Rear relocation or OE for expedition build?

So I hear pretty often about II for dampening vs /\ for articulation but what about the shocks being angled rear vs front. From what I've gathered... BoxRocket basically maintained the oe rear leaning shock angle, brought the front leaning shock rear and brought them both a bit inboard on a cross member

and the bamf kit leans the shocks pretty far rear while not leaving much room for the top of the shock

while squeaky penguins is pretty vertical.



Also, what about the shock eyes? Better perpendicular to the axle or parallel? Don't think we've hit this one yet either.
or

 

You don't have to mount to top cross member in that location in your bamf relocation kit pic. You can get it farther back

@snowboard704

Hey are your shocks at the angle in the picture above? Or are they more vertical?

 

I have basically the same front setup you do, except extended travel Kings, and I'm still sporting the (tired) stock rear leafs with 1" lift shackles and 5100s. So far, the ride isn't all that bad, in fact, it's perfectly driveable. I def. want new rear suspension, but I'm still tossing around several leaf ideas before I can settle on shocks. Chevy 63", Dakars, All-Pro, Deavers, ??? I'd like a matched set with Kings in the rear, too, but options seem more limited.

I'm curious what length shackles you are running, and what lift you get out of that. I want to stay as low as reasonable, (under 3" for sure).

 

IMO, aside from factory axle wrap reasons, the only reason to angle shocks backwards or rearwards if to fit longer shocks under the bed. Those setup's sacrifice dampening control. My old setup was angled back further and inboarded slightly and wasn't nearly as good.



That being said, you won't get more than 10" of travel out of leafs using our stock mounts, and I managed to fit pretty long 2.5x10" shocks vertical under the bed with my current setup.

 

I think it has to do with the shock being in the same direction as the axle moves, or in the direction of deflection from a bump/hit. So, ideally, that'd be facing backwards like most of the above pics. I'm not aware of a reason to angle both shocks facing forward, but I'm sure someone out there who did it had their reasoning....

The problem is axle wrap. The stock staggered locations help minimize that because the orientation of the shocks resist that twisting motion of the axle. With both shocks oriented the same way, the axle is free to twist.

As far as in-board vs. outboard, I think that also has to do with articulation (the farther inboard, the more wheel travel per unit shock travel), but again, you have issues with damping, since the farther in the shock mount, the more work the shock has to do for a given wheel movement. The extreme would be putting both shocks all the way in the center, and think about how little the shocks would do.

There is no "perfect" shock placement. Everything will be a compromise. So you decide what factor means the most to you: good damping or articulation. If you *really* need both, you're going to have to do a lot more on the bed...

 

So besides the shocks everything is from the PO. I looks like I have about 3"+- in the rear. Which kind of sucks because my truck is raked a little like a drag car when it's unloaded. With my camping gear gear and tools it sits level. The truck is also a lot smoother with weight due to my shock valving. 9.5 travel icons.

(edit) factory shakles

Also my front shocks are set at 2.4 inches so I could raise the front up but I feel like that's just gonna make my ride suffer worse than it does

 

Those are most certainly stock shackles. I have 1.25" lift shackles from Daystar on mine with dakars and aal. I had a ton of rake at first but now that everything is settling it looks good. I have a shell, tools(including 80" hi-lift) and two spares in the back though.

 

It's important to differentiate between vertical travel and articulation here.

Ideally you want a 1:1 ratio of wheel travel to shock travel. Inboarding the shocks has no effect on this for vertical travel, but lessens the shocks travel for articulation.

 

Ok awesome thank you. Being that this is my first lifted taco I wasn't sure.

 

My lift shackles are temporary for now, I don't recommend them with the aal.

 

Yeah I don't need to go any higher in the rear ATM. But I would like to truck to sit a bit lower in the rear

 

I know what you're getting at, but that's not exactly true, in a practical sense.

For example, desert racers see a LOT of uneven forces on one wheel or the other (articulation). Think about the (extreme/unrealistic) example of the shocks being mounted right next to each other I mentioned earlier. If the axle weren't physically allowed to articulate, the shocks are perfectly fine, however if one wheel hits a bump and the other doesn't (not exactly a rare occurrence off road), the shocks would do absolutely nothing - might as well have a single shock.

Then think about leaning during a turn (also articulation).

IMO, the shocks should always be mounted as far out on the axle as possible/practical, and the upper mount is where you start making your compromises for articulation vs damping etc...

 

I don't think you follow what I was getting at, as I completely agree with this statement.

My point is I've seen people inboard shocks to try to get more droop or travel during articulation, but don't take into consideration vertical travel, where both shocks move equally. You can setup shocks pretty easy to allow for full articulation travel, but not vertical travel.

 

Your shackle is also nearly vertical in those pics. Is the truck sitting level? Looks like a parking lot, so I assume yes?

Ideally, they should be angled back (when the truck is sitting level) maybe 40-45 degrees.

 

I get it.

But I don't think that's the ideal way to go, even when setting up for articulation. I think it would be better to leave the lower mounts outboard, and angle the shocks in.

I could, however, see a case where you already have shocks with a certain length/travel, and you're trying to use those to maximize articulation, so moving them in board is your only option, but that's not ideal, imo...

 

I'm running 265/75/16. BFG KO2s and love em. Couple side pics to show the stance.

 

Nice man. Looks good

 

Just noticed the sliders. Sick dude

 

Thanks man. Demello Rock Crushers, needed a step for my boys to get in. Close parking cars hate em at the mall when I'm crawlin in the lot

 

lol they look pretty trick. I had some made that have rectangular main with tubing on the outside. I like the style.

Haha I know ever since I got armor on my truck when people tailgate me or get to close to the side I'm like....