Builds 86 Xtra Cab Build (4Wheelunderground 3 link front, 4 link rear and 3.4 swap) (2 Viewers)

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Before I pulled the bed I did one more check of the tire clearance.

Here's at ride height and both sides at 5" up.

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I have another cross member RIGHT where I need to put my shocks. Actually what I'm probably going to do is buy or build frenched shock towers. At full articulation the tire is almost touching the frame. The shock needs to be where the frame rail is.

A cross member can go back in between them. Same for the other one I had to remove.

I'm going to fabricate some lower shock mounts first and see how the shocks fit before I commit to cutting the frame.

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I'd say trim them both like you did the one, and then push the bulged part of the fender out to clear the tire. I think that would look cleaner than an eyebrow notch to clear the 37's or taking the trimming out to the next body-line. IMHO.....

What about putting the c/o's at the rear of the axle housing? Does full bump put the upper mount above the bed floor? If it puts the upper bolt hole within the depth of the frame rail I'd be tempted to french the mounts into the frame from the bottom.
 
In that pic, the axle is at ride height and I extended the shock 5" to match the front. So definitely going through the bed.

Even though it's designed to attach where it's sitting, I still have options. The pad for the bumps is just to the rear. I'll cycle it and see how things look.
 
So before I cut my frame I did some serious measuring to make sure everything is properly positioned and square.

That's a lot of weight and floppy parts to be letting the clamps loose. So I have ratchet straps and jacks holding it all. I ended up moving the whole assembly forward . I double checked to make sure all links are proper length.

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I also decided to fab up lower shock mounts. I saw some pics of a design I like online so I did my best to make a similar pair.

They look like the new ones that 4Wheelunderground sells. I would have bought them had they been available when I ordered my kit. I didn't want to wait for them and I have some steel so here they are.

I cut them out with a cut off wheel. I used a hole saw and cut between the holes "close".

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I bolted them up to make sure they fit properly and tack welded them. Took them off to finish. I'll fuse the inside joint with TIG. I might add another piece across.... maybe.

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It puts the shock about where the fronts are and frees up the space for the bumps. Being offset also gives me more clearance from the tire.

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You can see why the cross member has to go and why I have to cut the frame to French in some shock towers. I'll add bracing back in after.

I did cut out the cross member and notched out a section of frame, I just didn't get pictures yet. I need to pick up some steel tomorrow.

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Looks like I have some updating to do. I haven't been able to work on this as much as I want to. Life happens.

So the shock has to go right where the tube cross member is. I started out cutting a section out and tacking some 1/4" plate in for mock-up.

I first tried to put the top mounting hole in the center of the mount. I had to move it inside more or the tire would hit at max articulation.

I really had to clamp and brace things to keep the rear half of the frame where it's supposed to be.

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I almost bought some universal shock towers from Barnes but they are wider than I need and I would rather minimize the size of the cut through my frame. I thought that I could reinforce that notch by plating it. Making it more of a tube than a notch.

I maxed out the articulation and found a way to do it and still have a little clearance from the tire.

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It's a little tougher to R&I the shock but I could still do it. So I made a pattern of the plate, cut another one out and did the other side. AND IT DOESN'T CLEAR THE TIRE!! 🤬

I remeasured EVERYTHING. I went through it to a gnat's a$$ and it's all spot on. WTF?? I found that I can shift the whole axle side to side just shy of 3/4" if I push hard enough.

So I cut my plates back off and decided that I'll just plate the frame and weld in some stout cross members. (Which I haven't done yet)
 
So I moved on to making mounts for the bumps. After cycling the suspension and determining the location I made some cardboard patterns and cut some pieces out of steel and got one tacked up.

They have to sit below the frame and close to the shock so I'm tying it in to the tower and adding steel to plate the frame.

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It was a little challenging to find a position where it bottoms out with the axle straight up AND articulated. I marked where it contacts in both positions.

I found if I angle the bump can just 2 degrees and drop it down just a bit, it will not let the shock take all the load when bottomed out articulated. And straight up travel it bottoms out just when the shock bump touches.

Good enough for me so I tacked it and pulled it off to weld it.

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