Greasable Shackles - Worth it????

Funny you talkin about the bike chain thing, I rode bikes out the sand hills at Kurnell all my childhood, and we lubed our chains before and after every ride, if you run them 'dry' or with only crap lube they died too fast.. Its a rock and a hard place. Even when I was racing, I used to use 'Chainwax' was very good stuff, THICK as, and blue, you could see where it was, it did cobwebs!

"the pros use WD40"

The pros are also sponsored, and get that sort ofbleepfor cheap, it doesn't matter if they only last 2 events.. Most 'PRO's in competiton like Thumper Nats replace chains each meeting. so its not a real good thing to compare it to.

YMMV

Truckster those sand hills were great we used to ride bickes out there too. Not much sand now though.
I tell the kids how big they used to be and they dont beleive me.
I have greasable shackels on my 60 and they seem to work fine .

All the best
Eric

www.capeyorkconnections.con.au

Truckster no we're not talking about chains but you don't explain why the ARB, TJM, TOUGH DOG etc all recommend against them in this area.

As for the bike chains though the pro's I refer to are the sprocket manufacturors, workshops, local racers and about every national and international forum and dirtbike mag seem to agree. Also the chain wax is so thick now it doesn't even cobweb it just stays put, together with all the dirt and sand it attracts, eating away at softer components like x-rings exactly the same situation as polyurethane or rubber bushes according to all the suspension suppliers in Alice.

My point is only go by what your retailer recomends in your area and for your application. I wanted them but was heavily warned against them by the people who would've profited from them. I imagine lots of water crossings would be a very good application for greasable shackles.

Your comparison between a motorbike chain and shackle pins is an interesting theory Slammin, but methinks that if you honestly believe it, you have been drinking too much of your bathwater or you would qualify for membership of the flat earth society.

It is a proven fact that lubrication reduces wear on moving parts and it also a proven fact that the grease in greasable shackles helps to prevent/reduce the ingress of water,dirt,grit etc.

I have been using greasable shackles in Cruisers for more than 20 years in all sorts of terrain and I have never had one fail or show excessive wear - I have seen a lot of non greasable shackles fail though.

Diesel 1

Good on ya Diesel, put your glasses on.

Reread my post it's not my theroy it's the suppliers. You know - the guys who sell the things, not that their combined experience is anything compared to your 20 years in Cruisers.

The shackles don't fail the bushes wear excessively. In these conditions.

Derr, it's not rocket science, nuff said already.

Better still if you don't beleive me call the suppliers around here start at Elston's a TJM supplier on 08 8 8952 4420 (the guys who compared the chains to shackles originally) and argue the point with them and then call all the other suppliers in town like I did and get the same story.

Slammin,
About the only reasonable thing that you have stated is 'it's not rocket science' and I don't think you have to be real smart to work out that greasable shackles are the way to go no matter what the conditions.
Consider the following:
Movement causes friction.
Friction causes heat.
Most bushes don't like heat, especially polyurethane.
Lubrication reduces friction and therefore reduces heat.

Diesel 1

Diesel get your ego out of the way of your view and reread my post c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y.

I already said in some applications I think greasable shackles would be good. They don't make them for no reason.

Again I will state my perfectly reasonable explanation.

My dealers not one but all in this area, the people who sell and fit these things, read this s-l-o-w-l-y DEALERS not me said they are not ideal in this area, Alice and surrounds.

IMHO I take their professional opinion a lot more seriously than your - "I'm smarter, no matter what the conditions, amateur rubbish."

Guess what Diesel? some people disagree with your generalisations - and from what I have read, that is why Troopie posted this thread.

last post.

whatever

You've really got yourself worked up over this Slammin. I accept that others will disagree with my opinions and I don't give a damn if they do or they don't.

I base my opinion of greasable shackles on 20 years of using them along with 30 years as a diesel mechanic with extensive experience with Toyota in both the rural & mining industries here in the Territory and SA.

What you have to realize when contributing your views on any forum is that there are people like me that will disagree with you - being a fellow Territorian, I would have thought that you could handle the flak a bit better than you have.

Diesel 1

Yeh Troopie issues like this become contentious because if someone's view differs from theirs then of course they are wrong and they must be drinking bathwater :-)

As to what to do, speak to reputable dealers of the major brands and see what they recomend for your area and application, if they all say the same thing then you've got a pretty good base on whch to make your decisions.

When greasing shackle pins the correct way to do this in my opinion is to pump enough grease through until fresh grease appears at the other end of the shackle assy. This will tell you that you have replaced all the old grease inside the shackle pin and spring eye with fresh grease. Also this will expell most / all? foreign matter such as dirt etc etc. Depending on where you are driving would dictate how often you perform this , common sense would tell you just how often. Regards G.T.