Rear shock relocation

[s_nova69]

I am lowering my 72 c-10 project 3 inches in the front and four in the rear. I have found some shock relocators for trucks lowered four or more inches in the rear and want to know if others have done this and is it worth it.

.....also I am wondering about extending the rear panhard bar to the far other side connecting to the opposite trailing arm instead of the diff.

I found both of these new options on the classicperform.com web site that came to me from this site.

Anyone that has done this I would be interested in hearing about it. Thanks

[cdowns]

shocks are most efficient when they go straight up and down the more angle that they are mounted at the less effective they are

[Zander478]

I did both on my '70 stepside. Definitely made a night and day difference. Planning on adding a rear swaybar kit. It is lowered 4.5" in the front and 7" in the rear.

[Andy4639]

I just installed the new adjustable bar but haven't drove it enough to tell a big deferance yet. I cut some 3" angle at work the other day to make the relocator for the shocks. I haven't installed them yet, because I need longer U-bolts.

[SCOTI]

With a little modification, you can modify the stock brackets to relocate the shocks just like aftermarket brackets do.

Flip the lower brackets from side to side (EX: The top of the bracket that was on the drivers side would now be the bottom of the pass side). It requires flattening out the bracket some or you can make spacers, you just want it will lay flat on the trailing arm. This is worth about 1.5" of shock travel.

The uppers you re-drill the shock bolt hole higher up on the side of the original bracket & then trim the excess metal off so the shoulder of the shock doesn't hit the bracket. This one will also get around 1.5" of additional shock travel depending on how high the hole is re-drilled.

[BB70c10]

Originally Posted by s_nova69

I am lowering my 72 c-10 project 3 inches in the front and four in the rear. I have found some shock relocators for trucks lowered four or more inches in the rear and want to know if others have done this and is it worth it.

.....also I am wondering about extending the rear panhard bar to the far other side connecting to the opposite trailing arm instead of the diff.

I found both of these new options on the classicperform.com web site that came to me from this site.

Anyone that has done this I would be interested in hearing about it. Thanks

planning on doing the exact same drop and had the same questions.found the panhard bar and shock relocators from cpp as a kit.havent bought yet,wasnt sure if i needed it.mind posting some pics of the 3/4 drop when you're done.killing me to see how its going to sit when its done, but still have a long way to go.sorry i dont have any answers for you,still in the learning stages.any advantages to connecting panhard bar to trailing arm instead of rear diff?

[ChevLoRay]

I used ECE shock relocators on mine, with the adjustable track bar. Best riding truck I've ever owned/driven.

[Andy4639]

SCOTI,

With a little modification, you can modify the stock brackets to relocate the shocks just like aftermarket brackets do.

Flip the lower brackets from side to side (EX: The top of the bracket that was on the drivers side would now be the bottom of the pass side). It requires flattening out the bracket some or you can make spacers, you just want it will lay flat on the trailing arm. This is worth about 1.5" of shock travel.

The uppers you re-drill the shock bolt hole higher up on the side of the original bracket & then trim the excess metal off so the shoulder of the shock doesn't hit the bracket. This one will also get around 1.5" of additional shock travel depending on how high the hole is re-drilled.

I tried this and it didn't work very well. First how do you straighten the bracket out??
Even if you don't straighten it out how do you get the u-bolts to work. Mine were at least 2" short. I like a full nut when done. I ended up getting some angle iron at work and going to make some.
As far as the upper's I haven't looked at that yet. I hope the longer angle iron will take care of it.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Andy4639

SCOTI,


I tried this and it didn't work very well. First how do you straighten the bracket out??
Even if you don't straighten it out how do you get the u-bolts to work. Mine were at least 2" short. I like a full nut when done. I ended up getting some angle iron at work and going to make some.
As far as the upper's I haven't looked at that yet. I hope the longer angle iron will take care of it.

Flipping the lower brackets from side to side does not effect the length of threads used on the u-bolts unless you add the .250" spacer. I flattened my brackets using a torch to heat them up & a BFH to flatten them out. Once flat, I cleaned them up w/a grinder. Using a HD vise or hyd press could prob be about the same amount of work.

In the stock installed orientation, the lower shock bolt is above the bottom of the trailing arm. After the 'flip' the shock bolt hole is below the trailing arm; but still no lower than the u-bolts.

[Hart_Rod]

I used the ECE setup and it worked quite well.

[s_nova69]

COOL!! Thanks for the advice on this. I will try to modify the lowers like you advised SCOTI. I just was not sure where the relocation was. I thought at the top but it seems that most is near the bottom.

The next question would be what amount of drop do you use for ordering shocks with this relocation done??

BB70c10 I am just trying to get my chassis done for the autorama in Feb and will not have my body on for some months. Hopefully this summer though. I will post some picts when it is done though.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by s_nova69

COOL!! Thanks for the advice on this. I will try to modify the lowers like you advised SCOTI. I just was not sure where the relocation was. I thought at the top but it seems that most is near the bottom.

The next question would be what amount of drop do you use for ordering shocks with this relocation done??

BB70c10 I am just trying to get my chassis done for the autorama in Feb and will not have my body on for some months. Hopefully this summer though. I will post some picts when it is done though.

Mine is dropped about 7~8" in the rear. The top of the axle housing sits inside the framerail & the 'pumpkin' just pokes through the bed-floor @ ride height. I have lowering blocks as well so that helps too. With the amount of drop listed, I used off the shelf Gabriel HD gas shocks for 67-72's (didn't need shorter length 'drop' shocks).