Some upper shock mounts. Anybody think these will work?

[iant333]

Kinda want to rework some of my front suspension stuff currently. For one I'm not a fan of my current shock mount setup, i'm running those JKS stud eliminators that compress the shock up like 2 inches. The shocks come less than a 1/4 inch from bottoming out when the bumpstops engage which is ok, but I could raise the mount on top and run 10" or 12" travel shocks up front and throw my current ones in the back.

Currently looks like this:





Want to take that off and cut the hole that the stud used to go through even bigger and make some sort of a mount that bolts inside the engine compartment. Basically have it so the eye sits just inside the engine compartment between two pieces of like 1/8th" steel welded to the sheetmetal there and I can just drill a hole to run a bolt through. Would probably even brace it and I wouldn't have to worry about strength.

It wouldn't work currently with the Bilstein 5150's I have with the way the little reservoir is placed, but if I bought 7100 remote resi's I could tuck the reservoir out of the way. If I make a stud that sits a bit lower for the lower mount, I could according to my calculations run a 12" travel and still be an inch or so short of dropping a coil and not bottom out either.

Anyone else think this work work pretty good? Once I get around to buying some new front shocks I think I'm gonna try it out. Also can you run a 12" travel on shortarms without binding everything the hell up or should I stick with 10? I'm gonna get some RE 3.5 coils so the angle should still be fine.

[Ruepart Hoaxley]

might work. I'd love to see a visual of this idea.

[HitItWithSomeSpeed]

I'll be attempting the same sorta deal on my rig, so I say go for it and let me know how it goes.

[WAD357]

Only thing Id worry about it how strong the upper mount would really be if its only tied into the sheet metal

[iant333]

Only thing Id worry about it how strong the upper mount would really be if its only tied into the sheet metal

The stock mounting system only ties them to the sheetmetal.


I think i'm gonna buy the T&J ones though, they give you like an inch over the JKS ones and I wont have to bother cutting/welding and stuff. Then just extend the bottom another inch like cumminsjeep did and that should fit 10's.

[CumminsJeep]

The stock mounting system only ties them to the sheetmetal.


I think i'm gonna buy the T&J ones though, they give you like an inch over the JKS ones and I wont have to bother cutting/welding and stuff. Then just extend the bottom another inch like cumminsjeep did and that should fit 10's.

I have 5 inches of up travel with the way my shock mounts are and JKS upper mounts. I wish I had about 4 so i could have that extra inch of downtravel for crawling. and mine are 10 inch shocks. and are you talkin about the T&J uppers?

[iant333]

I have 5 inches of up travel with the way my shock mounts are and JKS upper mounts. I wish I had about 4 so i could have that extra inch of downtravel for crawling. and mine are 10 inch shocks. and are you talkin about the T&J uppers?

Yeah, the T&J uppers. They are kinda pricey so I'm gonna make sure I actually need them.

I'm still kinda torn though, if I did mount the shock eye's under the hood I could stuff 12's in there.


And i'm gonna get RE 3.5 coils soon too so i'm not sure what the up/downtravel ratio is gonna be, hoping for like 5/5 though, gonna trim the fender some more too and take the washer bottle out to get a little more room for up.

As it is now with ~2.75 inches of lift I have 3.5 up and 4.5 down

[iant333]

Ok drawn up for ease of understanding. Please critique me, I don't do much with metalworking so this will be new.

First use a hole saw to bore out a hole a bit larger then the body of a B7100, enough wiggle room to account for the fact that the shock pivots slightly and stuff.




I'm planning on using all 1/8th for this too, I don't trust my 100amp welder to make a safe weld on much more than that. They should be mounted plenty securely, the unibody is thicker than normal there.

I would take 2 pieces with a hole through the middle for the eye to go between and the eye to bolt to. Then brace them with a little triangular piece, maybe even cap them together if there is enough clearance not to hit the eye.

Basically looking like this.


An estimated measurement for how much extra this would move the shock up is about 3-4 inches, I might not even have to screw with the lower mount. If I run 12's I would try and shoot for another 1 inch up and another 3 down so I'll figure out where the lower mount needs to be after I take some better measurements.




And I worked out most of the issues with the longer travel shocks. I did a binding test the other day with the shocks disconnected, the first thing to bind are my stock UCA's about an additional 3 inches past where the shock currently stops extending, I ordered some RK ones and should have those soon though which will solve the problem, brakelines next but i'll take care of those. Nothing else bind's a reasonable amount really.

Only other thought I had is I'm not sure if the line to the resi is gonna be in the way of anything, I would like to mount them under the hood if possible. That's why I'm gonna wait until I get the shocks before I actually start making anything, I need some dimensions from them.

[HeavyMetal]

i assume youre getting resi shocks to assist in shock cooling...putting a resi under the hood is probably counter productive to that (no air flow, contained engine heat). On mine i just mount my resis to the shock bodies on my front ones (rubber isolated) and experience no issues there

Also theres no real advantage to you running 12" travel shocks unless youre lookin for some real extra droop beyond 10" travel for whatever reason. Uptravel is typically limited by other things on the XJ, and 12" shocks typically have bigger shock bodies anyway, which get rid of uptravel...unless youre lookin for a short body, but either way the point stands.

IMHO its easier/more logical to lower your lower shock mounts ala what andrew did as opposed to raising the uppers. Plus it gives you an excuse to upgrade to beefier LCA brackets to weld to.

[CumminsJeep]

i assume youre getting resi shocks to assist in shock cooling...putting a resi under the hood is probably counter productive to that (no air flow, contained engine heat). On mine i just mount my resis to the shock bodies on my front ones (rubber isolated) and experience no issues there

Also theres no real advantage to you running 12" travel shocks unless youre lookin for some real extra droop beyond 10" travel for whatever reason. Uptravel is typically limited by other things on the XJ, and 12" shocks typically have bigger shock bodies anyway, which get rid of uptravel...unless youre lookin for a short body, but either way the point stands.

IMHO its easier/more logical to lower your lower shock mounts ala what andrew did as opposed to raising the uppers. Plus it gives you an excuse to upgrade to beefier LCA brackets to weld to.

agreed. I cant see that being stronger up top then it is now. there isnt much substance to weld to up there either. I would just do the lowers like I did and leave the top IMO

[iant333]

Yeah the resi under the hood might not be a good idea.

And I just happened to look, they make short body 10's that are only a half inch longer than the 8" 5150's I have now. I thought I was going to have to stretch it whole bunch but if I get those maybe not. I guess I need new LCA brackets anyways,


http://www.eshocks.com/bil_ORvh.asp?...=All&SubChar=Q

[Zullock Holmes]

IMO what will said i think is the best option.

It's gonna be really tight trying to do that on the drivers side too, i'd just put a new shock mount on the side of the LCA bracket. There are alot of people that do that, and i've never heard a complaint about that setup.

[WAD357]

The stock mounting system only ties them to the sheetmetal.

This is true haha

[customcreationsllc]

Wouldn't it be easier to go lower on your axle?
I lowered my brothers shocks about an inch on the axle by mounting under the original mount instead of the top very little work.

I mean if you need more then you will have to go through your shock towers. Make sure the hole is wide so it doesn't hit when the articulated.





For a quick fix install hockey pucks on the axle to hit the bump stop sooner.
I just welded a nut to the axle in the spring mount
Drill a hole in the center of the puck and bolt it down.
They actually sell weld in nuts. just drill a hole place the nut inside and weld the head down.

Hard to see the puck in there I have better pictures just not posted.

[customcreationsllc]

If you do go through the shock tower you can probably just use your current mount lay it sideways and weld it down.