Removing Shock Mounts

any first hand experience before I go at it..?

I was thinking about drilling or grinding off the rivet heads and fishing the slugs out of the boxed portion of the frame.

 

grind out the heads and use a punch to knock out the rivets

 

I used the death wheel and air hammer after smashing my hand with the 3lb hammer.

 

My ecj5 frame was not only riveted but welded along the edges, parallel with the frame rail. Took some careful cut off wheel work.

 

Cutoff wheel along the side welds, but make sure to stay high on the mount side. It’s easy to cut into the frame when you think you’re on just the weld.

Then the easiest way I’ve found to get the rivets out is a torch. Heat directly down on top of the rivet. Blast it with O2, and wash the rivet head away. Since there is no cohesive connection between the rivet, the mount, and the frame, the O2 won’t burn more than just the rivet if you’re fast. Wash the head off and use a punch to get the rest out. Makes for a very clean, fast job.

 

I’m going to try and stay away from fire just to save as much of the galvanizing as possible.

Still don’t know how I’m going to fix it, but step one is removing the old.

 

I drilled the rivet and carefully used a thin cutoff wheel to cut the weld. Was able to relocate/reuse the bracket.

 

I had the same as bowbender.
Mine were riveted and welded. I drilled the rivets and punched them out. I then used a thin cutoff wheel to cut the weld along the outside of the frame. Lucky me they were welded on the inside too....... I pounded a chisel in from the outside to fold the bracket off of the frame.

 

Good follow up question:

The guys who removed them... what did you replace with?

 

I just cleaned up and reused the old ones.

 

I had to relocate mine to allow for my power steering gear.

 

Does this help? Everybodys jeep and installs are so different....... this is what I did...

Norcal69's Common Sense Build. Starts at post #418

 

I was thinking about some purpose built shock mounts to get some increased travel... but I really don’t want to cut the inner fender...

Once I lop it off I can reinstall the fender and see what I’m dealing with..

 

You probably don’t need a tall mount if you are still running the lower shock mount on the spring plate. I moved the lower shock mount up to the axle tube so I had to raise the top equally.... I also have about 4 times more travel than a stock Jeep.

 

Ford F250 shock mounts fit inside the fender well without cutting and let you used a much longer shock. They are also very affordable. You can bolt or weld them in place. I welded mine.

Mike

 

I think this is the beginning of a proper fix...

 

Wagoneer mounts.

 

82-86 CJ.. might be the same as wagoner.. I'm not sure..

knocked off the passenger side mount and should have both installed shortly.

 

That looks great to me. I'm interested to see the final tire to shock clearance. Every jeep is different, my wheel and tire package would hit the shock.