Rear shock extenders

[Rusty1]

Anyone ever made their own rear shock extenders for a rear flip.

I am thinking of trying to make some for my 84. The only thing I bought when I lowered my truck was new perches. I have some 2x4 stock from my Nova project that I think I can make work.Along with my wire feed and chop saw. Any Ideas or input. Yes I'm a cheap bastard!

 

[J Knight]

If you got fab skills, go for it. This is what they look like on the truck to give you an idea how long they need to be.

 

[Rusty1]

Thanks J Knight. Looks like they lower the shock 3" to 4"? Sound right.? I'll keep you up dated and try to remember to take pictures.

 

[J Knight]

I would say right at 4in.

 

[Beatdown Z]

Just make sure when you lower them, you keep them higher than the edge of the wheels. This is to prevent the rear of the truck from pulling hard to one side if you have a blowout.

Since you have a welder and fab tools, I suggest you just mount both shocks behind the axle at a <10 degree angle. A little more work, but the more vertical the shocks are, the more effective they will be.

Think of it like this. If the shocks are mounted 90* to the axle(aka vertical), they are 100% effective. Now if the shocks are mounted horizontal to the axle, then they have 0% effectiveness(if that's even a word, lol). Now let's meet in the middle and mount them at a 45* angle. Now they are 50% effective. So you see, the closer to vertical you mount the shocks, the more effective they will be. Good luck!

 

[Rusty1]

John

what method did you use to take out the rivets for the bump stop brackets. Thats on my to do list this weekend along with the shock extenders. I've read several ways.
Drilling, grinding,cutting torch, Cross cut with cutoff wheel then air hammer. Air Hammer.
Really don't want to lay under my truck all day getting dirt and rust in my eyes.

 

[J Knight]

John

what method did you use to take out the rivets for the bump stop brackets. Thats on my to do list this weekend along with the shock extenders. I've read several ways.
Drilling, grinding,cutting torch, Cross cut with cutoff wheel then air hammer. Air Hammer.
Really don't want to lay under my truck all day getting dirt and rust in my eyes.

All those methods work fine but I had a torch handy so I just blasted the rivet heads off and smacket it with a BFH.

 

[Rusty1]

Cheater

 

[J Knight]

cheater

 

[Rusty1]

extensions

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Started with some scrap 2X4

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Cut in half

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Marked the hole locations and bottom

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Drilled mounting holes

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cut lower extensions from some more scrap

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Drilled shock mount holes

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Welded the parts together

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Painted and installed with new bolts from the local harware store.

 

[J Knight]

Exellent! I like how you did those. I bet they fit better than the DJM ones I have.

 

[Old77]

Those came out nice!

 

[bdiamond]

I cut the stock mount off the axle and welded ears onto the lower spring plates. The shock bolt nearly touched the plate in the factory layout. I moved the mount forward 2" and down 3" from the factory spot.