Shock mounts

[ThatOneGuy]

Got up early this morning to start smoking a turkey, and was sitting here drinking my coffee, staring at my trucks rear end, thinking about how when i do the axle swap id sure love to get rid of those rock grabbing lower shock mounts. Anyone have any placement recommendations, objections, this will be done to an 8.8. Should i keep shocks in factory setup ie. One forward, one towards rear, or set it up like an explorer both to the rear. And upon moving the mounts from the bottom of the axle should i use a shorter shock, or move upper mount back to retain travel length. Or did ford know best and i should just keep it set up the same way.

 

[Blmpkn]

I was going to convert my '10 to an outboard shock setup using some custom axle u-bolt plates that had eyes welded on the top of them. I forget the name of the company that makes them. Some off road racey company.

That way, no mounts under the axle.. and handling gets improved.


Edit: Kartek makes the plates

 

[4x4junkie]

Do you have a suspension lift on it (at least 3" or so)? If so, putting shorter shocks on after you raise the lower shock mounts shouldn't be a problem (you may need to lower the rear bump stops slightly). If no susp. lift, then you'll probably want to raise the uppers as well.

The one-ahead, one-behind shock placement I recall was an attempt to counteract wheel hopping in the event your rear tires break traction (such as while off road). It's mildly effective, but doesn't come close to eliminating it the way a traction bar would. Unless it creates a clearance issue with another modification, I'd say keep it with that arrangement since every bit helps (if you put a traction bar on it, then it's probably irrelevant which way they are set up).

 

[ThatOneGuy]

Do you have a suspension lift on it (at least 3" or so)? If so, putting shorter shocks on after you raise the lower shock mounts shouldn't be a problem (you may need to lower the rear bump stops slightly). If no susp. lift, then you'll probably want to raise the uppers as well.

The one-ahead, one-behind shock placement I recall was an attempt to counteract wheel hopping in the event your rear tires break traction (such as while off road). It's mildly effective, but doesn't come close to eliminating it the way a traction bar would. Unless it creates a clearance issue with another modification, I'd say keep it with that arrangement since every bit helps (if you put a traction bar on it, then it's probably irrelevant which way they are set up).

Thank you that was the kinda reply i was looking for, there is just so much contradictory info online.

 

[scotts90ranger]

The upper shock mounts would be hard to move... when I was doing my traction bar last year I considered doing something different but instead I just moved the lower mount an inch outboard from where we blindly put them on 10 years ago... we went with just plate mounts that were way shorter than stock, works fine apparently...

 

[4x4junkie]

A little bit of creativity will be needed to raise the upper shock mounts, this is true... (they are mounted inside the c-channel of the frame)

On my BII I cut the mounts just below where the upper stud is, then welded in a section of 3/8" steel plate to raise it, then added a couple gussets to it for support.

Unfortunately this is the only pic I seem to have showing anything of the modified shock mount (and not a very good one at that)


I can get a better pic tomorrow if needed...

I was going to fab up some entirely new mounts from scratch, but so far these have been working for me.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

A little bit of creativity will be needed to raise the upper shock mounts, this is true... (they are mounted inside the c-channel of the frame)

On my BII I cut the mounts just below where the upper stud is, then welded in a section of 3/8" steel plate to raise it, then added a couple gussets to it for support.

Unfortunately this is the only pic I seem to have showing anything of the modified shock mount (and not a very good one at that)


I can get a better pic tomorrow if needed...

I was going to fab up some entirely new mounts from scratch, but so far these have been working for me.

If you could get a pic of the mount id appreciate it.

 

[4x4junkie]

It's pretty tight under there, but here's as good a pic I could do...

I cut the original mount (red line), welded a 3/8" thick plate onto it, then welded the top part of the mount to the top of the 3/8" plate (grinding it down a bit to account for the thickness of the plate). Finally I welded a gusset (made of 1/8" plate) to the front to strengthen it. It's raised approximately 2½".

 

[ThatOneGuy]

It's pretty tight under there, but here's as good a pic I could do...

I cut the original mount (red line), welded a 3/8" thick plate onto it, then welded the top part of the mount to the top of the 3/8" plate (grinding it down a bit to account for the thickness of the plate). Finally I welded a gusset (made of 1/8" plate) to the front to strengthen it. It's raised approximately 2½".

View attachment 63576

Ty that looks about the best easy mod to move the mount

 

[scotts90ranger]

That would likely only work with a body lift unless you are trying to move forward or backward some too... at least on my '90 the upper mounts are fairly close to the bed...

 

[sgtsandman]

I was going to suggest moving the shocks outside the frame but after looking at mine, there isn't enough room to do that unless you get a way shorter shock and mount them to the plate on top of the spring.