Total Chaos outboard shock mounts

EDIT: Dropbox is discontinuing support for the "Public" folder. Most of my links in this thread will die 9/1/2017 until I recreate using their new shared folder system. In the meantime, here are PDF copies of the first few pages of the thread.
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I haven't seen these on TW yet so here are some shots of the outboard shock mounts made by Total Chaos. I have them matched with some custom shocks built by ADS. Also they require 1.25" spacers. Springs are custom Deavers which are pretty close to their expo pack. I'm getting about 3.5 inches of lift just from the springs I think. Shackles are Toytec adjustable with an extra hole to lower them close to stock length.



The upper brackets bolt and weld on. I think the bolts are mostly just to make sure the alignment is obvious since they use the cross member lower bolts.





A short weld across the tab on the top of the frame.



Tight quarters welding the lower bracket. I think we had the voltage too low and maybe the wire feed too high. I'm pretty noob at welding.


There seems to be plenty of clearance throughout the normal travel and full droop. Clearance at full compression is difficult to verify without getting crossed up and with the bed loaded.

The shocks mount forward of the axle and also lean about 20 degrees forward. This keeps the shock out of the narrow space between the peak of the tire and the outside of the frame at full compression. There is normally about 5" between the tire and the frame with stock wheels and my 265/75R16 tires.



Full droop. Still another 1/2" or so left in the shocks to prevent them being loaded by the weight of the axle.

 

What length are those shocks?

 

They are 10" and measure about 19.5" to 29.5" at the bolt centers.

 

Thanks! I haven't seen many people using these, I haven't really wanted to be a test mule just yet. Looks good, I might have to add this to my to-do list.

 

badass

 

Have you been able to test out the rear end yet?

I'm looking to do a similar set up but haven't been able to find any bypass shocks built at those dims, mind me asking how much ADS built them for roughly?

 

So far so good. I don't have the bed on yet so it's still a pretty rough ride.

 

Did you measure your travel yet? I'd like to know the before and after amount. I'm curious since most I see are straight up and down vs angled.

 

Total travel is 9.5" to 10".

The angle is pretty close to OEM. It doesn't really matter as long as the shock is valved properly and goes through full range of motion at the same time as the axle goes through full range of motion.

 

Hey man did you ever get the bed back on and take this out? How it ride?

How's it clear? Overall wheel travel? Flex shots?

And how much where the shocks?

 

Hi boss. Let me see if I can find the quote. Seems like they were in the $1500-$1800 range not counting shipping and dollar conversion to CAD. I worked/spent on my truck for like a straight year and a half and needed to take a break I'll be going back to dial in the rear end this winter. I haven't really done anything other than electrical/interior/stereo stuff since I last posted.

Clearance is fine for DD obv. Don't know yet for travel but I calculated everything for full 10". I still need to relocate the top frame bumps slightly since the deaver springs pushed my axle back about an inch.

I haven't even taken it offroad yet because of some crazy rattle noise in the rear end. I'm thinking it is the deaver leaves slapping or maybe something to do with the TC shock bracket setup. I'm suspicious that both shocks being forward of the axle may not restrain the leaves like the OEM alternating front/back setup does. Still no bed or hitch so weight/ride angle may also be an issue. To be completely honest, I haven't even tried screwing down the adjustment valves on the ADS shock bypasses. They are currently wide open so that might be allowing too much motion right there.

Anyway seeya around.

 

Cool man. We'll post some flex photos when you get a chance. That would be very helpful.

 

A couple more recommendations.

I would ask for the chromoly welded rod ends. It changes the max/min stroke slightly (still 10" total) but I really don't know why someone would want to mix aluminum and steel for chemistry reasons, especially in high moisture areas. I think I have some corrosion on the rod near the end and I suspect the aluminum ends aren't helping any. I had originally ordered the chromoly rod ends but Brian went on holiday right when I place the order and I think we finally decided on billet ends for some reason having to do with the max/min stroke numbers.

Also I think you can order a more corrosion resistant rod. I can't remember the specific ADS rod options but next time I would spend a little extra on the rod if it was available.

Shocks were $541 each. So much less than I remembered.

I think this is the last design sheet we used...

 

Nice thanks for the info. The data sheet says chromoly ends. Wonder what th difference is. I though welded ends made for shorter collapsed and extended so good for stuffing into tight places.

Interesting about the corrosion. Ads is supposed to be one of the best anti corrosive shocks.

 

Ok so this one must be the latest since it shows the change to billet ends. I think the billet ends changed the max/min stroke since they had already cut the rods before they noticed I had requested the chromoly ends.

As far as corrosion I made the mistake of putting boots on the rods without large enough holes to let water drain out. I found like 2" of water in the bottom and the rods had a scum on them that might be corrosion (I haven't actually verified). Now I just let the boots hang open at the bottom to make sure they stay drained but still protect from rocks.

 

Ahh Id just go boot less man. Not worth the hassle really.

Thanks for the infor!

 

Bumping this.

Any more updates?? Flex photos? Miles put on it? What are your wheel specs?

I just got this kit. not 100% sure i'll use it. But got it for a good deal.

 

If you decide not to use it, I'd line up to buy it from ya...

 

I'll let ya know! I'd like to try it..but..with the welding. Not sure id go through with it.

Not sure i wanna run wheel spacers on my double cab and push the tires out that wide.

 

Would like to see some flex as well. Considering throwing theses on with my all pro leafs to get more out of them.