I have a 1991 2 door XJ and I've been working on it here and there over a couple of years. There's a bunch of stuff that previous owners did that I'm wondering if it'd be best to reverse or replace certain things. One interesting modification the previous owner did is this shackle set-up in the rear. Is this a safe setup to have? Has anyone done/seen this before?

 

It looks like a "revolver shackle" but worse... you could look into those and they are designed to open up under suspension drop and offer even more drop than the single shackle setup can offer (lazy wording my apologies)

What you have there looks like some lazy bum didn't want to deal with their factory shackle but still wanted a lift... Soo they went to autozone and bought a Chevy lowering shackle and bolted it to the factory one and called it a day.

I dont think id leave it as is, Id be concerned how those shackles respond with eachother if the susension unloaded enough for the shackles into invert to opposite direction than where its at currently

 

That's cute. Its apparently good for hanging the trailer light harness too.

There is a chance that the upper shackle could invert if the rear suspension is fully extended and then allowed to settle. I don't think this would happen in normal driving. If it were to happen, it would make one side of the vehicle taller and stiffer. Should be ok for now, but something you'll want to address in the future.

 

That's what I figured. Thank you for your reply. I honestly might just get new leafs as well as shackles and just update the rear altogether. Problem is, I have no idea what amount of lift to go with to match the front😂

 

That's a sketchy homebrew lift. It's not safe. The angle puts too much stress on the bolts and it can snap. Get a proper shackle relocation kit or standard lift shackles.