• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

shock mount option

I am using my rear sway bar mounting brackets a my upper mounts by bolting them through the floor and a support plate using carriage bolts from the topside. I will have to flip the side that the shocks mount on the axle on both side. At least I hope this works (will find out this weekend). Everything looks like it will work that way. I have very long shocks, and they bottom out using the stock locations, so I will be moving the mounding points towards the center of the vehicle.

JKS makes a cool looking contraption if you like bolt on stuff.
 
mecrafty said:
I am using my rear sway bar mounting brackets a my upper mounts by bolting them through the floor and a support plate using carriage bolts from the topside. I will have to flip the side that the shocks mount on the axle on both side. At least I hope this works (will find out this weekend). Everything looks like it will work that way. I have very long shocks, and they bottom out using the stock locations, so I will be moving the mounding points towards the center of the vehicle.

JKS makes a cool looking contraption if you like bolt on stuff.
But that is an incorrect mounting(turning the pivot points 90* from their "natural" movement)!
 
When I put my lift on, all of the shock bolts broke off. I made brackets that bolted into some holes that were on the cross member. I recently switched back because it was a pain to try to tighten the bolts that held the brackets on. When I went to drill them out, I did the driver side first. I drilled through the (part of the) nut that was frozen in the bolt and up through the floor, then I drilled a hole with a hole saw around each of the holes so I could knock the stock nut off then put new nuts and bolts in. These holes were small enough that I didn't have to cover them up other the with the carpet. On the other side, I didn't feel like drilling up again so I took a small drill bit and drilled through a small hole that was inbetween the two shock bolts then I cut a larger hole that covered both of the shock bolt holes so I could knock the bolts off. This hole was a little larger so I did feel like I needed to cover it. I wish that I would have just drilled it out when I broke the bolts when I was putting the lift on but I didn't because I didn't want to take out the carpet and everything but now that I have had the carpet in and out a couple of times its really easy to do and this is definitely what I would recommend.

Yeah, yeah I know this is already out there but I figured I would make it easier for someone who is searching.

Chris
 
RCP Phx said:
But that is an incorrect mounting(turning the pivot points 90* from their "natural" movement)!

Not using the original placement of sway bar. :doh:
I am only using the bracket. I got it done this weekend, but have not uploaded any of the photos. It did work very nicely. I will toss some photos up later this week.
 
mecrafty said:
Not using the original placement of sway bar. :doh:
I am only using the bracket. I got it done this weekend, but have not uploaded any of the photos. It did work very nicely. I will toss some photos up later this week.

don't worry about rcp phx he's a very opinionated,jump to conclusion kinda guy, probably just needs to be hugged more
 
I got tired of breaking the bolts so I just made a shock hoop!
027.jpg
 
more pics please!!! Is that tied into the framerails or welded to the floorpan?? How do you find it as compared to stock?I have a rear roll bar off an old 89 4runner with the removable roof I had planned to do something with oneday!
 
bcmaxx said:
don't worry about rcp phx he's a very opinionated,jump to conclusion kinda guy, probably just needs to be hugged more
Or you can just be blind to the reality and do whatever comes to mind even if its wrong!
 
bcmaxx said:
more pics please!!! Is that tied into the framerails or welded to the floorpan?? How do you find it as compared to stock?I have a rear roll bar off an old 89 4runner with the removable roof I had planned to do something with oneday!

Its tied into the frame rail. We cut into the floor and slid a piece of angle down then welded it to the rail. I welded it to the floor pan also. As far as ride goes Im running 255/70 valving Bilstien 5150's now so on the road its a bit stiff but offroad its amazing.

heres the 3/16 angle that was welded to the frame rail and the pan
004-1.jpg


heres a shot from underneith before it was welded in
006-1.jpg
 
:dunno: Guess I'm just dumb, but my shocks move up and down - no matter how the mount is rotated
 
Well, I finally got the photos uploaded. Everything seems to be working really nice. I will find out how well it holds up to some rock crawling June 1st, but the confidence is high. I was bottoming out the up stroke of the shocks with the smallest of road bumps (I suppose that might be called topping out).
Like I stated earlier, I reused the rear sway bar mounts. I had to drill the hole out to fit the bolt that I pushed through the upper shock bushing.

2509250475_1040bd5566.jpg

I had to flip the side of the axle that the shocks mounted. I removed the shock to axle bracket previously for additional ground clearance, so welding a bolt to the axle centerline was in order.
2510082530_873ce3c593.jpg


The reason for changing the mounting side of the axle was to get away from the stock (stamped sheet metal) cross member.
2510082452_874857b312_o.jpg


I drilled ½” holes through the floor board and attached the upper shock mounts to a simple fabricated backer plate (2”X ¼”) with carriage bolts. I opted for carriage bolts because I wanted a smoother finish look than a regular bolt head. Luckily I work at a machine shop where I had access to a broach machine with a ½” round to square cutting rod to make the square holds. I suppose I could have filed a round hole with a small hand file or a Dremel tool, but why go to the effort if you don’t have to.
2509250719_66e7335be6_o.jpg


2510082024_66f7dc5293.jpg


I do plan on eventually beefing up my cross members and stiffening my unibody frame, and I will tie the shocks into that then. I am currently riding on 5” of lift and 33”tires.
I hope someone may find this information useful. :clap:
 
i like the ideas you have. i have heard of using the rear swaybar link as a bar pin eliminator before. the only concern i have is with the axle side of things. im not to sure that a bolt welded onto the axle tube will be strong enough. i dont think that the weld can penetrate deep enough to properly tie in, nor would there be enough weld serface area (the strong point of a T type welded joint) to deal with the loads that part of the axle experiences. i recently welded an aftermarket raised shock mount on to another members D44 and i liked the fact that it was 1/4" plate and gave enough weld surface area to be strong enough for the application.

im not trying to be a sourpus here, im just trying to help you avoid the chance of headaches if something went wrong there
 
there is a cheap but strong alternative welding the stud to the axle housing, pm me for pics, I'm not interested in hearing from the peanut gallery eg.(rcp phx)
 
bcmaxx said:
there is a cheap but strong alternative welding the stud to the axle housing, pm me for pics, I'm not interested in hearing from the peanut gallery eg.(rcp phx)

LOL thats funny...he seems to put everyone elses stuff down but i have seen his "custom" work :doh:
 
I do not disagree that welding a bolt head to the axle tube is not the strongest. I have been running that way for almost 2 years and they haven't bent. I do not want to steal this thread, but I am open to suggestions.
 
offroader461 said:
LOL thats funny...he seems to put everyone elses stuff down but i have seen his "custom" work :doh:

I don't mean to put anyone down, It would probably be just fine, but I wouldn't want to risk it on a long trip/wheeling event when it can be done right for less than 20 bucks! Yet it might last foerever! cheers!:cheers:
 
Back
Top