Rear Shocks - Lil help (1 Viewer)

[ONealFJ60]

First off, got this my 88 back in January. First cruiser and first time doing any work like this. Been frustrating but a ton of fun (that’s why we do this stuff right?). Been putting 2” OME lift on the rig. Front end got done last weekend. Was going to knock out the rear today. Long story short...what the heck am I gonna do to attach shock absorbers? See pics. Entire cross member looks to have been trimmed and bolted to body not frame (red circles). Shouldn’t it be part of frame (yellow circles). Anyone mind snapping a pic of the rear shocks for me?

Am i totally wrong in thinking the best fix is to fab a cross member, weld bolts for shock absorbers, and weld to frame? Trick is I’ve never welded bf but always wanted to.

Cheers!
E

 

[OSS]

There was originally a tube crossmember for shock attachment that had a few bends in it that was welded on each side of the frame. You circled the attachment location on one side of the frame with a yellow circle.
While it takes some work, a new steel tube can be welded/installed in that spot.

There are lots of suggestions and examples on this website of guys doing this job you need to do and I'm sure they'll chime in with their experience.

The "quick & dirty" fix is to weld a piece of schedule 40 straight steel pipe between the frames but that's not ideal because of the straight pipe. It will limit shock compression travel. The original tubing was bent to allow the shock to mount higher up.

WHATEVER YOU DO— Get rid of the body mounted shock abomination that's installed now. That's as Mickey Mouse as it gets.

 

[ONealFJ60]

There was originally a tube crossmember for shock attachment that had a few bends in it that was welded on each side of the frame. You circled the attachment location on one side of the frame with a yellow circle.
While it takes some work, a new steel tube can be welded/installed in that spot.

There are lots of suggestions and examples on this website of guys doing this job you need to do and I'm sure they'll chime in with their experience.

The "quick & dirty" fix is to weld a piece of schedule 40 straight steel pipe between the frames but that's not ideal because of the straight pipe. It will limit shock compression travel. The original tubing was bent to allow the shock to mount higher up.

WHATEVER YOU DO— Get rid of the body mounted shock abomination that's installed now. That's as Mickey Mouse as it gets.

Yeah, said some choice words when I saw what was going on under there!
I’ll dig more on the website and get some options together. Thx!
E

 

[Gretsch]

Some shots of mine. Hopefully you can see these.

 

[ONealFJ60]

That helps a ton! Thank you!!