with Bob Norman
Rocky Road
Outfitters "Bonz" Shackles
By Alex Maslo
and Bob Norman
Rocky Road's new "Bonz" shackles just may be the coolest
shackles ever! Open the box and see the offset dogleg gloss black shackles
with a skull and cross bones on them and all you can do is grin. A lot. They
are much beefier than the stock Zook shackles, and provide a little
more tire clearance since they're also longer than stock. This could add a
little to your ramp score also, since you'll also be moving the axle away
from the bump stop.
Follow below as we mount the Rocky Road "Bonz" onto my nasty
stocker "Lockjaw".
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We were going
to take a "before" and "after" measurement to see
how much was truly gained by installing the Bonz, but without a fender
lip to measure, it complicated that end of it.
Hey, why do you think it's called "Lockjaw"? |
| Step
one: Soak all nuts and bolts down with liquid wrench or wd-40 so that
you can break
them loose.
Spray them down and give them plenty of time to soak. Gather
all the tools that you will need to do this project.
The tools that you will need are a 14mm wrench, 14mm socket
(deep), a long ratchet, a large hammer (bfh), pry bars, a jack and
jack stands, and a drift. |
 |
 |
Step
two: Jack the vehicle up and place the stands under the frame, so that
the axle droops.
You want this to happen so that you can put the jack under the
axle to a just the amount of pressure on the leaf springs. |
| Step
three: Remove the nuts off the bolts on the old shackles. This is
where the jack under the axle comes in handy. Then you want to make
sure there is minimal weight on the leaf springs so that you can
remove the bolts with the least effort. Then you might need to pound
out the old bolts if the bushings have a hold on it. |
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Step
four: Once you have the old bolts out to the bushings, you can remove
the old shackle. And begin putting on the new shackles. |
| Step
five: You want to pull apart the new ones before you put them on so
that it is easier to install them. Once you have completed this repeat
this procedure for the rest of the shackles. |
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| Reassembling
them is just as easy. As stated above, the Bonz two vertical legs are
bolted together, rather than welded, which makes putting them on a
snap! No fighting with sliding them over bushings that are too tight,
just loosen the bolt and they slide right on. |
 |
Step
one: Put the outer (bolt) side of the Bonz on first, slide the bolts
through the bushings. |
| Step
two: Assemble the inner side of the Bonz, aligning the bolt holes and
tightening the center bolt to hold them together. |
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Step
three: Tighten up the bushing bolts. These come with locking nuts, so
don't get carried away and over tighten them... it's not necessary and
will ultimately limit your flex. |
| Step
four: Sit back and admire your groovy new shackles. They even look
good on Lockjaw! |
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Bottom line: These are the coolest and possibly the beefiest
shackles I've seen. A definite plus as a fashion accessory, and
completely functional to boot. What more do you need?
Source: Rocky
Road Outfitters
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