Not dodge specific, but I have noticed alot of trucks have the shocks mounted below the centerline of the axle.
watching the spike channel and noticed a trail jeep with some suspension lift had the shocks mounted below the centerline of the axle.

What is the benefit? It seems to look odd to me.

 

Simply put - A shock can have only as much travel as it's compressed length (minus some for the bottom and piston height, mount points etc) So for a given amount of travel you need a certain length of shock and you can only move the endpoints to achieve the length needed by moving the top end up and the bottom end down.

HTH

AlpineRAM

 

I understand that, but if the shocks were mounted higher up, you would get the same travel and more clearance under the axle... It just looks like its hanging down to catch a root, stump or that hidden rock.

 

A shock mount is the least of your worries when it comes to hanging up. Don't sweat it, they are mounted there for a reason.

 

You do also want the shock to stay out of the way on the top side (esp. rears should not protrude into the trunk)

Another factor is that you don't want to mount a shock above the centerline of the axle. You want the shock be in front or behind the axle, to use it against torque hop- if you look at the rear axle of the 2nd gen ctd you see that the shocks are a good bit in front of and behind the axle. (And get good leverage against axle hop or axle wrap)

AlpineRAM