Outboard rear shocks project
- Thread starter softballnrd27
- Start date
I apologize for the poor pics/lighting but this is mrblaine's work on my LJ (stock width axle, rear 2.0 coilover, no wheel spacers, 3.75 bs wheel and 35x12.5 tires):
It rides better than stock and better than I thought possible considering the tire size and suspension. It puts a smile on my face every time I drive it. To give an idea of the quality of the overall build I feel more comfortable at 80 mph on the freeway with no hands on the wheel than I did with both hands on the wheel when my LJ was stock.
All outboards or all CO outboards? You've got me concerned!
I believe it's just the CO outboards due to the diameter of the CO.
Lilnuts
TJ Enthusiast
Thank you @jjvw and @mrblaine for always being willing to share your collective knowledge. I’ll probably never have any need for outboarding, but now that I understand how the stock suspension works in terms of geometry, I’m eating up every little bit I can on info regarding outboarding. I was so lost at the beginning of the thread but by about the middle it all started to click. The suspension threads are always my favorite, it’s very cool stuff.
Lilnuts
TJ Enthusiast
It looks if the frame gets cut completely and the new boxed gusset is even recessed 3/4" or so, is that about right? That can be done with the stock fuel tank?
This is very cool. Would you be willing to take more pics? Particularly of the back side frame and how it was gusseted, and a profile from the rear showing how far the coil over and hoop protrude in front of the frame. This kind of work deserves an entire build thread for just the rear suspension.
It shouldn’t weaken it at all. If the welds are done right, the metal should fatigue before the welds do.
If the rear of your frame is hit hard enough to actually accomplish that, your frame is toast. Outboarded or not.
Not the correct question since it does weaken the frame. The correct question is does it weaken the frame enough to ever be a problem and the answer is a qualified no. Qualified in that good fabrication practices need to be followed, sound welds, decent fitment, full welds all the way around the opening, and a good frame to start with.
Yes, I've seen one on JF where the welds were cracking up the sides. The whole bottom was not welded correctly.
If it didn't weaken it, we could have an entire frame made out of a layer of 1/4" and a layer of 3/16" without top and bottom flanges. It wouldn't last long.
I've read this thread many times, have outboarded my own rig with the help of others, and I still learn something new every time I read it.
Getting ready to French cut my frame. A lot of great info here. How far in do you cut. All the way back so that the shock tower rest flat against the frame or almost all the way and leave like 1/4" gap?
The bottom edge is cut flush to the inside of the frame. The top is left with about a 1/4" lip to push the top of the tower out a bit. This is where it is so important to tack everything in place and cycle the axle before committing. You will be making multiple small adjustments at every step.
I wish I could go watch and help Blaine install one just to see it done right before I cut my frame. The education would be awesome for someone like me! Lol
There are two insides of the frame. The inside face that you would see if you were sitting under the rig and looking out and the inside of the frame tube that you can't see unless you look in one of the holes randomly punched in the frame. You really don't want to cut through the inside of the frame that you can see looking out, but you do want to get very close to the inside face of the inside wall of the frame. Critical distinction.
Thank you all for your advice. One other thing I'm not completely clear on. I understand that we have to tack in and flex test a lot. My question is how do you do that since it requires cutting into the frame with a somewhat triangle shaped shock tower? From the first cut and tack in I can only go up since moving the shock tower down would leave a gap around the tower. I did read other post including @mrblaine on how to measure and track adjustments. I just don't really understand how I can make small adjustments to the setup.
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