For Sale FJ40, FJ45 Front shock tower extensions, CA (1 Viewer)

[65swb45]

Location

United States

This product has been around for over 15years, but has never been properly promoted by me. Originally designed by Downey and subsequently modified by me, the extension brackets allow for mounting a shock 5" longer than you otherwise could with the factory setup while still utilizing the stock front shock towers. There is a full write-up in the 40 tech section as of a few days ago, but I'm not savvy enough to figure out how to post a link from my iPad.

Price: $120 plus the ride from Burbank. No PMs please.

 

[Downey]

Explanation to Marks photo: Tall brackets weld to stock shock mounting tower in it's stock location on the frame. Shorter brackets (up side down in photo above) bolt to top eyelet of stock shock tower with the flat head screw used in the tapered hole (after stock shock mounting pin is removed). Slotted/oval holes in both brackets bolt together. Round holes in top of top bracket (shorter bracket) now mount top of shock 5" above original hole, using 5/8" bolts and spacer tubes provided.

 

[65swb45]

Any questions?

 

[65swb45]

Bump for Rob in Anchorage. @907FJ

 

[907FJ]

Thanks Mark!

 

[65swb45]

Rob,

Thanks for the follow up question on wheelbase mods. Because the tower mounts are modular, they are capable of alternate configurations. I built a custom rig for a customer a couple of years ago with a 3" extended wheelbase in the front. I simply swapped the left and right extensions and attached them to the front of the shock tower, effectively moving the centerline of the shock over 2" forward.

After studying his particular suspension geometry (every rig should be evaluated individually) I elected to swap the lower shock mounting tabs on the axle left to right as well. With the pins facing rearward, the geometry worked out perfectly.

I now run swapped pins on my 45 as well.

 

[bikersmurf]

Excellent idea and design. The stock towers are much too low. $99 would have saved me many hours labour and materials to design and build my own towers from scratch... about 15 years ago.

 

[65swb45]

Holiday bump.

 

[DWDTOY]

Shackle reversal in front. Rear moved back a few inches. 35s with 4:88. Spring over. ARB in rear and Long field super axles. Original 3 speed, F155 and t-case. Changing to SM465 with orion twin stick and Nitto Trail Grapplers 40s. I want to change to 14" travel coil overs too. Can this set up have clearance for like King, Bilstein ar Fox coilovers?

 

[cruisermatt]

Shackle reversal in front. Rear moved back a few inches. 35s with 4:88. Spring over. ARB in rear and Long field super axles. Original 3 speed, F155 and t-case. Changing to SM465 with orion twin stick and Nitto Trail Grapplers 40s. I want to change to 14" travel coil overs too. Can this set up have clearance for like King, Bilstein ar Fox coilovers?

You can’t mount a coil-over on these. They would rip off the frame the first time you hit a bump.

 

[65swb45]

I don’t know anything about the shocks you’ve named, but based on @cruisermatt conclusion I will assume they are very aggressive. So it’s probably best to assume you should have some kind of hoop for your application that spreads the stress out across a wider crosssection of frame.

But thanks for bumping my thread!

 

[DWDTOY]

OK Thanks for the advice. That would have been bad news.

 

[65swb45]

Possibly the most under-promoted suspension upgrade on this forum. D’oh.

 

[thebigredrocker]

pics of kit installed

Info from the other Mark's Off Road shock tower extension thread.

[I figured I would post this up in tech, since I believe the discussion is generic to different options for installing longer-travel shocks.]



Credit for this idea goes 100% to @Downey. It has been a very long time now, but IIRC Jim originally designed this product in about 2001, concurrent with his version of the cantilever shackle. Like so many other of his products developed in that time frame, my 68FJ40 was the guinea pig for the prototype.



The principle was simple: get more shock, and more shock travel, and retain the original shock geometry, without having to remove the stock tower. The Ford shock tower option was already well known in the off road forums, but it had and still has two major drawbacks. First, the extension principle was and is limited by the fact that the top of the tower is stuck underneath the fender. The second is that the shock is significantly outboarded, which is a non-starter for anyone who is using factory-type steering which incorporates a drag link that runs along the framerail.



Jim's design [and mine] uses two plates. The first is the extension plate, which is welded to the rib in the stock shock tower, providing an extra five inches of height to the upper mounting pin. The second is the stabilizer plate, which utilizes the stock tower pin hole to help anchor and support the tower extension.



It was probably good that the prototype was developed on my F engine, as the air cleaner clearance issue does not exist on the 2F. After he delivered my installed prototype (complete with newly dimpled air cleaner) I thoroughly tested out the truck at a nearby OHV area. Considering how basically stock my truck otherwise is, it was impressive that I could now put one tire up on a 30” rock with the other tire on the ground, courtesy of the cantilever shackles and shock towers.



I took a second set from Jim in about 2004 and tweaked the specs on them before installing my version of a prototype on my 64FJ45. My version took away the adjustability feature that Jim had originally put into the brackets, but made sure the tower would not interfere with the drag link and also gave a better margin for clearing the F engine air cleaner. I had a production run made in 2005 and then...nothing. I got waylaid by the tragedy of a friend's death, and just kind of mothballed the project, saying 'One day I'm going to do a write-up on these and give them a proper roll out. So here we are, 12 years later! The warehouse fire has been a personal catalyst on many fronts, and this is one of them.

 

[mattcamp]

I've been running them for years. Work great.

 

[MAO]

does anyone know if I can find a set nowadays? original post seem to be from 2017...

 

[65swb45]

does anyone know if I can find a set nowadays? original post seem to be from 2017...

Per post #13, they are still available.

 

[65swb45]

I can bring a set of these to Oceanside on Saturday. @EWheeler ?

 

[65swb45]

Ttt

 

[youpers]

Order placed!