I'm building my front air bag setup for my '79 4wd shorty chassis, I have a front shock for it that appears to be 2" too tall in the compressed position, my question is on your 4wd trucks , if they look similar to this picture, would it be an issue if I made the shock mount 2" taller? I'm thinking there is plenty of extra room there with minimal fabbing to the inner fender. My body is off so I 'm not sure.

Eric

 

why not buy new shocks of the height you need?

to answer your question - 2" taller gets you into the wheel liner and a very good chance into teh inner fender well also.

 

I'm building the air bag mount, so altering the shock mount is no biggie and it will get me 2" more suspension travel. I don't care if I have to alter the inner wheel well, just was hoping it wouldn't interfere with anything on the engine side. Not sure if it has good clearance to the exhaust manifold for instance.

Eric

 

you want to go out of your way and cut your truck up to reuse those old rusty shocks?? it should not interfere with exhaust manifolds but still...

 

The shocks I want to use are new, do you think I'm a moron? I'm putting air bags in this thing, gonna have to do a little cutting.
This is the project.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-air-ride.html

Eric

 

I did not mean to imply that you were a moron, simply responding based on the picture you have posted here. It sounds like you have your answer

 

With the mount you showed in your build link, cycle the axle with bags deflated. it looks like your shock will be fine like it is.

 

Are both of your shock mounts behind the axle? I thought all '79's had one in front, and one in back, which would explain why one is longer than the other.
A new pair bought as appropriate for that setup then, would have one shock longer than the other. But if both of yours are behind the axle then you want both shocks the same length.

Sounds like you're saying you have new shocks already and one is longer than the other? Or are the old ones that way? Or is it just that one mount is shorter than the other on the truck? Never seen that last, but just about anything is possible with these old rigs!
Either way, it used to be a common mistake by the retailers (and manufacturer listings too) to sell the wrong shocks to a customer. Easier when the '79 had the factory dual shocks, because there were just two of each length.

Sorry if that's not what you were saying. Obviously you can make the mounts any distance apart you choose as long as there is room. I've just never heard the question posed quite the way it is here.
Very interested to see how the bags come out and how you like the way they work. Just commenting on what I think I know about '79 shocks from running into odd sizes before.

Paul