8.25 shock mounts...what worked best?

Okay, I now have 2 8.25 axles in the garage, with the hope of ending up with at least 1 good one. But those shock mounts have GOT to get shortened.

I have seen several threads elsewhere on this, some UGLY attempts and some looking really nice. I have plasma, torch, stick, TIG, MIG and flux-core (which I use alot because I am usually in a hurry to fix whatever broke AGAIN), plus grinders and cutting disks, so no tool challenges.:D

Who here has done this, and what would you do different if you had to do again?

Here is mine. Did it in the vehicle. I cut off the old mount with a sawsall, then ground out some material so it would fit the axle and then welded it in

http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/u...n/IMG_0560.jpg

That looks pretty solid.

I have seen this approach, and it keeps the shocks roughly in the OEM angles, right?

Hasn't failed me yet, been wheeled hard. And doesn't cost anything

Well, after getting some chores done this morning, I decided to go ahead and swap the D35 for the 2nd JY 8.25 I picked up on Saturday.

I did not trim the shock mounts yet, as I really did not expect this swap to go smooth at all. Much to my surprise, what I expected to have trouble with worked!

But the existing shocks were 4" too short at full droop! If if I had chopped the 8.25 mounts, they still would have been too short, I jacked up the 8.25 to load the suspension, and began lifting the the body rails off the jack stands before the shocks would fit.

Its my understanding that a stock XJ measures roughly 6" from the top of the axle tube to the inside of the frame at the bump stop...based on that, my lift in the rear is 4.5".

Shortened shock mounts are in my immediate future.