Which shock location

Stock height bronco and staying stock height, new varrible rate coils.
Going from 2 Duff 70/30's at each corner back to single shocks, probably adjustable Ranchos. I have the stock mounts all around and in the front I have the big 1\2 inch thick bar stock type mount (advertied as the Old School mount in many of the catilogs) that is welded to the frame and the front of the shock tower, and a tab welded on the front of the C bushing mount for the lower mount. The rear has the stock type mounts on both sides in front and in the rear of the tire.

My question is for the rear which shock goes in front and which goes in the rear? Its been too long and the Duff repo mounts are so good, and the factory welds are so sloppy I can't tell... I think it's passenger rear, driver front but I'm not positive.
For the front end which mount whould you use? Stock behind the spring or the aftermarket in front of the coil. I'm only thinking about not using the stock mount because the top is a pin mount instead of an eye. Anyone know of a good reason why I should not use the front mount instead of the stock one behind the coil?

Stock is to the rear of the rear axle on both sides.
For the front I'd use the stock mount to the rear of the coil.

Paul

As for a reason? Well, it's just a feeling really. The suspension imparts more leverage to the behind-the-spring shock, so a shock that's valved correctly for a Bronco, might ride a bit stiff in the front mount.
Not that it would be a bad thing necessarily, and the eye type mounts are sometimes more prevalent and can be had in different lengths, but there's nothing wrong with the shorter shock with a pin mount either. For a stock rig that is.

The front-of-the-spring shock MIGHT be longer (depending on how the mount was positioned), so might have some advantage there, but I wouldn't think so in your case.
And there are steering modifications we like to do sometimes (tie-rod over for instance) that will interfere with the front/front lower mount sometimes.

Paul

For the best of both worlds, you could go to a Ford Super Duty mount and get the longer shock with the eye mount and kill two birds with one stone.
But with a stock height Bronco, you're not going to run out of shock travel too often. As long as the shock is sized correctly for your setup that is.

Paul

Thanks.
I have been giving some thought to the F250 upper mount.
The shocks on the rear, one side goes toward the front the other toward the rear except in 66 where they both go toward the back. It was that way when I bought it. I just can't remember which way.

As far as I know, all years of EB's had both rear shocks aiming to the rear. GM did the staggered mount thing on their pickups and Blazers, and Ford did it in the front of the '78/'79 Broncos/F150's with single shocks, but the Early Bronco had symmetry.
Can't vouch for all '66's, but the ones I've seen did have both angled rearward. The very early '66's used pin-type top mounts in the rear as well, but went to the eye type later in the year.
If yours was that way when you bought it, it was either already modded by a PO, or Ford did something unusual in '68 and you have got a rare one.

That or I don't know enough about the early Earlies (happens a lot!) and am just wrong. But from at least '71 through '77, both rear shocks angle up towards the rear.
The inner fender lips are notched to clear the upper shock eye, and both are to the rear. See if your notches all match. After they started using the condensation tank behind the driver's seat, Ford clipped the vent lines to the inner fender lip to the front of the wheel, so that area would have been unsuitable for notching. With a body lift, that would not have been an issue, and, of course, it would only have mattered on the driver's side.

Does yours have four notches? Two? None? Just curious.
Thanks

Paul

It has four notches but I can't remember if they were four there from the start or if the guys that welded on the mounts cut two extra. The rear notches are a little more elongated than the front but they look the same from side to side.
I'm almost positive it had one going forward and one going backward. Hopefully oldtimers isn't setting it already...
It was unmodified when I got it. Still had the factory shocks on it when I bought it in 1994.

I've gone pretty much the same route. I installed one of those Duffs early dual shock mods 30+ years ago. Two shocks on each rear wheel was too much. The stock location is behind the axle so I left it that way. On the front I left the duals. I feel that my car needs them for handling and braking. If you want to remove one front pair, I'd remove the stock pin ones. The location of the fronts you added, are more linear to the axle and will stiffen it up a bit more than the stock location.