Front shock relocation

[68327stepside]

I picked up a set of front shock relocators this weekend at Pomona swap meet. I was wondering if anyone has a picture or advice on installing them. These are brand new from Brothers, the guy had sold his truck and didnt need them. Thank for the help.

[Tx Firefighter]

Why would you relocate your front shocks?

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

Why would you relocate your front shocks?

To regain shock travel lost from dropped springs.

68327, try looking through Brothers website for installation instructions or just give them a call & tell them you lost your instructions & would like another set. They should just require a couple of holes drilled on the top/side of the frame in the same area of the current shock stud.

[Joe67]

First time I have heard of this?

Here is the info on the brothers website

[68327stepside]

Thanks SCOTI, I have been waiting for a reply from brothers. Hopefully they get back to me today. Tx firefighter, for proper operation the front shocks should be kept at an angle of 15 degrees or less. It is the same with the rear. I have the rear done already and believe me it really smoothes the ride out. Thanks to all for the help.

[ChevyCruizer]

the kit relocates the shock to a more vertical position. if you are only running spindels you do not need this kit. the shocks mount to the lower control arm so i spindel will not affect the orientation of the shock. when you bag the front and want to run low is when the shock becomes a problem. a bagged truck positions the shock to a more horivontal position. the shock lays down the more you lay the truck out. when the shock lays down you loose the mechanical advantage. these kits move the mounting location of the shock and you regain your mechanical advantage. should give a better ride.

i did not get my front relocator kit on yet.

but, i used a similar kit on the rear of my bagged 68. looking at it now, there was a huge differance. i do not know about the ride quality. i have not really driven the truck enough yet. i can tell you that i was able to drop the truck almost an inch more after the shock relocation. before my shock was bottoming out sooner inside itself, now it drops more. i have other issues. my ECE super track bar hits on my frame before my axle even comes close to my bump stops.

i attached 4 photos. they will prob be out of order

the 1st shows my ECE bar and my clearance problems. they designed their kit to work with a static (springs) 5 or 6 inch drop. i ran air and now i have a problem.

2nd shows the rear shocks with the relocator kit. the truck is laid out right now. when it is at ride height they are even more vertical. i wish i had a before photo. they were really angled.

3rd shows my front crossmenber laid out. again if you are only running spindels and 2 inch springs you will not need this shock relocator kit. your crossmember will be no where near this height. you can most likely fit a beer can under the front crossmember.

last one is a side shot of my truck

[Joe67]

I just called Dave at ECE and they only recommend relocating the front shocks on a bagged application. It isn't required on a spindle and minor spring drop up front.

I did relocate my rear shocks with the 6" drop.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by 67c10step

I just called Dave at ECE and they only recommend relocating the front shocks on a bagged application. It isn't required on a spindle and minor spring drop up front.

That explains why I have never seen it before. I'm an old school suspension dropper.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by 67c10step

I just called Dave at ECE and they only recommend relocating the front shocks on a bagged application. It isn't required on a spindle and minor spring drop up front.

I did relocate my rear shocks with the 6" drop.

I relocate mine only if there's not enough travel in the stock mounting location. My 68's are in the stock location; my 74's required relocating to get optimum travel (the shock is centered in its stroke @ ride height). Neither of mine are bagged but w/o relocating the shocks on the 74 they would've only had 1" of travel before bottoming out. Both trucks utilize off the shelf direct replacement shocks.

[dylan1970]

ChevyCruizer... Are you still running on your trailing arms? I am looking into getting an air ride kit for my truck to and I am going to do a C-notch and use 2" lowering blocks as well. Do you have anymore pics of the installation of your air ride kit and a list of all I will need to do this. I also just ordered a transmission crossmember from ECE so this way I can keep running with a 3" exaust. Any help would be great!

[ChevyCruizer]

Originally Posted by dylan1970

ChevyCruizer... Are you still running on your trailing arms? I am looking into getting an air ride kit for my truck to and I am going to do a C-notch and use 2" lowering blocks as well. Do you have anymore pics of the installation of your air ride kit and a list of all I will need to do this. I also just ordered a transmission crossmember from ECE so this way I can keep running with a 3" exaust. Any help would be great!

i did not have my camera during the install. i looked through my files and included a good side shot. i can take more is there is something specific you want to see

yes i still have the stock trailing arms. when i did the rear end i pulled them out and replaced the 35 year old rubber bushing with polyurethene ones. the install was really easy. i do not have a plasma cutter yet, so i used a cut off wheel. i went through a disc on eash side. cut small and if you need to go back later and make it a little bigger. that way you are leaving as much metal as you can. with the inward curve of the rear frame it was a little difficult to suck the notch into place. i ended up using 4 six inch C clamps to suck it into place and then i drilled the holes. you may want to run a thick weld along the upper edge when you are done (if you do not plan to step notch it later) that way it will have a nice finished look, but then again who is gonna see the top when the bed is on.

an air hammer with a new chisel will come in quite handy for the frame rivets that you need to remove.

overall it is a very nice kit and an easy install. i am a little bumbed about my track bar problem. air lift makes a panhard bar that mounts lower, i wish i went with that one 20 20 hind sight see picture

i have not got my tranny member on yet. i still have the stock 6 cylinder for now.

i was looking at ECE's frame slayer cross member. the one that the trailing arms come off of, but i want to get some wheels first. so i can see how much lower i really want to go.

[XXL]

Originally Posted by ChevyCruizer

overall it is a very nice kit and an easy install. i am a little bumbed about my track bar problem. air lift makes a panhard bar that mounts lower,

I let them know about the interference problem a little over 5 years ago when I installed mine, and offered to provide them with dimensions on how to mod their kit. They blew me off.

[paintpyro]

I have a set of front relocators. I got them from Bill Turner, exactly the same. I got mine because the top studs were busted, and the genius previous owner thought he was a fabricating god with oxy acetylene. My problem is, once I installed my 3 inch drop springs, the 3 inch drop shocks didn't fit. I had to get 2 inch drop shocks to get enough travel to the top of the frame rail.

[68327stepside]

Thanks to all for the help! I got them installed today along with my disc brakes and complete rebuild on the front suspension. I have finally finished all my handling issue. Now on to the body. Rust Sucks

[ChevyCruizer]

the kit should have a nice template to show you where to cut.

the air bag mounts exactly where you stock spring was. no drilling required.

[ChevyCruizer]

template

[turmoline]

paintpyro, you were able to mount the relocator to the top of the frame rail? I was going to buy a set, called brothers they told me it didn't mount on the top of the frame rail and no length was gained by using the bracket just an angle change. Thanks for shedding some light for me. How much length did you gain by using the relocator and what is the length of the shock @ ride height? Does the shock interfere with the inner fender? Do you have any pics. Thanks in advance.

[68327stepside]

Turmoline; That is wierd, Brothers are the ones who told me to mount them to the top of the frame, worked out just fine. It is true you do not gain any length just an angle change. Take it easy.

[Slammed67]

Regarding the panhard bar interference with the bolt-in c-notch......

You could just fabricate a new passenger side mount like I did. I simply cut off part of the ECE bracket and welded it to the inside of the trailing arm. You could easily make a new bracket. Jut make sure your bar has enough length to reach the bracket once it's relocated. Mine reaches, but it is adjusted almost all the way out. I would have made the bracket stick out farther from the trialing arm if I had to do it again.

[turmoline]

68327 stepside, thanks for the reply. yah usually most of the vendors that I've dealt with have no clue. most of the time I just order. If its not right send it back or re-engineer to fit my application. Just like the panhard bar bracket that slammed is talking about. I made a bracket similar to the vendors but flipped it.

[Frank_Zeller]

Did the front Tunner relocator. Much better. 2 inch ECE springs with 2.5 drop spindals, stock length shock.

[smbrouss70]

Frank,
I can't see the pictures even after I log in.

[Frank_Zeller]

Think I got it right this time :0) The setup looks better than in the picture. The top frame rail flexes a little. Someday I will box the frame at that location. I had to remove the Z bar frame mount to make room for the one on the drivers side. So they might not work on standard trans equipped trucks. I had to cut the inner fender well as you can see in the picture.

[smbrouss70]

Still just a red "x".

[Frank_Zeller]

PM and I will email pic