fab'd lower shock mounts (rear)?

[sactoC10]

Anyone out there fabricate their own rear lower shock mounts for their dropped trailing arms? I know that ECE has the kit, but I really don't care about the uppers (seriously, I could just cut the stockers and drill two new holes) and the lower ones seem rather simple.

I have some old frame pieces that I'm planning on cutting into the correct shape, but haven't done so yet. I was also thinking about swapping the left for right and turning them upside down, but they have that bent lip that creates a problem.

Any ideas? Trying to save some money for practical things, like GAS!

[SCOTI]

Take your stock lower shock plates off.

Switch left to right (they will need to be flipped over).

You will need to flatten out the 'arch' in the plate. Prior to being flipped, the 'arch' does not affect the plates.... but once they're flipped, the plates will no longer sit flush w/the bottom of the trailing arm). I used a little heat & a BFH.
Bolt everything back together.

You'll gain approx 2" of shock travel when doing this. It's similar to what the aftermarket shock relocators do.... but using stock parts. Instead of the shock attaching above the lower lip of the trailing arm, it's now below.

Is this cheap enough?

[sactoC10]

Great, I was trying to figure out the secret to de-arching the plate when it is flipped. How much heat? Like a plumber's torch? I've got the BFH.

Yes, this is the kind of low-budget idea I was thinking about.

Were you content with the results?

[A few 72's]

One of the truck magazines from this year had a artical on a air bag install and they said that the shock brackets could be flipped. At work so so don't have it, to give any details.

[sactoC10]

Remember which mag, or what color the truck was, or how recent the issue? Could be that I have the article sitting at home and missed that part.

[A few 72's]

This year
Truckn' or one of the ones on older models like classic trucks. Don't think it was sport truck but may have been. Was for a 67-72 with trailing arms but don't remember a color or model.

[fast_dev]

i've done the bracket switch so i could use lakewood drag shocks, i cut the brackets in the bends before i flattened them then welded the cuts after flattening them. worked fine racing it all last year. Dev.

[sactoC10]

yet another great idea...just love this board, it rocks

[SCOTI]

I just heated them until they started to glow & pounded away. Another easy way would be a hydraulic press.

Content? The price was right.... & I knew the guy doing the work was sharp .... it's been 3yrs w/only 1 problem. One of the first shocks I put on after the mods broke the 'eyelet' off the end of the shock. Looked like a chitty weld. I replaced it & have had no probs since.

I trimmed the upper mount & relocated the hole higher in it as well. Altogether, I gained a little over 3" of travel back after lowering. I use off the shelf Gabriel VST(?) gas shocks. The truck has bags, 1.5" blocks, adj panhard bar, welded bolt-in c-section, fact bumpstops removed, & the relocated factory shock mounts. I use my bed floor above the rear pumpkin as my bumpstop so you get an idea how low it is & I can still pull my 18ft car steel floor car hauler.

[SCOTI]

[2low72]

Hey SCOTI if yours was a long bed we'd almost have the same truck exept color and probably alot of other stuff....

[A few 72's]

Looks like you may have what you need, but the artical I seen was in Classic Trucks, March 2004, Page 63-71 for
Not much detail on the brackets, had "Air lift's instructions call for the stock lower shock mounts to be swapped to opposite sides" but they used the kit from cpp (www.classicperf.com)
Web site was listed as www.airliftcompany.com
May have a few more details, did not check.

[sactoC10]

Last night I started with the heat and hammer idea, and realized that this old steel is simply tough as can be. Either I was too tired, my hammer wasn't big enough or I was not patient enough with the heat...so I broke out the grinder.

Trimmed the first one down, and very pleased with the results. Plate number two this evening...try to take some pics too.

[Smitty]

Instead of trying to flatten them. Just get a piece of 3/8 or 1/2 flat aluminum plate drill a couple holes and use them between the trailing arms and the mounting plate on the axle housing. Worked great for me. Not sure on the thickness but you just want to have it sit flat in any case. The mount is formed that way for strength so why weaken it when the other way is quicker and painless.

[mikeoj]

I did the same as Smitty did,Worked great!

[sactoC10]

Well I finished this up last night, nice improvement! My rear shocks were so compressed before, they were close to useless. I finished grinding everything down, stripped the paint, lightly sanded, then repainted the plates. Installed everything and went for a test drive...NICE.


The plate (spacer) idea is also a good one. I'd actually thought of that since I have some spare 1/2" aluminum plates that I used for dropping the rear. I have another set of shock mounting plates that I've not messed with, so maybe I will try them next time I'm fooling around back there.

Thanks for the input! Saved some cash not buying the ECE units.

JT