Stealth88
Well-known member
Yeah kind of silly on their part they wouldn’t include such pertinent information this go around, or just use the prior setup since it also works.
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Ford Performance 2021+ F-150 Lowering Shackles Released
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93dpscoupe
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Got mine on Friday and installed that night. Now I have a driveline vibration between 18 and 30 mph. Emailed Ford Perf. Tech this morning. No response yet.
93dpscoupe
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My thoughts exactly.
nezff
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Odd. I drove mine immediately after and didn't notice anything. Unless it's there and I don't notice.
Email this guy: he got right back to me.
[email protected]
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bushpilot
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what wheel base is your truck?
are you 4x4 too?
93dpscoupe
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Crew 5.5 bed FX4 max tow. Thinking it’s the max tow spring pack. Ford Performance is looking in to it, but it isn’t going quickly at all. May just get an RMA and put the stock ones back in
bushpilot
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similar config as mine (except I have the PowerBoost w/ the 7.2Kw Gen) and I have no vibration.
its interesting cause the packaging description says there are "shims" included - but my package arrived with nothing more than the shackles - there weren't even any instructions in the box.
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On about the second week of ownership of my 2021 FX4 RCSB, I installed a set of Ford Performance M-3000-HA shackles to lower the rear end of the truck. I also removed the blocks from the springs and installed the pinion angle shims provided in the kit. I posted a write-up of that installation somewhere on this forum.
When I noticed a vibration at around 65 mph I suspected wheels and tires. I had the wheels balanced but the vibration persisted.
I noticed a thread on this forum discussing vibration. After reading through the information I thought that maybe the vibration in my truck was due to incorrect driveline angles.
I crawled under the truck and – using a digital angle finder - measured driveline angles as suggested on the various YouTube videos.
Transmission: 4.5 degrees, Driveshaft: 5.3 degrees, Pinion: 3 degrees
I plugged my measurements into the Spicer driveline angle calculator and found that the driveshaft angle at the transmission was about .8 degrees while the driveshaft angle at the pinion was 2.3 degrees.
https://spicerparts.com/calculators/driveline-operating-angle-calculator
I noticed that with the Spicer calculator, the driveshaft angle at the transmission does not change when the pinion angle changes. In real life, if you change the pinion angle, the driveshaft angle at the transmission (for a one driveshaft setup) will change.
I checked videos on how driveline angles could cause vibration. I found a guy who welded bicycle sprockets to driveshafts and operated the assembly at various angles to demonstrate speed variations that occur. There are a number of similar videos on YouTube.
Since the pinion angle was about 1.5 degrees different from the transmission angle, I decided to make corrections.
Assuming the lowering shackle kit (M-3000-HA) is a Ford product. I guessed that the shims provided in the kit were designed to correct the pinion angle error that was created when I installed the lowering shackles.
I measured the Ford shims on the truck and found that they were about 3 degrees.
But I had also removed the blocks.
The blocks - as installed on my truck - provided about a one degree angle. I figured removing the Ford shims and installing 4 degree shims would get the pinion angle back to stock or close.
I bought Belltech 4977 4 degree f150 shims from Amazon but they extend only part of the way across the spring mounts on the spring block that I was using to estimate fit- returned.
These guys will make custom shims to your specifications but it gets expensive and ordering online seemed tricky. https://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Shims.shtml.
I found 4 degree shims at Calvert Racing. https://calvertracing.com/product-categories/parts/
I emailed Calvert Racing to ask of their shims would work on a 2021 F150. The response was that they would work.
I bought a set of Calvert Racing 4D shims from Summit Racing. 4D shims are 2.5 inches wide. They did not fit the spring block that I was using to estimate fit.
I used the spring block to estimate fit because the truck is my only transportation. Once I started loosening things, I was committed to finishing or I would have to walk to where I needed to go.
I decided to take the old shims off the truck and use them as a pattern to drill the Calvert Racing shims.
The Ford shims appear to be cast aluminum while the Calvert Racing shims appear to be billet aluminum. Exposed parts of the Ford shims had corroded with parts flaking off in the 20 months that they were installed.
The spring center bolt head is ¾ inch diameter with a ½ inch shank.
Bolt spacing is 40 mm.
The thickness of the Calvert Racing shim at the rear center bolt – after drilling the front hole to locate the front bolt on the shim - is about 5/16 inch.
The shim is 5/16 thick, and the head of the center bolt is about 5/16” thick so the bolt would not index the alignment hole on the axle with the shim installed.
Simply popping the new shims in and tightening the u-bolts was not an option.
I needed to extend the center bolt to allow it to index the mounting hole on the axle. Only the rear bolt locates the axle on the spring. The hole for the front bolt is larger in diameter than ¾ inch
Extending the center bolt required that I remove it and install a spacer.
Removal of the bolt was a project in itself.
The bolt has fine threads. The threaded portion extends about two inches – maybe a bit more – above the spring. I didn’t measure it.
After removing the U-bolts and lowering the axle so that I could get to the center bolt head, I used a wire brush and WD-40 to clean the threads before I tried to loosen the nut. Naturally, the entire center bolt turned when I tried to loosen the nut.
The center bolt has a round head so I couldn’t put a wrench on it. Because of the amount of effort needed to loosen the nut, vise grips were of no use.
Looking in my toolbox, I found a six inch Rigid pipe wrench that I had picked up somewhere during my journey through life. A normal size pipe wrench or maybe some other tool available on Amazon might have worked but I used the six inch because it was there and because it was easy to manipulate.
I used a two foot piece of water pipe as a cheater on the pipe wrench and an 18 inch breaker bar on the nut. The pipe wrench put some serious striations on the center bolt head but it still fit the alignment hole.
Even though I used a wire brush, brake cleaner, various types of penetrating oil and even full synthetic motor oil on the threads, the nut would only turn about two turns and lock up.
I backed the nut off a turn, wire brushed and lubricated it again and got two more turns before I had to repeat the process.
After about an hour, I got the nut off.
Thinking about it now, maybe I could have used an air chisel to split the nut (there is ample space to get an air chisel in) and then get another nut from the hardware store but I guess I got caught up in the process.
I loosened the u-bolts on the other side of the truck, unbolted the shock and dropped the axle enough to get the center bolt out. The axle slipped off the jack and slid forward. When I did the other side I used a ratchet strap to hold the axle in position.
Now I needed a spacer.
I thought maybe lock washers or maybe a nut that I could file round would work as a spacer.
Rode the bus to the local hardware store and checked their stock. I found steel spacers a quarter inch thick, with a 3/8 inside diameter and a 3/4 inch outside diameter. I drilled them out to a ½ inch inside diameter. The quarter inch spacer allowed the center bolt to extend into the locating hole and prevent the axle from shifting.
I ran a file on the bolt to remove the rust that had accumulated so that the spacer would slide on, wire brushed and greased the threads and – using the pipe wrench - installed the center bolt into the spring.
I used a ratchet strap to pull the axle into position, installed new U-bolts and new nuts that I bought from the Ford dealer and torqued the U-bolts according to specifications provided with the M-3000-HA shackles.
I drove the truck for a couple of hundred miles, checked the u-bolts tight and measured the angles again.
Transmission: 4.5 degrees Driveshaft: 4.7 degrees Pinion: 4.9 degrees
I entered these values in the Spicer driveline angle calculator and found that driveshaft angles at both the transmission and the pinion are 0.2 degrees
Internet lore has it that the driveshaft angle should be at least a half degree to allow for adequate lubrication or the universal joints will eventually fail.
I thought for a few seconds about failing universal joints. If that were to happen, universal joints are not that difficult to change out. I decided to risk it.
After installing the 4 degree shims, the truck is smooth – no vibrations.
When I noticed a vibration at around 65 mph I suspected wheels and tires. I had the wheels balanced but the vibration persisted.
I noticed a thread on this forum discussing vibration. After reading through the information I thought that maybe the vibration in my truck was due to incorrect driveline angles.
I crawled under the truck and – using a digital angle finder - measured driveline angles as suggested on the various YouTube videos.
Transmission: 4.5 degrees, Driveshaft: 5.3 degrees, Pinion: 3 degrees
I plugged my measurements into the Spicer driveline angle calculator and found that the driveshaft angle at the transmission was about .8 degrees while the driveshaft angle at the pinion was 2.3 degrees.
https://spicerparts.com/calculators/driveline-operating-angle-calculator
I noticed that with the Spicer calculator, the driveshaft angle at the transmission does not change when the pinion angle changes. In real life, if you change the pinion angle, the driveshaft angle at the transmission (for a one driveshaft setup) will change.
I checked videos on how driveline angles could cause vibration. I found a guy who welded bicycle sprockets to driveshafts and operated the assembly at various angles to demonstrate speed variations that occur. There are a number of similar videos on YouTube.
Since the pinion angle was about 1.5 degrees different from the transmission angle, I decided to make corrections.
Assuming the lowering shackle kit (M-3000-HA) is a Ford product. I guessed that the shims provided in the kit were designed to correct the pinion angle error that was created when I installed the lowering shackles.
I measured the Ford shims on the truck and found that they were about 3 degrees.
But I had also removed the blocks.
The blocks - as installed on my truck - provided about a one degree angle. I figured removing the Ford shims and installing 4 degree shims would get the pinion angle back to stock or close.
I bought Belltech 4977 4 degree f150 shims from Amazon but they extend only part of the way across the spring mounts on the spring block that I was using to estimate fit- returned.
These guys will make custom shims to your specifications but it gets expensive and ordering online seemed tricky. https://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Shims.shtml.
I found 4 degree shims at Calvert Racing. https://calvertracing.com/product-categories/parts/
I emailed Calvert Racing to ask of their shims would work on a 2021 F150. The response was that they would work.
I bought a set of Calvert Racing 4D shims from Summit Racing. 4D shims are 2.5 inches wide. They did not fit the spring block that I was using to estimate fit.
I used the spring block to estimate fit because the truck is my only transportation. Once I started loosening things, I was committed to finishing or I would have to walk to where I needed to go.
I decided to take the old shims off the truck and use them as a pattern to drill the Calvert Racing shims.
The Ford shims appear to be cast aluminum while the Calvert Racing shims appear to be billet aluminum. Exposed parts of the Ford shims had corroded with parts flaking off in the 20 months that they were installed.
The spring center bolt head is ¾ inch diameter with a ½ inch shank.
Bolt spacing is 40 mm.
The thickness of the Calvert Racing shim at the rear center bolt – after drilling the front hole to locate the front bolt on the shim - is about 5/16 inch.
The shim is 5/16 thick, and the head of the center bolt is about 5/16” thick so the bolt would not index the alignment hole on the axle with the shim installed.
Simply popping the new shims in and tightening the u-bolts was not an option.
I needed to extend the center bolt to allow it to index the mounting hole on the axle. Only the rear bolt locates the axle on the spring. The hole for the front bolt is larger in diameter than ¾ inch
Extending the center bolt required that I remove it and install a spacer.
Removal of the bolt was a project in itself.
The bolt has fine threads. The threaded portion extends about two inches – maybe a bit more – above the spring. I didn’t measure it.
After removing the U-bolts and lowering the axle so that I could get to the center bolt head, I used a wire brush and WD-40 to clean the threads before I tried to loosen the nut. Naturally, the entire center bolt turned when I tried to loosen the nut.
The center bolt has a round head so I couldn’t put a wrench on it. Because of the amount of effort needed to loosen the nut, vise grips were of no use.
Looking in my toolbox, I found a six inch Rigid pipe wrench that I had picked up somewhere during my journey through life. A normal size pipe wrench or maybe some other tool available on Amazon might have worked but I used the six inch because it was there and because it was easy to manipulate.
I used a two foot piece of water pipe as a cheater on the pipe wrench and an 18 inch breaker bar on the nut. The pipe wrench put some serious striations on the center bolt head but it still fit the alignment hole.
Even though I used a wire brush, brake cleaner, various types of penetrating oil and even full synthetic motor oil on the threads, the nut would only turn about two turns and lock up.
I backed the nut off a turn, wire brushed and lubricated it again and got two more turns before I had to repeat the process.
After about an hour, I got the nut off.
Thinking about it now, maybe I could have used an air chisel to split the nut (there is ample space to get an air chisel in) and then get another nut from the hardware store but I guess I got caught up in the process.
I loosened the u-bolts on the other side of the truck, unbolted the shock and dropped the axle enough to get the center bolt out. The axle slipped off the jack and slid forward. When I did the other side I used a ratchet strap to hold the axle in position.
Now I needed a spacer.
I thought maybe lock washers or maybe a nut that I could file round would work as a spacer.
Rode the bus to the local hardware store and checked their stock. I found steel spacers a quarter inch thick, with a 3/8 inside diameter and a 3/4 inch outside diameter. I drilled them out to a ½ inch inside diameter. The quarter inch spacer allowed the center bolt to extend into the locating hole and prevent the axle from shifting.
I ran a file on the bolt to remove the rust that had accumulated so that the spacer would slide on, wire brushed and greased the threads and – using the pipe wrench - installed the center bolt into the spring.
I used a ratchet strap to pull the axle into position, installed new U-bolts and new nuts that I bought from the Ford dealer and torqued the U-bolts according to specifications provided with the M-3000-HA shackles.
I drove the truck for a couple of hundred miles, checked the u-bolts tight and measured the angles again.
Transmission: 4.5 degrees Driveshaft: 4.7 degrees Pinion: 4.9 degrees
I entered these values in the Spicer driveline angle calculator and found that driveshaft angles at both the transmission and the pinion are 0.2 degrees
Internet lore has it that the driveshaft angle should be at least a half degree to allow for adequate lubrication or the universal joints will eventually fail.
I thought for a few seconds about failing universal joints. If that were to happen, universal joints are not that difficult to change out. I decided to risk it.
After installing the 4 degree shims, the truck is smooth – no vibrations.
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93dpscoupe
Well-known member
- First Name
- Jonathan
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2022
- Threads
- 6
- Messages
- 156
- Reaction score
- 170
- Location
- Bruceville, Tx
- Vehicles
- 01 GMC 1500, 93 Mustang LX SSP
- Occupation
- Product Marketing
Well, Ford Performance solution was none at all. Simply issued a refund and will be updating the site to reflect doesn't fit Max Tow or HDPP. So I ordered a set of shims to see if that works. If not, I'll have a set available soon, lol
SS1LE
Member
Did you install the shims? I just installed the lowering kit on my 2022 SCREW Powerboost with 5.5 bed (no max tow) and also have a vibration at around 25-19 mph.
Edit: Nevermind, I think I have the answer when you responded to my vibration thread.
Last edited:
nezff
Well-known member
I'd like to know also. I have vibrations at all. Had my kit installed now for a month or so.
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