ran across these today: http://www.budbuilt.com/new/shock_mounts.html
was wondering if you know anyone out there with them on their rig. seem like a great solution for those of us without a welder at hand. the plates look like a very simple design that could easily and cheaply be fabbed with minimal tools instead of buying them. all you'd need is a scrap piece of plate, a vice, a BFH, and a drill.

i've been wanting to do a u-bolt flip for a while, but have been putting it off because the shock mounts need to get welded on. i was thinking of just bolting on the lower shock mounts this way and leaving the uppers stock for the moment in the hopes of getting rid of the rock magnet stock u-bolts/shock plate and gaining a few inches of down travel out of my OME N98 shock.

i don't think i'll be doing the / \ style shocks until my truck gets less of a DD and more trail use.

 

You don't need shocks to drive around. I'd do your swap and them spec your shocks. Then I'd call a driveline/fab shop (there are plenty in the area) and see what they charge to weld some tabs. You can use their tabs, make your own or order some.

Fabbing up a bolt on one looks like a waste of time as well as a band aid. If you have everything mocked up it wouldn't take much of any time for someone to stick them on. If you know where they need to go the welder doesn't care. Heck you could get an iron fence shop to weld them as long as you tell them where.

 

hey man i mad some like budbuilt and it sucks, you have seen them. dose the job short term but just sucks. im working on getting a welder and when i do ill let you know we can weld some up for you if you still need to relocate your shocks.

 

Yeah man Just have a muffler shop or an offroad shop weld them on..
Idk where citrus heights is but If your willing to drive to Temecula and bring the shock tabs I can weld them on..

 

I believe Citrus heights is around roseville/sarcamento...and you are in so cal.

 

haha thanks guys.
scuba - citrus hts is in sacramento, but thanks for the offer.
fairy - i think yours may have gone because of the crazy angle you have your shocks at. and are your lower shock mounts the same design as the budbuilt?

i'm just going to drop the cash on a nice used welder so i can fab some stuff in the garage. i've just been putting it off because i need to run wiring for a subpanel in the garage and upgrade all the electrical in there or get a 220v extension cord to go to my dryer. i need a lot of other things welded besides shock mounts: sliders, front/rear bumpers, etc.

 

i know aht you mean about the 220v and needing a welder for more projocts, here is what im going for sense im in an appartment.
http://www.readywelder.com/10000adp.php

 

I don't want to articulate my rear shocks but I am going to install ubolts in rear and want to know where to weld new tabs for rear shocks at? Any pictures or suggestions?

 

it seems most people change up their shocks after they've lifted the rear - for this they can usually get away with mounting the shocks on top of the axle and sometimes a new crossmember/upper shock mount needs to be installed to get the positions correct.

i did up doing the ubolt flip this past summer and have my shock tabs welded about half-way down on the front-side of the axle due my small amount of lift in back. my shocks would bottom out during compression if i had them mounted on top, which is a big no no when it comes to shocks. i have noticed that with the new shock positioning (like this: /\ ), my rear axle has more droop without really effecting on-road handling too much. I can try to snap pics of my truck, but there are plenty of others' rigs if you search.

 

Ok thanks i will keep searching. I am going with just the basic vertical straight up and down. Just wondering if it matters were the shocks go, I.E. front, back or on top of the axle? The way my truck is stock is one shocks in the back and ones in the front of the axle. How far left or right of the new u-boult flip should the shock be placed or does it matter?

I do have a bolt on shock mount kit for the axle that the previous owner gave me. Could i just bolt these on the axle and use the existing mounts on the top? I was going with 6" of spring so the bottoming out shouldnt be an issue.