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Ford towers

Yeah. I think I am actually going to go back so I can use the stock bottom mounts at the correct angle. Going to try and basically get the same angle as the factory rear mount. Started grinding out the rivets last night and plan to reinforce with 2x6 "L" steel. May do the set back trick like BGKYK5 if appropriate.

BTW, factory rivets are way more of a pain than I expected. Ground the head off and could not punch it out until I got out the air chisel.
 
The more I look at this and try to mock up how I'd want it to go, the more the Ford towers don't seem right with the simple install (like this):

frontshockinstalled1.jpg


The thing about it is that the angle of the Ford mount does not align correctly with the factory axle side mount. You can't see it, but the mount on the axle side is at about a 45 degree angle to the axle and frame. So as the angle changes with articulation, all the potential bind needs to be taken up by the bushings. Both the examples at the top of this thread made it right by changing the axle side mount and going almost straight up.

Rather than use the Ford towers at all, I'm thinking about using the GM dual mount (it's in the pic above) and creating an extension bracket for it. It has the required compound angle built into it already, so it can mount flat in the plane of the frame.
 
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Wouldn't it be just as easy to weld a tab on the axle?
 
nvrenuf said:
Wouldn't it be just as easy to weld a tab on the axle?
Click to expand...

How/where? Tabs on the top are cool, but you need crossover and an alternative to the factory bumpstop. The other one above is some sort of custom 90-degree to the axle setup, but it requires the shock mount to be directly above the axle, or very close. Might be able to get by without crossover on that, but still the factory bump and brake lines are in the way.
 
SBD does not have crossover, and has triple bypass shocks mounted on top of the axle. :whistle:
 
Sorry to hijack but it only makes sense to ask this in an ongoing shock tower question. What is the proper way to set the shock length? In my case I'm using 10" travel Bilsteins.

/end hijack
 
45acpJr said:
Sorry to hijack but it only makes sense to ask this in an ongoing shock tower question. What is the proper way to set the shock length? In my case I'm using 10" travel Bilsteins.

/end hijack
Click to expand...

My approach is to allow about 6" for uptravel and leave whatever is left for droop. The collapsed length of the 14" Bilsteins (per ORD web site) is 20.75, so I'm going for 27" eye to eye. This leaves 8" for droop (35" full extended length).

Someone will surely chime in if I'm thinking of this all wrong.
 
Mastiff said:
My approach is to allow about 6" for uptravel and leave whatever is left for droop. The collapsed length of the 14" Bilsteins (per ORD web site) is 20.75, so I'm going for 27" eye to eye. This leaves 8" for droop (35" full extended length).

Someone will surely chime in if I'm thinking of this all wrong.
Click to expand...

So if I understand this correctly you are going to set it so from normal ride height you will have 6" uptravel? I'm starting to think I need to get longer shocks, ORD set me up with 10" travel shocks.
 
45acpJr said:
So if I understand this correctly you are going to set it so from normal ride height you will have 6" uptravel? I'm starting to think I need to get longer shocks, ORD set me up with 10" travel shocks.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the plan. I think when I get 14" shocks in hand it's going to be shocking how long they are. My current shocks won't even reach 27", much less have 8" more to go. These are going to be long ass shocks compared to stock.
 
45acpJr said:
Sorry to hijack but it only makes sense to ask this in an ongoing shock tower question. What is the proper way to set the shock length? In my case I'm using 10" travel Bilsteins.

/end hijack
Click to expand...

You should set the stop of travel with a bump-stop at the point of the spring being flat or as close as possible. Give yourself 1" or so beyond the spring being flat with the shock up-travel so you don't bottom out the shock.

Negative arching your springs in general is harder on them than not going beyond flat. If you have them go maybe up to 1" beyond flat won't be too bad, but much beyond that will take some life out of them. The biggest concern is to make sure you are not bottoming out the shackle on the frame before the spring gets to the point of being flat. As long as your shackle can still swing you won't have to worry about bending packs and breaking shackle bolts.

Up-travel amount depends on lift mostly. The more lift you have, the more up-travel you have before the springs are flattened out.
 
Subbed so I can hopefully remember to take some pictures when I'm home. I relief cut my towers to fit around my steering shaft and matched the other side then had my buddy weld it all up, my bilsteins are I think almost vertical. My shock is mounted to the top of my axle tube with Kert's d60 shock mount tabs.

I had to cut my wheelwells to fit the shocks, they're almost vertical on two axes (plural of axis?) I believe.
 
ezoliver said:
You should set the stop of travel with a bump-stop at the point of the spring being flat or as close as possible. Give yourself 1" or so beyond the spring being flat with the shock up-travel so you don't bottom out the shock.

Negative arching your springs in general is harder on them than not going beyond flat. If you have them go maybe up to 1" beyond flat won't be too bad, but much beyond that will take some life out of them. The biggest concern is to make sure you are not bottoming out the shackle on the frame before the spring gets to the point of being flat. As long as your shackle can still swing you won't have to worry about bending packs and breaking shackle bolts.

Up-travel amount depends on lift mostly. The more lift you have, the more up-travel you have before the springs are flattened out.
Click to expand...

This can't always work given that these trucks came factory negative arched. A 4" lift is basically flat to start. Surely they have some uptravel potential. On the other extreme, mega-arched springs probably can't go flat.

In my case, I'm going off of what Stephen at ORD told me for my springs, which was 5-6". I'm going for slightly over 6" with the shocks and slightly less with the stops.
 
xenomarine said:
Subbed so I can hopefully remember to take some pictures when I'm home. I relief cut my towers to fit around my steering shaft and matched the other side then had my buddy weld it all up, my bilsteins are I think almost vertical. My shock is mounted to the top of my axle tube with Kert's d60 shock mount tabs.

I had to cut my wheelwells to fit the shocks, they're almost vertical on two axes (plural of axis?) I believe.
Click to expand...

Don't forget those pics!!
 
I've argued this same point many times - the spring steel has no idea where "flat" is, only how far it's bent from it's static position. But the backyard rule of thumb "don't let springs go negative" always hangs on.

A good spring supplier can tell you the intended range of motion. Most lift kit makers can not (what is the logical conclusion from those two facts?) Just ask ORD how much uptravel is OK for good spring life and plan for bumpstops there. Then you know to set the top of the shock like 1" or more above where it would be at that point. The rest of the travel will be dedicated to droop.

Or if you are after max flex, find a way to stuff that tire fully and set the shock for that position. I don't think you'll run out of travel on a 14" one (set in the right spot). Maybe in theory, but probably not in practice.
 
Here's some of both sides, second post on its way. I don't think they're in any order and please ignore how chooched together the whole truck looks right now. It's been neglected for almost a year now.

20140312_203410.jpg

20140312_203415.jpg

20140312_203421.jpg

20140312_203431.jpg

20140312_203459.jpg
 
Looks good. Everything seems so much simpler with the lower mount on top of the tube. No bump stops right now though, what are your plans there?
 
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