

Who's laughing about this rant now? I know I'd be.

Man that sucks.. I hate it when things go wrong and make a "simple" job so frustrating.

I am sorry to hear about your failed modding. It really sucks when something this happens and you feel like you have wasted time. I sympathize with you.

On another note, make sure you are buying a Hi-Lift for on trail and emergency use. A Hi-Lift shouldn't be something used in a driveway unless there is no other alternative.

Damn sorry to hear about this..

And I'm with Steve on the hi-lift. Don't use it for working on your rig. Save it for the trails. Always use jack stands.

You didn't fail. the shackle failed you. This was the same problem that another guy had with the shackle and opted not to install them. They are made wrong and the measurements provided to matt were from someone else on the net. And they were wrong so matt made them wrong.

Man, I wish I had known that someone else had issues with the WRF shackles not being the right size. I'll have to let Matt know so someone else doesn't have this same issue as me. I would have just gone with the 4x4parts.com shackles if I had known it was going to be this difficult, but I thought I was doing the right thing by supporting a smaller shop and the fact that these shackles are quite burley in comparison to the 4x4parts shackles.

So my question is, how did you guys get your OEM shackles off then if the tailpipe is totally in the way on the driver's side? I was looking at unhooking the hangers, but then that looked like things would start to quickly unravel from there into another project. Then I thought I could take an angle grinder or something or my rotozip and cut through the upper bolt of the OEM shackle to get that out. Any thoughts?

get a buddy to pull on it while you put the shackle on

check your pm box!!