Inboard/outboard shock mounts??

[Daddy4zack]

After reading 720 Racers thread. I have decided to start my own post.

Which is better In-frame / Out-frame rear shock mounts???

My situation is 70% street 30% trail..


FM says to mount the Inboard shocks behind the axle.
EB72 says Outside frame is better.. better stability for street use..(but he has his infront of axle)

Cage and JD sell there kits (behind axle mount.... Outside frame)

I have an inboard shock mount already(sitting on the work bench) But since I drive a lot on street should I sell the inboard and get an outside frame mount????

Just trying to get the most travel out of a 3.5 lift and street ability..


Thanks

Aaron

[kwspony]

I have the cross inboard mount waiting to be installed. I figure, if the street drivability sucks with the inboards only I will keep the outers for the street and just remove them for trail runs. It's only 4 bolts.

[Daddy4zack]

I have the cross inboard mount waiting to be installed. I figure, if the street drivability sucks with the inboards only I will keep the outers for the street and just remove them for trail runs. It's only 4 bolts.

So you are thinking of running all 4 shock at the same time? (removing two for trail runs) or switching between outboard / inboard for trail/street.
A

[Daddy4zack]

I like the Cage/JD mounts..... But damn... 200 bones.... Can I build these myself????? What have others done?? Looks like 20 bucks of steel...


720 Racer what did you do?? Looks good.

A

[highlander]

After reading 720 Racers thread. I have decided to start my own post.

Which is better In-frame / Out-frame rear shock mounts???

My situation is 70% street 30% trail..


FM says to mount the Inboard shocks behind the axle.
EB72 says Outside frame is better.. better stability for street use..(but he has his infront of axle)

Cage and JD sell there kits (behind axle mount.... Outside frame)

I have an inboard shock mount already(sitting on the work bench) But since I drive a lot on street should I sell the inboard and get an outside frame mount????

Just trying to get the most travel out of a 3.5 lift and street ability..

With 3.5" lift shock travel is a little harder to get than with 5.5" lift. Also the Cage and JD kits (WH has a similar one now called the shock jock it's a little less money) can be installed either in front or rear of axle. I have the WH one waiting to go and I was initially thinking of going in front of the axle. I thought Familymans reason for telling 720racer to go behind was to allow more room for the anti-wrap bar. I am curious if there is any benefit to going behind the axle? I'm just waiting until I upgrade my body lift. From my measurements it looks like a can get a 14" travel shock in there (5.5" SL 2" BL) it would probably take a 12" travel on a 3.5" SL and 2" BL. When I do I will be able to tell you if my shocks can handle all the flex or not.

On a side note is any body interested in buying 2 new RS 9000's WH has the buy 3 get 1 free and I need 2 more shocks.

[Familyman]

I thought Familymans reason for telling 720racer to go behind was to allow more room for the anti-wrap bar. I am curious if there is any benefit to going behind the axle?

Exactly, the cross system is design to mount shocks infront of the axle which is great until you want a anti-wrap bar to keep those springs from getting bent. The reason I suggested behind the axle was that it would allow room on the front side of the axle for the anti-wrap bar and still allow shocks to go on the inside of the framerail where the shocks move less because they are at the front of the fulcrum.( The start of the fulcrum is the center of the axle) Does that make since?? If you put your shocks on the outside , yes you limit body roll but they will be the limiter in travel. I think that makes since. Either way will work. For your rig with as much street time as you state I would go outside the frame rail to limit body roll and test flex it and if the shocks are your limit then just add limit straps and enjoy. Just my .02 cents.

FM <><

[seahawkfan]

Hopefully Lars will chime in here. He has a pretty nice setup and went from Cross type to outside the frame. I think. I beleive he is getting the same or better articulation with them outside. Lars???
I have the Cross style. Homemade. If you go this route make sure you remember where the bump stops will be hitting. First time I did mine, I didn't think about this since I didn't have any bumps yet. I installed the bumps and found I had to move my axle shock brackets. I think I'm going to have both for a while (both meaning Cross and the WH shock jock type) and test them on the trail. Someday.
Cross style has HORRIBLE road manners by the way.
I also have the antiwrap with a Cross style and don't see any issues.
Jeff

[720Racer]

I like the Cage/JD mounts..... But damn... 200 bones.... Can I build these myself????? What have others done?? Looks like 20 bucks of steel...


720 Racer what did you do?? Looks good.

A

Aaron,

I got the idea for mine from the Cage outboard mounts, but tried to push the mount as far from the axle as possible. After I installed them, I started wondering if my tires are going to rub on them, and if they were going to limit travel. I know the axle has alot more leverage on a shock that's closer to the center, and less on a shock closer to the end. The pay off of less dampening is less travel. Would stiffer valving or duals help? Once again trail readyness takes away from street driveability? I actually like Karl's solution, if I can't get the inboard hoop to tame the street.

I'm wondering if Bilstien's with some stiff valving, mounted as vertically as possible would make a difference.

Galen

[Lars]

Here are some pics of mine, thanks for the plug, Jeff. Dirty and dark, sorry. Better ones on my computer at work. They aren't really my idea- Todd Zuercher came up with the original layout, I did some minor tweaks. Shocks are 12" short body Bilstein 7100s. I can go from full stuff to full droop with this setup without bottoming/topping the shocks, though that wouldn't work if the shocks were straight up & down. Nice thing for me about having the shocks ahead of the axle was no interference with rear discs. And of course when I did add a wrap bar it was nice to have the room. And then there was the exhaust system, which used to go over the frame rail and eventually fried the Line-X because it was too close to the body. Now runs a normal route. I did notice some improvement in (lack of) body roll, but it wasn't huge. More noticeable in quick transient left/right/left sorts of situations than steady sweepers, where the shocks do nothing to counter body roll. But hey, the mounts do a better job than inboards to show off those spendy Bilsteins

[Familyman]

Hey Lars how many degrees is that shock . Mine are angled at 62.5 degrees . Thanks just curious,

FM <><

[Lars]

Hey Lars how many degrees is that shock . Mine are angled at 62.5 degrees . Thanks just curious,

FM <><

Good question- I'll bet mine are pretty close to that. About 30 degrees off vertical.

OK, just measured with my protractor. Got the calibrated eyeball going tonight. 60.0 degrees with the Bronco parked in the garage, assuming the protractor is right.

[kwspony]

Aaron, I was thinking of running 4 shocks on the rear, maybe. Just depends on manners. Maybe doing a quick release for the outters to remove them for the trail. I have heard that with an adjustable shock the road manners aren't quite as noticable with the inners when set to stiff.

[ACE]

I've got the Cross inboard mount and Rancho 9000s, on the street I set the shocks at #3 and streetabilty is good, not to harsh of a ride and no body roll even on Ice House road loaded for a 4 day trip. On the trail I set them to #1 and the ride is very soft and flexy. If I set the shocks at #5 it will bounce me out of the seat on the street. I would do the same setup again, I like it.

[Delta 4 Wheel]

My rig is a bit taller than yours, but I will give my input anyway.

I have the Cross hoop in the rear and do get more body roll compared to the stock location. To remedy this, I installed another shock in the front. I already had the 9012 in front, but even set at 5 they didn't keep body roll to a minimum. I am from the school of thought that the stiffer to shock off road the better. Decreasing body roll in precarious situations is a real benefit. If you are wagging back and forth, you can pull yourself right over if you are not careful. A little crappy on the dirt road portions, but in the hard-core areas, I LOVE the stiff anti roll feel. So I installed the 70/30 Duff 36" extended shock in the front hoop mounting position. It did help tremendously and I can fine tune with the 9012, but still not stiff enough for me...but good enough for now.

The rear shocks are in the center 2 holes of the Cross hoop which obviously minimizes the damping effect of the shocks. I could get away with a shorter shock in the rear and move them out to the outside mounting position but I already have these shocks and the high speed body roll is fine now that I put the 4 degrees of caster in my front end.

The rear shocks are crap Pro Comp Exploder. I had them on the shelf in my shop when my rear BC rockers split in two and thrashed my MX-6 shocks that were in there. I haven't had the run time to justify pulling them out yet.

I would think that Lars and Chuck are on the right track and will get much more out of their shocks in those positions.