Rear Shock relocation thread

Your shocks will bottom out before the bunps hit

 

Should get a chance to post something relevant in this thread in the near future.

 

What would you recommend? I'm running the all pro lt kit up front and want something comparible in the rear without cutting up the bed.

 

Sub'd
(Johnnie - I found it bro)

 

Another one here with the BAMF reloc kit.



12" 2.0 King Smoothies
Resi Tabs from Ruff Stuff (not pictured)
AP Expos
OEM bumps welded on AP U-bolt flip kit
Wheels have 4.5 BS, and used 1.25 Spydertrax spacers so the shock clears the wheel

The expos are the limiting factor on the set up. When they go to shit (I'm thinking soon), looking at doing a Chevy 63 swap

 

As part of my suspension upgrade, I'm definitely doing a rear shock relocation. As awesome as Tyler's stuff is, I just can't justify $600 for something that Jerry's kit does for $120......and Tyler's would require me to delete my air bags, which is a no go. But both kits seem to only use a minimal amount of the overall space inside the wheel well -- there is at least a good 6" more height that can be had and stay within the wheel well. Anyone have any insight as to why seemingly no one has installed a rear shock relocation that pushes to the very upper reaches of the wheel well?

I measured the clearance I have at full stuff (APex, U-bolt flip with airbags, stock shackle), and I got about 24" between the ceiling of the wheel well and the top of my axle tube. Seems I could use that length to get some good travel numbers. 16" travel without punching through the bed? (I also measured the full droop, but then noticed my shackles were binding, so am now waiting on some greasable XJ shackles to arrive, and some time for me to drill out the stock spring bolts for grease fittings......so I'm not posting the miserable droop numbers I got).

Using a 24" length of 2" grey plastic electrical conduit as a dummy shock (OD around 2.375"......so between a 2.0 and 2.5 smoothie), I played around with how things lined up, and what kind of clearances I might expect. At full stuff on the passenger rear (jacked my front driver's wheel up until all load was removed from the driver's rear tire), I had a little less than an inch of clearance on both sides of the conduit (tire side and frame side) (255/85/16 Chamber ATX, no spacers). Everything else seemed to clear with miles of space. One thing I did notice is that the conduit angled outside-in, meaning the top was further out/away from the frame than the bottom. I wonder if this angle is a concern if I were to actually install shocks where I'm thinking?

And since you're sitting there wondering, the relocation I've got in my head is a simple, single-bend 1.75x.25 wall DOM tube welded into a section of 2x4x.25 wall rectangular tubing with one side cut off to match the mounting angle, and that rectangular tubing welded to the frame (the rectangular tubing is only as tall as the frame, meaning it is only there as a means of connecting the 1.75 DOM tubing to the frame over what would otherwise be a gap). The shock would mount to gussets on either side of the 1.75 DOM tubing that span the length of the bend, ala Tyler's kit. I have probably confused someone at this point, thanks to my lack of pics or drawings.
Here, I'll give a couple of pics culled from the interwebs, so you can kinda get a sense of what I'm working with:

 

sub

 

That's my rear setup. It's completely tight to the wheel well.

 

You got any info on that?
What shocks are you running? Pic of the lower mount? Pics of the final install? What's the measurements of the finished hoop?

edit: Just lurked your build thread. A few questions answered. Would still love as much info as you'd be willing to provide.
Your thoughts on the taller rear hoop/longer-travel rear shocks when running pizza cutter 33s (255/85/16 on 4.5" BS)? Seems I would have much fewer rub issues than you.

 

Some really good ideas in here

 

I used the pelfreybilt kit. Can't tell you how good those guys are. I had nothing but issues with the setup I went with and they had me covered every step of the way. Even after I butchered their stuff.
I went with a bigger tire size and ended up rubbing pretty bad on the shock bodies. I had to move the lower mounts in quite close to the leafs.
I finally had a chance to take the rig out last weekend and actually put the suspension through the ringer.
I am nothing but happy with the setup.

 

Bamf shock towers, SOS flip kit, rubicon express XJ 5" shackles

 

Sub'd cool thread

 

Did mine the other day. Haven't had time to put them too much of a test, but so far so good.

 

Sub. Want to do this eventually. I'm wondering if I will be required to get new shocks for this. I want to do a setup like BoxRocket, because my truck sees a lot of on-road action also. If I put in my cross member exactly where the stock upper mount was on the driver side, could I keep my current shocks for a few months before getting longer ones? What if I mount the cross member an inch or two behind the old upper mount? Which location will give a better ride? I currently have 5100's that are "good for 0-3" of rear lift". I am not sure on exact dimensions. Hope that makes sense.

Edit: One more question for now. Is this possible to do without removing the bed?

 

Subbed, getting my BAMF one installed a week from tomorrow.. Do I need to get any nuts/bolts/spacers or anything? I have king 2.0's with resi 12" travel

 

I added 1.25 spacers - and that's how much I have clearance I have b/t the shock and tire. What BS do you have on your wheels?

 

Mine are relocated

 

Stock OR wheels. I have spidertrax on them now

 

This guy goes for it on the trails too! He was gunning hard on hill climbs at Hungry Valley last weekend. Sick truck!