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F250 shock tower install

treerootCO

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wesintl said:
What's the point of cutting them down? I thought the idea is that the longer tower allows for a shock with more travel?:confused:

They don't get cut down, just straightened.
 

Shark Bait

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I didn't mind cutting my fenders. I haven't even dealt with shocks yet. My BDS springs are so stiff I'm not sure how I'm going to measure properly anyway. :eek:
 

Red_Chili

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Rancho 99012s. Durn long. You can get a bunch more travel than what you're talking 'bout Nakster.

Billies can be had in similar length IIRC. Nicer ride. I run Ranchos though, freely available and usually in stock. The 99012s are, in fact, also spec'd for an F250 if memory serves.

Minitruck guys just weld those same towers to the frame and be done with it. Less work.
 

nakman

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I'd like to stay with the Billsteins for some reason.. maybe I just don't hear anyone gripe about them and I do hear the complaints about Rancho.. though not necessarily the 99012. I tend to glaze over the numbers though after I see Rancho.. plus I've got this connotation in my head that Billstein=cool, Toyota, knowledgeable owner, etc. and Rancho = not so cool, J**P, probably shops at 4WP, puts spare on roof, etc. I'm sure that's not entirely accurate though.

In any case, I can't be worse off with more upward shock travel, so on with the new towers!
 

treerootCO

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Bilsteins are insane. I put them on my 40 and 99% of my body roll went away. Much safer to drive on the roads now and I never expected a shock to help with that. I went with the 255 valving and it is perfect for a 40. I have run ranchos in the past and was not impressed. Not sure what model though.
 

Rzeppa

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My vote goes to OMEs. Not as many combos as 90xx but dang good shocks. Needless to say, WAY better ride than any of the 5000s I've run on various cruisers.
 

nakman

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Look how pretty...
 

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Red_Chili

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nakman said:
.. plus I've got this connotation in my head that Billstein=cool, Toyota, knowledgeable owner, etc. and Rancho = not so cool, J**P, probably shops at 4WP, puts spare on roof, etc. I'm sure that's not entirely accurate though.

HEY!!!!! I resemble that remark!!!!!:rant:

:hill:

The thing is, a Rancho is not a Rancho. 5000s absolutely suck. The 99000x 9-way adjustable series do not. Billies are good though; can't gainsay that. You will not find OMEs in the lengths you now need.
 

nakman

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Going to have to wait until the weekend.. I need both trucks to operate when it's snowy like this. :)Princess: gets the 80). I'm sure they will though, I was thinking I could always put a washer behind it through the lower bolt if it needed to get shimmed back a c-hair or so... but I doubt that's going to be necessary. If you look at Manny's thread his aren't perfectly straight, and it looks like he's got lots of clearance.. http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=21151
 
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nakman

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quick update.. thanks again Ian for the awesome welding job. :beer2:

So I ended up making a shock out of a scrap 2x4, which served to align the tower as well as insure my heights were consistent one side to the other. There appears to be ample clearance surrounding the tower and around where the shock will go. Next I need to find some time in the daylight to hit the ramp by Autozone, then I can measure my compressed and extended lengths one last time before ordering, but it appears that I've added almost exactly 3" to everything.
 

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Rzeppa

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So I ended up making a shock out of a scrap 2x4
WOW! That's dang impressive! And all along I thought it would take rod and o-rings and oil and all this other stuff. Are we getting ripped off buying shocks instead of making them out of scrap steel? ;-)
 

Shark Bait

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Tim, that's brilliant! I wish I'd thought of the shock template just to line my tower up. :bowdown: :cheers:
 

Red_Chili

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Hey Tim, will two bolts really hold that puppy? The reason I ask, is, in the minitruck world some guys have peeled the welded-on shock towers off just from repeated 4x4 trips. I put two bracing wings on the back of mine, welded it to the frame, and have had no issues.
 

nakman

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Hey Tim, will two bolts really hold that puppy? The reason I ask, is, in the minitruck world some guys have peeled the welded-on shock towers off just from repeated 4x4 trips. I put two bracing wings on the back of mine, welded it to the frame, and have had no issues.

I guess time will tell... I'm not that worried about it since if it were to fail I'd be going like 1 MPH, and I just wouldn't have a shock for the rest of the day. I haven't had shocks for almost a month now and it hasn't really slowed me down much. Plus the main reason I'm taking my time and going through all of these measurement pains is to be 100% sure my shocks aren't used as bump stops or limiters.. so the only load on the towers will be from the shocks themselves.

Also this 40 is not likely to get built up as big or wheeled as hard as either Ige's or Mike's, and both of theirs are just bolted on so I figure there's two data points in favor of not worrying about it. Can always weld in the future I guess if the situation presents itself.. :thumb:
 

nakman

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Here's a new chapter is this long saga... to start, I'm a bonehead- the shocks that I had, that I sold to Max's dad? yeah they're now the perfect size for what I need on the front. I went over to the ramp in Lafayette yesterday and at full compresison with the bump stops hitting my new "collapsed" length is 16". The BE5-6248-H5 travels from 15.91"-25.93".. perfect for what I need at stock height, and will still work when I lift 2" in the future.

Anyone have a good used set of these sitting around they'd like to sell? Who (in the club?) can I order these from if I need to buy new.. :homer: :doh:
 

nakman

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finally! :snail: :blah:
 

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