SO im getting very fed up with my shocks on my 1962 galaxie 500 i have it lowered 3 inches in the rear and i know that this is what is causing me to blow out my shocks....but however. i know that there are some shocks out there that can handle a lowered vehicle...well i have had the monroe air shocks and blwn them out and 3 different models of monroe shocks...all brand new all have blown... any suggestions of shocks that are within a reasonable price range? under 150 dollars... i love the lowered streched out look and i want to keep it that way. my rear leafes have been re-arched and a spair leaf added and are very strong but without the right shocks they dont do thir job properly... any suggestions
I used to run Stilettos by Suspension Techniques on my lowered stuff. Bell also makes a good shock for a lowered vehicle. Depending on how you lowered it or if the shock mount has moved you may have to go to a different length shock.
originally i had the stock springs with 2 inch lowering blocks. then that was causeing me problems with the driveshaft rubbing on the floorboard. tested the springs and found that they had no spring left so i had them re arched and added a leaf...the blacksmith said he would help me eliminate the blocks and just lower the springs when he re-arched them...well he didnt take into consideration the shackle set up on the galaxie and ended up raisng the car like an inch from stock...so i put monroe gas shocks on...i was not happy with the "prostock" look of the car all raised up in the back...its just not my style. so i just put some 3 inch blocks on the back. first drive to Billetproof norcal yesturday i blow the shocks on highway 4 caus they like to engineer launching pads every 200 feet. so naturally i blew out the shocks.
I put KYB Gas-A-Just shocks on my '68 Mercury Monterey, lowered 1.5 inches all around. Drives like a dream. $33 each from Summit.
Will this old HAMB thread help? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=259639&highlight=shock+absorber+chart
i get that....thats why i am asking if anybody knows how to relay that to the parts stores...they are just monkeys with computers...i need to know where to find those shorter shocks.. the shocks stay about 40 percent compressesed in the static possition. maybe a little bit more
get on monroes website look at specs for shocks. figure it out yourself, you know extended length, and compressed length. find a part number that fits your needs, hand the little creep at the parts store the part number and let him order you a set
Call Summit Racing. You can find their number on line. Tell the goofball on the other end how lone your shocks need to be at rest, extended and collasped. He'll fix you right up. Some hot rod parts need to be purchased from a hot rod company.
yeah it sounds like staying with the stock shock is not going to work for you.. you need to get ones that dont bottom out before the suspension does..or ones that dont stop in full extension before your suspension does.. you dont want your shocks to be the travel limit stops for your suspension..it really fucks em up
Yeah good point Da Tinman..dont want to see your upper mount ripped clean of its normal place ..stuck on the end of your shock up inside the trunk.. or rip the lower mount loose and it ends up hangin out in the breeze waiting to get caught up on the road
Sounds like you made first mistake by not doing search first for custom lowering springs, etc and getting advice from others here that have lowered same type of car here. Running the springs you have now with blocks does not sound like the right way to go. As for shocks, do the up/down measuring and check shock sites for ones that will fit your set up. I had a '47 Ford Coupe with lowered front end that blew out all top brand name shocks too. Then searched and found that rear shocks from a early 60's Corvette were what I needed. Bought Tokico brand and never had a failure again. Remember that shocks are built to stopping the car from going too far up, not for bottoming out.
It is not the problem with the shocks, it's the installation position. Shock absorbers are just hydraulic dampeners, blowing them out or damaging the body producing leakage is a sign that the length of shocks were inadequate for the application. Too short , too long or off angle will all produce shock problems. Based upon your vehicle the ride height, drop and bump distances determine the selection length of the shock absorber. If you are having issues and damaging your shocks you are going to have to get under your car and determine the travel of your suspension unit. In most cases using stock shock mounts on severely lowered cars and stock shock lengths you are bottoming out the shock under bump travel and this is blowing the seal. At rest you will have to determine the shock travel distance that you have. Use 3"-4" bump and then 2"-3" of drop and then select a shock length that will split this about 50%. In some aspects you will not find a shock that will mount to your stock mounts and it will be necessary to fabricate new mounting positions to keep the shocks from self destructing. The shock length should be positioned so that you have pretty much equal travel up or down and the axle should just bottom on the frame rail before the shock is full compressed.
thank you...its amazing how you kind of know something already and completely forget it due to the stress involved in the situation. its refreshing to have somebody remind you the simplicity of things sometimes...
I work for a shock company but don't want to sell you shocks. Like Dick says measure the distance between your shock bolts with all the weight on the vehicle. That is your ride height. You then need to make sure what the bolt size is for top and bottom. If your shocks are bottomed out when you have weight on the car you need to take them off and measure your distance between holes with the shocks off the car. Look for any shock that is in the middle of the stroke at your ride height. This applies to any car front or rear. Any major shock manufacturer will have a chart on line for you to use. Non coil overs should cost you about $50.00 each for a good street rod shock.
I have run Bilsteins for the past three years. Never a problem. The front is dropped for a total of 5 1/2" with a straight axle and mono springs. The travel is only two inches over all between the top of the axle and the frame. We have a shop here in San Diego " Race Car Dynamics" he weights your car at each wheel and then figures our what shocks you need for your Hot Rod. If you call them ask for Steve Duck he is the go to guy for hot rods.
Could you explain what you mean by "blown out" in regards to your shocks here? Do yo mean the oil seals, rupturing bodys, bushings? Just lowering it 3" shouldn't cause the shocks to bottom out. They probably aren't working properly depending on the design. If you care to, these guys: http://www.racecardynamics.com/classics/indexhr/indexhr.htm specifically Steve on extension 109 is one hell of a good shock guy. If he can't fix you up, then you have serious problems my man.
ok so wer were driving down the road about 55 mph and the car was doing great but obviously the shocks werent right for the setup. but it was doing just fine ont he smooth road...well we hit highway 4 driving in between all of the crops...well every 200 yards the have this hills in the roads due to thier irrigation system. well i hit one at abouy 55 mph cause i was distracted by something going on in the car and didnt slow down and most definately bottomed out the shocks very hard and from that point on the rear end acted as if it had no shocks at all...acting very bouncy and not counteracting the springs at all. the car was also sitting about a half inch lower when we got back to the house and they appear to be bent slightly...i gather that based on how the outer housing is touching the inner housing on one side of the shock and ther is a large gap ont he other side... so never the less i need new ones and now i know how to measure for the right fit...soooo as soon as ai get a little cash i will get them as well as new bumpstops...
Ah, thanks for that. Bottoming out the shocks does bad things... I wonder if the shocks that are on there are actually correct for the application to start with. As in too long for even stock. Like the others have suggested, measure them up and either research it out for yourself or give my man at RCD a call.
if i decide to use air shocks do i need to do any special measurements? the first pair i had was used and old...but if i wanted a new pair would i have to do any special measurements?
I just bought new shocks for my bagged, chevy. Just took my measurements, and went through the Monroe data sheet. You can't count on any of the generic autoparts guys to know anything. I just called around to find a store that had the part # in stock. $50 a pair.
i have the same deal on my merc jester, i replaced the original shocks with monroe's and its fine as long as no one rides in the rear but i live in illinois with nearly the worse roads in the country and if i have a rear seat pass that doesnt sit in the middle its going to blow out the shock. should have left the orig shocks on they were fine just original. my fault not the shocks. but you'll have that
geez. Just lower the bottom shock mount the same amount you dropped the car. That puts them back in the correct relationship. Problem solved. What's that? You can't lower the bottom shock mount that much? Raise the upper mount as high as you can and lower the bottom mount the rest.
If the shocks are bottoming out, rather than getting shorter shocks, couldn't you change one of the shock mounts (upper or lower or both) to make a stock shock work? Might be cheaper/easier than buying new shocks? Adam
My 68 Camaro was lowered about 2" and has mono leafs that have settled a bit. I blew out a few sets of shocks. I finally measured as mentioned above and bought a great set of shocks from QA1. http://www.qa1.net/qa1_motorsports/index.html I was pleasantly surprised at how much better the car rides now. The QA1's were expensive...but worth every dime. If you want a more cost effective option, you can start digging through this manual once you have your measurements to find the right one. The guys in the big box parts stores won't help much. http://www.monroe.com/catalog/documents/08_MountingLengthSheet.pdf
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