Shock Install Question...Did P.O. do it wrong???

[Tman]

I was installing my new shocks and I noticed that the P. O. (previous owner) had both of the shocks up front mounted to the driver-side of the lower brackets...seen in pics below....1st one is passenger side, 2nd is driver side. I re-installed the new shocks how it had been. Is this correct or do I need to flip the bottom of the shock on the passenger-side to the other side of the bracket????

Last pic is how it was before I started.

 

[DirtDonk]

Well, your thinking is correct. I wonder though if maybe the alignment of the upper and lower mounts in this case just dictated the position?
It looks pretty straight up and down in the pic, so perhaps the mounts were not welded on perfectly in line.
Try it on the outside just to see how it works out. It does look a tad close to the frame on the passenger side, but it's hard to tell in the pic.
Sometimes people have clearance issues too, and end up putting them both on the inside just to clear tires or whatnot. And being a Bronco, thiings just don't always fit the same way on both sides! Fun fun.

Either way, it probably doesn't hurt anything, other than our sense of balance, as long as your clearances are good and alignment seems decent.

Paul

 

[Tman]

Well i noticed that the driver-side is mounted on the ouside because the track-bar bracket would be close to it if it was on the inside. On the passenger side, theres plenty of room on either side. But if I understand you right, the shocks should be as straight up and down as possible???? If so, I think thats why they did what they did, I think it would toe out a bit if it was on the other side. These pics may be better, maybe not...

 

[DirtDonk]

Fairly straight up and down is desirable, but not as important as clearance I'm thinking.
Shocks follow the suspension movement, so may lean in or out during articulation on one side. So, if too close to the frame, you could hit the frame with the shock. And the shock will lose that argument, every time!

Sharing space with a track-bar mount is a sure way to a quick death for a shock, so the PO probably felt it had to be that way. I've seen them mounted both inside and out over the years, but can't remember if one way is more correct than the other.

Try it both ways and see what you think. If worse comes to worse, you could always cut the lower and/or upper mounts off and re-position them for perfect all-around fit. Not that this would be any fun of course, but it's doable.

Paul

 

[Tman]

Sheeeeeooooooooot! I don't think I'll be doing all that, The shocks are not near the frame anywhere & they're straight, so I'll just call the front done. To tell you the truth, I never noticed the shocks were mounted that way in the first place, I guess ignorance IS bliss. On the topic...when I mount the rears, I was told to put the driverside behind the axle and the passenger-side in-front of the axle to prevent axle-wrap....is this a sound theory? It sounds right to me, I just like to hear feed back from the people. Pros/ Cons

 

[DirtDonk]

It's a sound theory. GM started doing it many years ago. Can't remember if Ford did it, but seems like they did on some rigs.
Looks like you have dual mounts anyway, so can't hurt to try it if you're only replacing one on each side.
Might help a little, but I don't think it can prevent it completely. Maybe others here have tried it and will tell you how it worked. I'm kind of curious myself

Paul

 

[Tman]

Cool, thanks a lot and take it easy.