Project rear kitchen bounce eliminator is underway!!!

[Mr. Black]

Trailer shocks.

Been wanting to do this for a while now and finally have gotten up off my dead butt and started head long in to it.

I looked at the Monroe kits out there and never liked the mounts and I see recently that they stopped produciton on their upper mount kit for I beam frames. Probably because it was a poor bolt on design with a single hole drilled through the frame.

Anyways I fabricated my own upper mounts and bought prefabbed lower mounts from the off road shop.

I am using a good twin tube shock for the rear of a 1 ton Dodge van. Should be plenty of shock and if not, should they ever fail are lifetime warranty Gabriels. After digging through a few shock catalogs this shock had the dimensions I was looking for on the Dodge mentioned.

Next weeked I will weld up the mounts to the frame and axles and get the shocks bolted on.

I am also going to cross brace the very long spring hangars on this rig. I will cross weld some 1.5 inch mild steel from one side to the other. If any of you have seen the MORryde crossmember kit it will be like that only better and for a 1/4 of the price.

Pics of the mounts as of today. More pics of installation to come.

[NWJeeper]

I just love some well done fabrication

I thought those shock mounts looked familiar. I think I have been to that web site before. Keep us informed as to how it works out.

[Mr. Black]

Thanks Ed,

This morning I did a little more work on the upper mounts. I extended the upper gusset to extend out to the shock bushing stop washer.

I'm running the shocks about a half inch further inboard to clear gas piping and such. So I figured the little bit of extra bracing will keep any flexing/bending loads at bay on the shock stud.

[Mr. Black]

Step 2 is completed today. I will likely be so damn sore tomorrow that stage 3 might have to wait till Sunday lol.

Anyways, I got all 8 shock mounts burned in today. Shocks are officially bolted on. I need to button up the galley drain pipe hangers and clean up the horrid job of brake wiring that is typical.

The job became much easier when I decided to stop worrying about the cheesy insulator board that lines the belly of the trailer and just cut two big holes to work in. This is the first trailer we have had with that part of the "winter package" and I hate that board with a passion.

Anyways, not ready for a test drive yet. Stage 3 is to cross brace the really tall spring hangers. Should have that done tomorrow.

[NWJeeper]

Looking good. I wished I could do something like this on my boat trailer but there just isn't the room for it.

[NWJeeper]

Hit all the exposed metal with ruberized undercoating while you are under there. I use it under our Jeep everywhere, really keeps the rust at bay.

[Mr. Black]

Good idea Ed. I actually have a couple cans in the garage.

I damn near need to spray bomb the whole chassis.

[Mr. Black]

Well the cans of undercoating I had were too old. Wouldn't spray ended up just drenching it in black piss can enamel for now. Next spring I will likely underocoat the whole exposed chassis.

[Mr. Black]

Got the cross bracing done thismorning with the help of my son. He's ready to run the welder and was gonna let him try it, but we ran out of wire after the last weld. Thank goodness as the wifey would have been mad at me if I had to go out and buy another 40 dollar spool. I have about 200 bucks into this project already lol.

Also got the galley pipe moved and the brake wiring cleaned up.

Anyways I digress, Just sitting in the driveway I can notice a huge difference in movement or lack there of when we step in and walk around in the trailer with no stabilizers down. Can't wait to road test it for the shocks and park test it stability wise.










Highly recommend it for anyone with tall spring hangars and springs over the axles.

[NWJeeper]

Awesome job. Perhaps you should build and offer these shock mount kits to other owners. I'm also a big fan of the shocks with the metal stone guards. I hate those that use the "accordions". I never use them on the Jeep. Nice work.