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Dpardy97

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I haven't found any resources on getting more travel out of the rear of the bronco. So I decided to share what I've come up with. I'm getting around 20" or so of articulation.

To accomplish this I used Icon shocks. They were already installed on my bronco but it is mounted upside down and has a tapering coil which I believe are key to my set up, although it might work with other shocks. Conveniently icon has the longest extended and shortest compressed length of all oe replacement shocks. You're supposed to mount the top hat on top of the frame but I instead mounted it on the bottom side. This increased the down travel but more importantly allowed the shock more room to swing forwards, away from the axle.

To combat the loss of up travel I removed the foam bump stops which I can do because I instead have pneumatic bump cans. With 37s and ADV fenders the tires can still contact the fenders.

Next I welded extra material to the axle shock mounts and drilled new holes about 2" forwards for the shocks. The tolerance between the coil and frame were very tight but it doesn't rub or rattle. This increased the motion ratio by a surprising amount.

With a rear sway bar installed and my front sway bar disconnected (worse case scenario for testing rear articulation) I maxed out my ramps sitting on top of 6x6s without coming close to lifting a tire. It achieved 19" like this but can certainly do more.

Ford Bronco Homemade rear long travel (20" articulation) using Icon shocks mounted upside down 20241014_174618 (1)


I didn't take many pictures while I was doing it. This is before I trimmed it up to make it smaller.

Ford Bronco Homemade rear long travel (20" articulation) using Icon shocks mounted upside down 1000007732-



I'd like to see the tophat bolted under the frame if you get a chance. I think I get what you are talking about with the mods, but I'm more of a visual guy vs. printed words.
The only thing of note is that there's a 12 point bolt that i had to shave down to get the tophat through the frame.

20241016_150725.jpg
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broadicustomworks

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I definitely want to know more via some pics.
This is interesting.
 
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Dpardy97

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Do you have a pic of the new location for lower shock mount? Interested in the increase motion ratio geometry.
I didn't take many pictures while I was doing it. This is before I trimmed it up to make it smaller
Ford Bronco Homemade rear long travel (20" articulation) using Icon shocks mounted upside down 1000007732
 

87-Z28

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I didn't take many pictures while I was doing it. This is before I trimmed it up to make it smaller
1000007732.jpg
interesting mods. Looks good.

I don’t think you have increased the motion ratio of the rear based on that minor relocation of lower shock mount. Do you have a pic of upper mounting location? Curious what single wheel travel you have wo bump stops? Have you been able to measure this? I think most of your articulation gains will be from increased shock travel and lack of oem bushings🤷‍♂️ some folks have also redrilled the lower shock mount location but moved it upwards to get more clearance. There is a thread on this somewhere.

Nice work

edit. To really get increased motion ratio on the rear axle the shock mount needs to move towards the vehicle center line (not easy) or wheel needs to move outwards.
 
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I'd like to see the tophat bolted under the frame if you get a chance.
I think I get what you are talking about with the mods, but I'm more of a visual guy vs. printed words.
 
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Dpardy97

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interesting mods. Looks good.

I don’t think you have increased the motion ratio of the rear based on that minor relocation of lower shock mount. Do you have a pic of upper mounting location? Curious what single wheel travel you have wo bump stops? Have you been able to measure this? I think most of your articulation gains will be from increased shock travel and lack of oem bushings🤷‍♂️ some folks have also redrilled the lower shock mount location but moved it upwards to get more clearance. There is a thread on this somewhere.

Nice work

edit. To really get increased motion ratio on the rear axle the shock mount needs to move towards the vehicle center line (not easy) or wheel needs to move outwards.
So i have no way to push the tire up beyond the means of my ramps to measure. I can tell you that the tires have cracked my fenders ever after cutting some of it out. The mounting location is in the same place just on the other side of the frame. I think a considerable amount of the travel i gained was from lowering the shock a little bit and removing the bumps. but As far as motion ratio gains. I'm no engineer or even mechanic for that matter. But I do believe that it creates a longer moment arm. This is the before picture with the same exact shocks and links doing the same exact test. It also feels considerably softer in the rear aswell which i think means there's is more leverage being applied to it. Thanks
Ford Bronco Homemade rear long travel (20" articulation) using Icon shocks mounted upside down Screenshot_20241016_150449_Gallery
 
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Dpardy97

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I'd like to see the tophat bolted under the frame if you get a chance.
I think I get what you are talking about with the mods, but I'm more of a visual guy vs. printed words.
the only thing of note is that there's a 12 point bolt that i had to shave down to get the tophat through the frame
Ford Bronco Homemade rear long travel (20" articulation) using Icon shocks mounted upside down 20241016_150725
 

BAUS67

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interesting mods. Looks good.

I don’t think you have increased the motion ratio of the rear based on that minor relocation of lower shock mount. Do you have a pic of upper mounting location? Curious what single wheel travel you have wo bump stops? Have you been able to measure this? I think most of your articulation gains will be from increased shock travel and lack of oem bushings🤷‍♂️ some folks have also redrilled the lower shock mount location but moved it upwards to get more clearance. There is a thread on this somewhere.

Nice work

edit. To really get increased motion ratio on the rear axle the shock mount needs to move towards the vehicle center line (not easy) or wheel needs to move outwards.

You would be talking about @BigMeatsBronco


https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/done-i-have-re-drilled-rear-shock-mount-2”-higher-more-clearance-and-2”-lift.31477/




.......he also did the same trick we used when lowering cars to gain some travel...........



https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/cut-sasquatch-bump-stops-for-2”-additional-wheel-travel-and-shock-length-pics.38339/



.....cut the bumps. Just don't race it across the desert or do any jumps with it. You'll blow out the shocks and wrinkle the fenders. But you do end up some decent wheel travel. :wink:


So i have no way to push the tire up beyond the means of my ramps to measure. I can tell you that the tires have cracked my fenders ever after cutting some of it out. The mounting location is in the same place just on the other side of the frame. I think a considerable amount of the travel i gained was from lowering the shock a little bit and removing the bumps. but As far as motion ratio gains. I'm no engineer or even mechanic for that matter. But I do believe that it creates a longer moment arm. This is the before picture with the same exact shocks and links doing the same exact test. It also feels considerably softer in the rear aswell which i think means there's is more leverage being applied to it. Thanks
Screenshot_20241016_150449_Gallery.jpg


Find yourself a loading dock. It's the best RTI ramp this redneck has ever found. 😁
 

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You would be talking about @BigMeatsBronco
🤣 yeah. It was a pretty good bet that it would have been @BigMeatsBronco. I think @Snacktime is also riding around with a ~2” upward relocation of the lower rear shock mount.

I am struggling a bit to see the advantage to moving the mount location forward instead of upward. Maybe I am not thinking about it clearly. It would definitely add some moment arm and leverage to induce rotation of the rear axis, that the control arms would need to resist (increasing axial loads in the arms). I would think you would want to minimize the offset between the axle centerline And shock force vector. 🤷‍♂️
 

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So i have no way to push the tire up beyond the means of my ramps to measure.
Understood. I know you can’t fully compress the springs. I don’t have experience with the icons so was just wondering if you had the springs off to remove bump stops and then were able to measure actual full shock travel? Not sure exactly how the icons are configured. I would think wo bumps you can really increase travel.

edit: some shock travel numbers. Not sure about their accuracy.

Ford Bronco Homemade rear long travel (20" articulation) using Icon shocks mounted upside down IMG_6040
 
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🤣 yeah. It was a pretty good bet that it would have been @BigMeatsBronco. I think @Snacktime is also riding around with a ~2” upward relocation of the lower rear shock mount.

I am struggling a bit to see the advantage to moving the mount location forward instead of upward. Maybe I am not thinking about it clearly. It would definitely add some moment arm and leverage to induce rotation of the rear axis, that the control arms would need to resist (increasing axial loads in the arms). I would think you would want to minimize the offset between the axle centerline And shock force vector. 🤷‍♂️

Snack is another. TBH there are quite a few that have done it. 😁
 
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Dpardy97

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🤣 yeah. It was a pretty good bet that it would have been @BigMeatsBronco. I think @Snacktime is also riding around with a ~2” upward relocation of the lower rear shock mount.

I am struggling a bit to see the advantage to moving the mount location forward instead of upward. Maybe I am not thinking about it clearly. It would definitely add some moment arm and leverage to induce rotation of the rear axis, that the control arms would need to resist (increasing axial loads in the arms). I would think you would want to minimize the offset between the axle centerline And shock force vector. 🤷‍♂️
Moving the bottom mounting location up only trades off your up travel for down travel. Which can be advantageous if you don't want to run a longer collapsed length shock or high clearance fenders. My inspiration for moving forward the mounting hole was if you look at trophy trucks. They often run their bypass right next to their shock. And the forwards most to the cab shock is shorter than the other shock.

Ford Bronco Homemade rear long travel (20" articulation) using Icon shocks mounted upside down Screenshot_20241017_091419_Chrome


Ford Bronco Homemade rear long travel (20" articulation) using Icon shocks mounted upside down 20241017_083851
 
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Dpardy97

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Understood. I know you can’t fully compress the springs. I don’t have experience with the icons so was just wondering if you had the springs off to remove bump stops and then were able to measure actual full shock travel? Not sure exactly how the icons are configured. I would think wo bumps you can really increase travel.

edit: some shock travel numbers. Not sure about their accuracy.

IMG_6040.jpg
The icon is accurate
 
 





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