I posted earlier in the bigger truck forums hoping to find an answer to my question. I have a pair of donar shock mount brackets for the rear axel. These brackets are the type that mount on the bottom of the rear axel where the U bolts connect the leaf springs to the frame rails on a Ford Truck, (the nuts and brackets go on the bottom the U bolts facing the ground, not on the top side of the axel facing under the bed). The guy who gave them to me says it is a left and right pair of shock mounts he removed from a Ford Truck many years ago (no idea what they came off from). Problem is, they are identical. To me, they appear to be both for the same side. He says no, one mounts the shock to the rear of the axel and the other one mounts the shock to the front of the axel.

I personally have never seen that application. The truck I want to use them on has the typical cross member that mounts the top of both shocks on a piece of C channel running between the frame rails. Has anyone ever seen an application where both rear shock mounts are identical for both sides and installed to put shocks on both sides (front and rear) of the axel?

 

Chevy and GMC pickups used shocks on the rear that one faced forward and the other toward the back. I don't remember seeing a Ford truck setup that way.
Mark

 

I dont either Mark. But if they did, Im curious how they would bolt to the cross member between the frame rails. Maybe it was a piece of tubing instead of a C Channel. I would prefer using the mounts that come off the bottom of the axel. My U bolts have the studs below the axel, not above the springs. If I use the weld on shock supports that mount to the axel, Im going to end up with a shorter shock. My understanding is the longer the shock the better it performs.

 

?? can you post some pics of these brackets? I know that Ford put staggered rear shocks on high performance Mustangs starting in 1969 (428SCJ and Boss 302) and this was done to help better control rear axle wind-up on hard acceleration. These mustangs had rear leaf springs and the shocks were mounted as you describe.

 

If the axle and shock brackets look similar to the ones in the picture, than their would be a right and left shock bracket. I used ones similar to the ones in the picture on my 53 when I switch out the rear axle to a 9 inch. Those came from a 57 - 60 F100. Hope this helps.


Lloyd

 

Walt, when I get them home I will post pictures. Unlike the picture Ifed posted, mine both look identical. The ones he shows look to be one different one for each side, same side of axel.

 

Ifed, Mine are both the same. Only way for them to work is if I have one in front of the axel and one in the back of the axel. But the cross member I have is not set up to recieve one from the front of the axel and one from the rear. I may bet a better idea when I have them in hand and can go under the truck and see exactly how they should or should not work. I can always install the ones that weld to the axel housing, but I did not want to shorten the shock length by doing so.