So I am in a bit of a pickle... While up in tahoe wheelin with Drew, I had the unfortunate pleasure of somehow pulling the upper mounting stud out of the top cap of my right side rear shock on the Rubicon... Upon inspection, it pulled out and the shock somehow smacked the Schrader valve snapping off the head which intern lost all nitrogen pressure. When I looked at the mounting hole, it somehow became knotched out creating a pocket for the stud to fall in to and get caught. I have noticed, that when fully articulated, the stud had a ton of lateral force on it which in turn probably wallowed out the hole and created the pocket out of the need for more movement.
I came to the realization that for my particular setup, the stud top design may not be the most optimal installation method...
Now my questions is: What are my options for a better more reliable setup?
My first thought was to swap out the stud top caps for bearing type with a through bolt mounting. Only concern there is that I would lose an inch of uptravel (but I guess I would gain an inch of down travel so I wouldn't really lose anything, except that I already have limited uptravel before the bump stops hit).
Second was outboarding the shocks, but I have a feeling that with how much my axle swings when articulated, I wouldn't have enough room between the tire and frame to mount them without serious clearance issues.
Third was to consider a rear mounted shock setup like 4wheel underground's. Which in turn would double as a coilover mount if I ever decide to take the next step and pull the springs completely. One less step down the road.
Rear Coilover Mounting
But then I started looking at the rear of the axle and have a feeling that the panhard, e brake cables, Brake lines, etc, all would be a huge headache to make work because everything is so tight. And because I don't think that would leave room to run my proposed swing down gas can holder/skid for the spare tire area.
Fourth and maybe the most cost efficient and practical option, replace the top cap like for like, weld a 1/4" thick washer over the wallowed out hole, and remount the shocks as they were before and install limit straps and cross my fingers that the studs won't be a problem again. Using something like this
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/FIXIT.html
So that brings me to the open forum section of this dilema. What would be the best option at this point???
Now lets hit up the sierras again haha
hwell:
