Is it possible to relocate rear shock bottom mount? (2 Viewers)

[sonk76]

I was just wondering if anyone had considered moving the rear bottom shock mounts upwards a few inches. I figured that this could allow one to continue using the full range of the shock travel when using 35" tires in the rear and lowering the bump stops.

I know one could just go with longer shocks (e.g., 74L), but if I wanted to keep the flexibility and ride comfort of my AHC setup. It seemed like the added benefit of this could be to move the bottom mounts of the shocks a bit out of the way in general (those seem to occasionally get hung-up on rocks.)

I know very little about suspension design--not to mention I have no idea how to weld or do the modifications needed to enable this--but wanted to know if anyone had any thoughts on why this might be a good/bad idea. Any thoughts?

 

[1loudLX]

Yeah it's possible. Do you really need to though? Not in my opinion.

 

[sonk76]

Yeah it's possible. Do you really need to though? Not in my opinion.

Need to? You're certainly right that I don't have a real "need" for it. It was more of a "wouldn't it be nice" to take advantage of the full range of suspension travel in the rear without rubbing (ensured with lowered bump stops.)

Other than moving away from the "factory" setup, it wasn't clear to me it there would be any downsides to doing this?

 

[moooooooo]

just bear in mind if you're welding stuff like that then you might need an "engineers certificate" to certify your car street legal. That is definately the road law in Victoria where i am from.
cheers
peter

 

[1loudLX]

What about when you end up hating your AHC and wish you had kept the stock shock mount. There are always downsides. What about the weld, is it strong enough? You're trusting a few hundred dollars to some fab shop for them to redesign what people like Joe Bascal and the rest of Toyota's engineers spent designing and evolving the suspension over the years of the land cruisers history? That's gotta be a few hundred million at this point.

 

[hoser]

I am running 2" shock extension brackets in the rear which is the equivalent of raising the lower shock mount 2". IMO, it wheels better now than w/o the brackets. On a 2" lifted 100, the up/down travel ratio is the same as stock.

 

[jttexam]

just bear in mind if you're welding stuff like that then you might need an "engineers certificate" to certify your car street legal. That is definately the road law in Victoria where i am from.
cheers
peter

He's in the US, they don't care.

Sure you can relocate it, just think in terms of geometry when you do it. The axle will swing forward as you provide more lift. Just use a torch or plasma cutter, cut the brackets off, use a grinder to shape them to the area where you want them mounted, and weld them back on. Welds will hold fine as long as they are properly welded. If you decide to trash your AHC System Later as was mentioned above, repeat the steps, or use a shorter shock. This kind of stuff is where the real fun begins if you are building a rig.

 

[sonk76]

I am running 2" shock extension brackets in the rear which is the equivalent of raising the lower shock mount 2". IMO, it wheels better now than w/o the brackets. On a 2" lifted 100, the up/down travel ratio is the same as stock.

Where did you get the bracket from? Any pictures?

Sounds like it might be a nice easily reverseable option...

 

[hoser]

I got them from Japan. Been running them for 4 years. Mot has also gotten them for a member but Mot is now in the US. You can try Dave at Japan4x4. Roughly 5600 yen for a pair plus shipping, gratuity, etc. Yes, very easily reversed.

 

[FullyLitLED]

I got them from Japan. Been running them for 4 years. Mot has also gotten them for a member but Mot is no longer in Japan. Can try Japan4x4. Roughly 5600 yen for a pair plus shipping, gratuity, etc. Yes, very easily reversed.

Can you show these to me on wednesday when we meetup? What shocks are you running!

 

[1loudLX]

AHC shocks.

 

[hoser]

Or you can wait till I upgrade to King shocks or something. Here is a crappy c-phone pic.

 

[sonk76]

Or you can wait till I upgrade to King shocks or something. Here is a crappy c-phone pic. Turn your head sideways.

That looks great. Exactly what I was thinking about. So when are you switching to kings?

 

[farinvail]

I have smashed just about every bit of metal on the underside on my truck. The washers on the lower mounts get a little worked but never had an issue with the shocks.

 

[DallasCrzr]

Feel like this is a dumb question but what would this accomplish? Seems like you might get a little more down travel at the expense of up travel? Am i mistaken and there is more to it or is that pretty much it?

 

[hoser]

Yes, you are correct, there is no gain in travel with this mod. You gain some here but you lose it there. But what is changing is the percentage of up-travel vs down-travel. Let's just say there is 8" of travel in the front and 10" in the rear. The stock front suspension is roughly 50/50 (up/down). The stock rear suspension is maybe 40/60?

Now lift the suspension 2" all around without doing anything else and you have roughly 75/25% or 2" of down travel in the front and 60/40 (4" down) in the rear. By comparison, most rock buggies would be maybe 20/80. Desert racers might be 50/50. What is best for you? I don't know.

But for me, 60/40 in the rear seemed like it lifted a wheel more often. The front will for sure lift a wheel more often with just 2" of down travel. I'd like to gain more droop in the front while sacrificing some compression but it seems like the steering arms, cv's and ball joints are putting up a good fight. YMMV... just my 2 cents.

 

[DallasCrzr]

Ok that makes sense I didnt think about it in terms of adjusting travel ratios after a suspension lift.

 

[OregonLC]

do you need to mod the brake line routing or is there enough slack even with the 2" extension?

 

[hoser]

Extended rear brake line, diff breather and sway bar links all needed. Also need to be sure there is enough tension on the springs when fully extended or the springs are fastened (captured).

 

[Skidoo]

Check out Spressomon's build thread he relocated both top and bottom rear shock mounts for some custom Fox shocks.