Leaf hangers for 3rd gen

I just got accutune stage 3 with deaver aal (1.5")

accutune uca

fox 2.5 front and back (front 2"+)

Accutunes bump kit and a couple other miscellaneous pieces outside of the kit.
I have a couple questions for people with similar and/or the same set up, is the rear shock location worth it? Should I buy and weld in hammer hangers or just weld supports and gusset them to my frame? I do everything my self for installs and I'm willing to do some welding I'm just not sure if cutting off my old hangers are worth it.

 

Hangers and shock mount relocations are two different things. The first is bolted on, the latter welded. Both require a cutoff wheel to remove some existing metal.

Personally I think the hangers are worth it. Shock mounts only make sense if you just have to 12 to 14 inches of rear travel. If your Foxes are not set up for that length of travel, then no, don't bother.

 

I know they are separate I was just asking about both since they involve rear suspension. Could I not get that torsional stiffness you get with hanmer hangers from gusseting the oem hangers?

 

Its a 2 step process to get all the benefits from the hangers and use them to their full potential. First the hangers will stiffen up the rear end, make sure to order the cross tube as well.The truck will feel more planted. For the hangers to really improve your drop/flex you need to do a rear extended travel kit and get longer shocks 12 or 14 inch. Accutune sells the full kits for both and will walk you through what is best for you if you call them and ask.

 

Given gussets are manufactured for other parts of the frame, but not the rear hangers, you're probably breaking new ground. Feel free to go for it, though, if you have the steel and welder. Post your results, reap the rewards of having other members ask you why you didn't install pre-made hangers that have a proven track record.

 

I have both the rear hangers and shock towers.

The rear hangers shocked the hell out of me, huge difference in ride.

The shock mounts are nice if you can benefit from the increase in flex. If you are just running some fire roads and not rock crawling then it's probably not worth it. It does look cool though.

 

Not really... The gusset would have to go on the bottom and only really would stiffen the lower hanger part, not the vertical portion. So not ideal and only stops the hanger itself from flexing. You would still get flex at the attachment point to the frame though since that's just rivets, and there isn't much to weld to in order to stiffen that up. Not without getting in the way of the shackle anyway.

The other problem is that the hangers also actually twist the frame rails under load. So even if you beef them up, you still need a cross bar to stop the torsion on the frame.

Not saying it isn't possible... Just that I don't see how that would work any better than just using pre-made replacement hangers.

 

@Saskabush I was considering cost and also the fact after market ones require cutting off the stock hangers and welding. Either way you have to weld and install a crossbar to reduce side to side torsionial flex but making custom gussets would reduce cost.

 

Most after market hangers involve no welding. It's all bolt on after cutting off the factory hangers, including the cross bar. Only the shock relocation brackets involve welding.

What I was saying is that you may not even be able to gusset the OEM hangers well enough. I believe simply replacing them with the thicker gauge aftermarket ones is actually the best way to do it. But you're not wrong, if you aren't factoring in your time then it would probably be cheaper to try to reinforce the OEM ones.

 

The cross bar is not necessary, it further improves, sure, but the hangars are enough to get rid of the jitters, which is what matters. I would not bother with the cross bar unless you are storing your spare somewhere else.

 

Agreed, and that was my experience.