shock mounts (searched) maybe not hard enough

I picked up my 9 inch from Currie yesterday morning, and like a dummy I guess I figured it would have shock mounts on it. I'm figuring I'll just cut the old ones off and reuse them, plus that'll give me a little better clearance. does anyone see any issues with this? I'm also wondering if I should leave them in the same position or if I should move them at all. I'll be installing an 8" lift at the same time. ANY help would be great. I am doing it all this week.

with an 8" lift I would move them up about 2 inches so they are flush with the bottom of the tube, then run some rear shocks for a 6" lift.

BrettM said:

with an 8" lift I would move them up about 2 inches so they are flush with the bottom of the tube, then run some rear shocks for a 6" lift.

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or move them to the top of the tube and run shocks for a 4" lift,

welllll crap. I already have the shocks from RockKrawler for the 8" lift....what about moving them flush, then replacing the shocks down the road? I would rather waste a few bucks now, then have to reweld my mounts later. Will the shocks I have now bottom out real bad???

jephs422 said:

welllll crap. I already have the shocks from RockKrawler for the 8" lift....what about moving them flush, then replacing the shocks down the road? I would rather waste a few bucks now, then have to reweld my mounts later. Will the shocks I have now bottom out real bad???

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depends on how your bumpstops are set. put the shockmounts where you want them and get shocks to match that. the shocks you have just might work, might as well try since you already have them.

yeah, I guess that sounds like the logical thing to do.......which normally would mean to not do it. hehe, but I think that's what I'll do. I am using a set of Detours XTM shock relocaters, so the are already gonna be a little long I think. I'll just replace them down the road with a set of 5150's..

jephs422 said:

yeah, I guess that sounds like the logical thing to do.......which normally would mean to not do it. hehe, but I think that's what I'll do. I am using a set of Detours XTM shock relocaters, so the are already gonna be a little long I think. I'll just replace them down the road with a set of 5150's..

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hehe indede

BrettM said:

depends on how your bumpstops are set. put the shockmounts where you want them and get shocks to match that. the shocks you have just might work, might as well try since you already have them.

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Umm...didn't even think about that. are my stock bumpstops not going to be adequate? I figured since I'm running 35's with an 8" lift I wouldn't get any tire stuffin issues, but now I need to think about my shocks bottoming out. Any thoughts on this?

i made mine for my Dana 60 in a couple of minutes and they were cheap.i went to the steel yard and grabbed some scrap 2x4



welded a bolt in 5/8 would be best .aslo make sure that the shoulder of the bolt is just long enough to go through the shock bushing.

i saw Ryan (Dr.Moab) using a old shock bushing with a cut in it .this will let you slip it around the shock post then hold it in place with a band clamp.this will keep the shock from hitting the bottom of the shock tube.this is a temp fix and you should still look into fabbing up some bumpstop extensions

shocks mounted on raised lower mounts and mounting into stock upper locations bother me,
1st of all i've delt with it and yes its a problem
no you can't just sling some short shocks under there and expect you lifted height to A)not bottom out the shock when compressed or B) have flex limited by the lack of extension of the shock

2nd problem encountered when raising the shock's lower mount to the top of the axle tube is you Will loose the added benefit of the shocks helping to control axle wrap unless the mount is positioned correctly, the stock mounting of rear shocks didn't really help axle wrap, but moving them to the top center of the tubes is a definite no-no

i currently don't have any pics of mine, but a brief desc till then may help give you some ideas

i'm running about 7" of lift and 9" travel ranchos
both lower mounts are positioned on the rear of the tubes of my d44 and are angled up-ward and are above the center of the axle tube slightly to clear rocks (unlike stock mounts always got hung on rocks)
the center of the lower mounts are directly below the inner line of the *frame-rail* of which custom upper mounts are positioned, whereby a piece of plate 3/8" was welded in and the original lower mount stud-bolts were welded in place so that the shock is angled forward about 45* and is in position to alow full articulation and also help control axle wrap/hop
by the way the lower mounts are the Rusty's offroad weld on type..
like these..

JLane99XJ-do you have an installed pic? I'd like to see an example on your rig.

Wil Badger- I like the way your set up looks. That's about what I had pictured in my head on where to put them.

jephs422 said:

JLane99XJ-do you have an installed pic? I'd like to see an example on your rig.

Wil Badger- I like the way your set up looks. That's about what I had pictured in my head on where to put them.

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no but i can get some later today if you will pm me i'll send you a link to where you can view them 1st chance i get

you will need to do a few measurements on your rig
1st take a baseline measurement of the rig sitting normally from a point nearto where you plan to mount the lower mount, say center of the axle tube to the bottom of the *frame-rail*
then using the same 2 reference points with the rear flexed to the max, measure both the compression and extension then using those 3 numbers figure out what amount of travel you have to compensate for..

While you all are talking about shocks I have a question, why do they mount one lower shock mount in front of the axle and the other one behind ? Is that also an axle wrap helper or something ?

if it is for the same reason as my old cars....yes, it's for axle wrap.

I recently did mounts for my D44.I originaly purchased JKS but didnt like the height(to high on the axle) or how far inboard they mounted.I ended up buying mounts from MORE and the modified them to where they are even further "outboard" than stock.
BTW,the previous post w/ the Rusty's bracket rotates the end 90*.

i always liked those mounts but for 15 dollars a piece it's just to much when i know i can make something.the mounts i made for mine were a quick fix to having no shocks after the axle swap.i still have yet to get all the bugs out.

what was stated before about having problems with shortening the stock mount is true for the most part.you will have trouble finding just the right shock.it will either be to long or to short.you need to get the shock as far out and down as you can afford

i was going to mount them this way to get it a little long shock


but i would have only gotten about a 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch and i would've need to recut them so they would fit under the spring perch. i needed them on for a ride i wanted to go on so they were flipped and welded on.

...or you can cut off and cut/modify D35 shock mounts like I did if you're really on a budget or just like to make your own.



Here's the semi-finished project...

Thanks for all of the ideas guys. I'm gonna cut off the mounts from my 35, then just modify them to fit the 9 inch and lift them up to be level with the middle of the axle. I would rather not have to go through the hassle of getting a bolt with the right shoiulder and cutting it off and what not. The stock mount will clean up nice, and should work good.