Missiles upper shock mounts

[blue missile]

Since the weight of the car will now be transferred to the coil overs I had to build new upper shock mounts that would transfer the weight to the frame.

I fabricated the upper shock mounts out of a piece of 2"x3" tube stock and lightened it by taking a third of it out of the sides.
I moved the attachment points out 6.5" to straighten the shocks up a bit.
Progress is slow but much labor/few dollars can produce a good product.
Andrew

 

[memike]

Very neat job blue missile =P~
Your fabrication work looks great and well thought out :cheers:
Congrat's on a job well dun :cheers:

 

[cudaman51]

this was not supposed to be on this thread sorry

 

[Burntorange70]

Nice work. Thats a good idea and should help out a lot. Also if you are going to be running a 12 point cage run the two X bars that come from the main hoop down on top of the shock mount area. That will also help strangthen the shock mount area.

 

[blue missile]

I know I told someone I would get them measurements on the upper mount brace and another view.I cant remember who but here they are.
The distance between the mounting points is 25" and they are 4.25"away from the frame rails.
pic included
Andrew

 

[Speedotann]

It was me blue. Thanks so much... This will help me out a lot and probably a lot of other guys that have the mount problem. I will keep you updated on my progress.
Thanks again,
Brian

I know I told someone I would get them measurements on the upper mount brace and another view.I cant remember who but here they are.
The distance between the mounting points is 25" and they are 4.25"away from the frame rails.
pic included
Andrew

 

[blue missile]

OK
here is where I confess that changing to coil-overs, and not having all the pieces in place really impacts a not so well thought out design.
The cross member I built was wrong in a number of ways.
As soon as I put the pumpkin back in the axle and tried to jack it up to ride height the center of the cross member was it the way.So I cut that out.
Then when I put the coil-overs in place the conical spring retainer hit the cross member because of the angle.So I cut that out.I also needed room for the exhaust to get by. At that time I would have very little left SOOOOO.
I then removed the first one (its no fun removing anything I have installed permanently) and built one out of 1.5"x1.5" square tube, solving those problems.
I then put all the parts together, and bolted on the wheels , and the car was still to high off the ground.
SOOOOO, I removed the second one and re built the cross member from scratch, lowering the car another 1.5".
For those who are keeping tabs, the mount points are 4" in from the rails and 1.5" down from the deck.
The car now will sit 4.5" off the ground at the frame rails, and since I am in the bottom holes on the lower shock mount, I can raise it another 3" if needed.
Andrew

 

[mac daddy mopar]

very nice

 

[rjsjea]

Andrew, stance looks good in the rear. What's your measurement from the top of the axle tube to the frame rail? How bout the top of the pumpkin to the floor? Are you going to notch the rail or have to mod the floor?

What do you have planned for the exhaust?

-RJ

 

[jrlegacy23]

Andrew,
Are those the 10.5" wide bullitts?
How wide is the rear in your duster (wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface)? I would imagine around 54 1/2"??

 

[66340SEDAN]

Very kewl!

 

[blue missile]

JR,
Yes those are 10.5" bullets,with 12" tires.
Its a stock width A body axle tube, axle flange to axle flange is 5/8" wider than stock because of the jeep Cherokee brakes.
RJ,
you always ask good questions. At full compression (my shocks only have 2.7" of travel) there are a couple of inches of clearance to the rails and more than that at the pumpkin.
HOWEVER, I will have to pocket the hump for the sway bar arms, but not very much.
As far as the exhaust goes I made templates of J bends and have left room for them through the maze of stuff.
I have not yet put the upper links in place and the location of those is partially dictated by the exhaust.
I will take some more pics after today's work for your feedback.
Andrew

 

[crackedback]

Looks good.

 

[HemiDenny]

hey Missle dude....how do you keep the rear centered...panard bar or diagonal link???..didn't see that in there yet. I put coilovers/4-bar/4link/panard bar on the rear of my Duster....to have the room neccassary for the coilovers/panard bar I moved the rear forward 1.5 inches(streched the rear wheelwhells forward 3 inches).....it's like trying to stuff 10lbs of s%&t in a 5lb bag!!!!...good luck and let me know how its going.......HemiDenny