I used Aldan Shock Absorbers, 4 of AS656 which provide 3" of shock travel, 10" compressed, 13" extended, 12" ride.
The shocks can be mounted using brackets made in the same fashion as the suspension brackets. Modifications are needed over the suspension bracket measurements. The through holes are 1/2", and placed 1" up from the base of the bracket to give enough clearance around the shock ends.
You can see the front mounts below just beside Phil's foot :-). Notice that while the shock mounts would appear parallel in the vertical plane, they are not parallel in the horizontal plane. The key is to ensure the shocks will move without binding, but I also wanted to use the entire length of the bracket on the chassis. Notice also my mounts are on the side of the chassis rather than on the underside. While subjecting the chassis to more torque load from the shock, this location provides a rising spring rate in compression and more travel and/or clearance back from the strut. Unfortunately, the brackes will probably cause some interference with the nosecone. but this can be accommodated with some modification of the nosecone.
To setup the shocks, the lower a-arms are set horizontal to the chassis. Then, the shock is placed with the spring in place through the upper arm (which is a tight fit). As best as I could do, I made sure that the upper a-arms could move through their travel without contacting the shock spring, by setting it in the center. This will set the location of the upper shock bracket. Then, keeping it perpendicular to the chassis centerline, the lower shock mount can be approximated on the lower a arm. A piece of string or wire cut to the appropriate length for ride height, 12" in my case. This string allows the lower bracket location to be established. After ensuring that the shock has the correct travel, no interfence and the shock does not bind, the brackets can be welded in place.
Rear shock mounts are welded to the back side of the axle mounts (recall that my axle mounts are on the front of the axle rather than the rear). My axle shock mounts tilt slightly forward at the top as the axle is slightly behind the upper axle mounts. On the left side, filler plates lend extra support to the shock mount, while on the right the panhard rod mount provides the support.
I inset my brackets on the upper shock mount about 1/2", thinking this would hide the upper bolt and give a little more clearance for the spring. The spring is the same diameter as spring perches on the shocks. It does leave more room, but makes welding in the bracket in place more difficult, there's that much less clearance for your MIG gun. Moving the shock out 1/2" would also allow more of the lower brackets to overlap with the axle trailing arm mounts, meaning smaller filler plates would be needed. However, it may be harder to fit the rear wings.
Note, it's critical that the upper and lower shock mounts are in line so that the shock itself is not under any stress.
