Ford Shock towers=cracked frame

[stockk5]

I have been doing a lot of research here and it seems like everyone that puts on ford shock towers ends up cracking their frame? Or making shock towers ends up cracking their frame. Is the only way to prevent this is to make an engine crossmember to go over the top of the motor connecting the two towers?

How many people have cracked their frames? How long you have used it? What type of use does your truck see? thanks!

 

[MOBK5]

I think the main thing you have to pay attention to when putting shock towers on is making sure your measure the full stuff and droop of your axle and picking a shock that wont bottom out or extend to its maximum length and tug downward on the tower.

 

[ryoken]

make an engine crossmember to go over the top of the motor connecting the two towers?

thats what I'm doing....

 

[Adventurous 4x4]

I ran the Ford towers from 2002 to 2007 with no issues and then made my tube mounts in 07 and they are not connected and I haven't had any issues.

 

[76zimmer]

Is the only way to prevent this is to make an engine crossmember to go over the top of the motor connecting the two towers?

quote]



That seems like a really good idea with the extension on them into the engine compartment.

 

[NorCalKid]

You can run a brace to the top of the frame to spread out the load instead of a brace across the engine. There is a write up on here somewhere thats done the way I described. That said I run modified ford shock mounts and had not had any issues yet

 

[stockk5]

yeah i read the article that was written up on ck5 but then i read that even he had issues with them cracking so i was concerned. Ill have to do a lil more searching.. im debating whether i should spend the money on new shocks or work with the shocks i have..

 

[rdn2blazer]

One simple thing you can do that alot of guys just don't think of is to make a doubler plate. Instead of just putting on a regular washer and nut against the frame on how ever many bolts the shock mount has, make a plate for the inside of the frame that spreads the load to a greater surface area. Transfer the hole pattern to the doubler plate and drill all the holes, it's that easy.

Make the doubler say minimum if 1/8 thick to 1/4 max, 3/16 being perfect most of the time and make it a decent amount bigger then the bolt mounting pattern. You still MUST have you shock length correct so it does not over extend and pull on the shock tower or bottom out and push on it either. But with the age of some of these rigs and the fact that the frames ain't all that thick to begin with, a doubler backing plate is a easy, good idea to do in lots of areas on the truck where things mount to the frame. You don't have to have some big band saw to make one either. I used my Porter Cable Port-a-band band saw for years at home to make things like that and a bench vise and power drill, thats all you need to make them.

 

[stockk5]

that does seem pretty good. I am pretty damn handy with my angle grinder and small drill press. Its either shock towers or new rancho9000sx

 

[blazinzuk]

I ran ford shock towers for 6 years on my old blazer no cracks. I welded them to the frame though. It got used alot and wheeled hard plus it had stupid good flex

I am running shock hoops on Horton and the only reason my frame cracked is because of me being lazy and not putting a very simple brace on.

 

[TheKaveMan]

I'm running the Ford (I'm calling them extensions) and am very pleased with how simple it was to gain the added length, to in turn be able to run a longer travel shock / more capacity which = more flex and better ride quality.

Correct me if I am wrong but it sounds like you would be using the stock shock, if you do new towers. This will cause the shock to over extend (destroying it) and cause the possible stress cracks in the frame you were trying to avoid in the first place. If you do new towers you will need new longer shocks. If it is a money issue decide on a tower / extension purchase it now and install it later down the road when you can get the shocks that you want or vise versa. Would just stink to get the 9000 now and want the added length later.

I say do it right the first time saves money in the long run.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

I'm running the Ford (I'm calling them extensions) and am very pleased with how simple it was to gain the added length, to in turn be able to run a longer travel shock / more capacity which = more flex and better ride quality.

Correct me if I am wrong but it sounds like you would be using the stock shock, if you do new towers. This will cause the shock to over extend (destroying it) and cause the possible stress cracks in the frame you were trying to avoid in the first place. If you do new towers you will need new longer shocks. If it is a money issue decide on a tower / extension purchase it now and install it later down the road when you can get the shocks that you want or vise versa. Would just stink to get the 9000 now and want the added length later.

I say do it right the first time saves money in the long run.

The issue here isn't generally that the shocks are too long or short. It's simply that these old Chevy frames have long been used and abused and they simply aren't all that stout to begin with.

Even the stock shock mounts crack all the time, the added leverage that Ford shock towers put on the frame make it worse.

Not saying that the Ford shock towers are bad, I still run them, but they are tougher on the frame.

 

[BGKYK5]

You can run a brace to the top of the frame to spread out the load instead of a brace across the engine. There is a write up on here somewhere thats done the way I described.

One simple thing you can do that alot of guys just don't think of is to make a doubler plate. Instead of just putting on a regular washer and nut against the frame on how ever many bolts the shock mount has, make a plate for the inside of the frame that spreads the load to a greater surface area. Transfer the hole pattern to the doubler plate and drill all the holes, it's that easy.

I am in the process of doing both of these (and some other stuff ) as well making sure the shock doesn't run out of travel in either direction. Also you don't want your doubler/backing plate edges to line up with with the edges of the tower - make it wider/narrower by at least an inch.

 

[stockk5]

I'm running the Ford (I'm calling them extensions) and am very pleased with how simple it was to gain the added length, to in turn be able to run a longer travel shock / more capacity which = more flex and better ride quality.

Correct me if I am wrong but it sounds like you would be using the stock shock, if you do new towers. This will cause the shock to over extend (destroying it) and cause the possible stress cracks in the frame you were trying to avoid in the first place. If you do new towers you will need new longer shocks. If it is a money issue decide on a tower / extension purchase it now and install it later down the road when you can get the shocks that you want or vise versa. Would just stink to get the 9000 now and want the added length later.

I say do it right the first time saves money in the long run.

haha this always comes up when i post something... see stock is my last name, not my truck, my truck is not stock at all, its bot 5-6" lift, 1ton, fully locked 40's bla bla bla. yeah im really going back and forth with what to do, im leaning more towards the towers, i have shocks taht have 15" of travel right now and they were on the truck for the longest time, i didnt realize how lil uptravel i had cuz the shock boots were on there, only 2" so my ride was rough to say the least, ill have to do some bump stop work and some work on correct measurements for how much flex i have.