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Shock problems!

C

chrisja77

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Marion, AR
Ok guys, here is my problem...I hope someone can give me some ideas. I live just outside of Memphis, TN, but I have to travel for work. Right now, my cherokee is sitting in Baton Rouge, LA without any rear shocks. I was crossing over an intersection in Baton Rouge, and I ended up ripping both of my rear shocks out of the bottom of the jeep. Twisted the bar pins, and broke 1 bolt off on either side. I have to find some way to drive this thing the 400 miles back home! I took it to a ton of shops around town, and noone was willing to weld a bracket onto the underside for me to bolt the shocks to. Any ideas on what to do to get it home or fixed while in Baton Rouge. It is a 95 2 door with 3" lift, 1.5" shackles, and 5" lift shocks if any of that matters.
 
chrisja77 said:
Ok guys, here is my problem...I hope someone can give me some ideas. I live just outside of Memphis, TN, but I have to travel for work. Right now, my cherokee is sitting in Baton Rouge, LA without any rear shocks. I was crossing over an intersection in Baton Rouge, and I ended up ripping both of my rear shocks out of the bottom of the jeep. Twisted the bar pins, and broke 1 bolt off on either side. I have to find some way to drive this thing the 400 miles back home! I took it to a ton of shops around town, and noone was willing to weld a bracket onto the underside for me to bolt the shocks to. Any ideas on what to do to get it home or fixed while in Baton Rouge. It is a 95 2 door with 3" lift, 1.5" shackles, and 5" lift shocks if any of that matters.
Click to expand...
Well shock mounts just dont tear off! Must have been doing something pretty stupid!
 
Well shock mounts just dont tear off! Must have been doing something pretty stupid!
Click to expand...

over compression of the shocks maybe? :dunno:

if it wasnt 400 miles it could be a moderately safe drive but thats pretty far. one time i had to drive my xj about 30 miles (highway and surface roads) without rear shocks and it was fine, but thats nothing compared to your distance

ripping both of my rear shocks out of the bottom of the jeep
Click to expand...
if you mean where the shocks mount to the axle, atleast you can weld better ones higher up on the axle for better rear clearance
 
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Nope, not ripped off the axle, ripped from the body. Top side where the bar pins mount up. and I wasn't doing anything stupid, crossed over one highway from another one. I was going about 35. The Highway I was crossing just happened to have a giant hump in the middle of it. Almost acted like a ramp. No sign warning of it, and I don't live there, so how was I to know? I was just driving down one highway crossing another one and didn't have a redlight, so why stop?
 
Well, if it were me...I'd just take it slow and drive home cautiously. If you were without front shocks that would be a different story, but with the leafs in the rear it is more stable... You could also stop in at places as you go, and see if anyone's willing to do the work, maybe you'll get lucky and find someone willing. You might also have luck posting this in the Chapter forum, I'm sure someone who lives in the area would be able/willing to help you out, and in that case it would be a shorter drive. Plus, you would get to meet up with another NAXJA member. Could make your little predicament somewhat of a fun adventure...

Good luck, hope ya can get everything worked out :farmer:
 
Thanks for the advice 5spd, I'll go post up there. I'm sitting here trying to figure out what to do, and this is what I've come up with. A redneck ghetto fab version of this...

http://store.jksmfg.com/merchant2/m...OCKMOUNT&Store_Code=JKS01&Category_Code=Shock

I'm thinking weld 1" 1/4" thick angle between the "frame rails" (I know I don't have a frame). A piece of angle for each shock, and then get the angle right, and bolt the shock to it. Would work to get me home, and might even work well enough to leave as a permenant upgrade. Your thoughts?
 
If you are going to make it a permenant repair I would recomend caging the "frame" or at least reinforcing the area the mount will go to around 2-4 inches on either side of the bracket (the more the better). Other than that I see no problem.
 
chrisja77 said:
Thanks for the advice 5spd, I'll go post up there. I'm sitting here trying to figure out what to do, and this is what I've come up with. A redneck ghetto fab version of this...

http://store.jksmfg.com/merchant2/m...OCKMOUNT&Store_Code=JKS01&Category_Code=Shock

I'm thinking weld 1" 1/4" thick angle between the "frame rails" (I know I don't have a frame). A piece of angle for each shock, and then get the angle right, and bolt the shock to it. Would work to get me home, and might even work well enough to leave as a permenant upgrade. Your thoughts?
Click to expand...


I had that setup on my old jeep. Just used a piece of square stock ( boxed the ends) and welded bolts to it for the shocks. I wouldn't buy that JKS part. I don't think I would want anything "adjustable" under there.

You could also use Bar Pin Eliminators (BPE). Just bolt/weld them up where the old mounts were.

Rocky Road sells pretty good ones that I use. I'm not sure about their customer service these days though.

http://www.rocky-road.com/xjbarpin.html
 
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thats the one of the reasons i did this on mine
100_2447.jpg
 
I like the idea of using 1 piece of box tube instead of the angle! Question I've got. how large of a tube would I need so I don't end up binding the shocks by getting them too close to the center of the axle? I know one is mounted in front, and one behind. How many inches do they need to be spaced apart? Is 2 enough? That's not much...
 
Mine was 2". It worked perfect, although I had the D35 back then. I don't think you'll run into an issue either way.
As far as separation, If I remember correctly, it was ~3-4" eye to eye. I know they were angled pretty good. There is a correct way to do this but it depends on the amount of travel you have. You want the shock to extend along the same plane as the tire/axle droop. The shock will rotate but compression is were it's important. I just guesstimated.



Edit: I was also at ~6.5" lift. Lower you might look into different shocks.
 
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I still like this idea, and is probably the way I'm gonna go. I have a 3" lift and 1.5" shackles, but the rear is squated a little with a heavy duty homemade rear bumper and tire carrier. That's why I put the shackles on, to level it back up. I overshot and now am spacing the front to match...LOL Your shocks are at a pretty extreme angle. Was that done to stop from bottoming out your shocks since the mount was moved down so much lower?
 
Duh, nevermind. I just reread what you said about the shock extend along the same plane as the axle droop. Mine shouldn't be as much since I'm only running somewhere around 4" of lift... Unless I read this wrong again...LOL
 
chrisja77 said:
....I'm sitting here trying to figure out what to do, and this is what I've come up with.
Click to expand...

Just drive it home without the rear shocks. No rear shocks means the rear will move up and down 2-3 times after hitting a bump. Just take it easy, keep your speed down around 55-60. If the road is smooth you'll be fine, if it gets rough just slow down a little. Being without shocks in the back is not near as bad as it would be in the front. Once you are home you can drill out the broken bolts, install bar pin eliminators and get some new shocks.
 
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Maybe just drive it home, I drove for about a week without rear shocks, of course my rear leaf springs were blown so the axle was resting on the bumpstops, and the ride was harsh, but I made it until I could fix the shocks.
 
Hey i blew my shocks out earlier this summer and have yet to replace them. it is a tad bumpy at times; but then again the longest I can drive on a road here is about an hour and then I run into ocean or closed trails.
 
Another nod for just driving it home. You wont hurt anything, just drive it with some sense. No 100mph autobahn runs..... no wait, thats here, not in the US.

~James
 
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