Coil over shocks in front of rearend?

I was looking at some coil over shock info online and found a post on another site about coil over shocks mounted before the rearend like some do with buggy springs. There was no definitive "yes it's ok" or "are you crazy" answers. I searched the Hamb but found no questions being asked about this setup. I have seen rear suspension with both shocks mounted before the rearend but never coil overs. So, what about it? Pro's... Con's...

 

I don't see why you couldn't run them in front of the rear .Only thing is the closer you are to the pivot point of you suspension you will need a stronger spring rate.Don't the 60's and early 70's chevy trucks have the spring in front of the rear end?

 

No problem running coil overs in front of the rear axle. On my roadster from the seventies thats the way we mounted them. Mine were angled toward the frame. Personally I think it looks cleaner for them to be mounted like that.

 

yes

 

No problem

 

No real problem with mounting them in front of the axle.....BUT...if my comprehension of the physics involved is correct it suggests it will change the front/rear weight distribution a little.......shifting the center of gravity forward. Not saying that necessarily is a bad thing.......depends on where it is to start with and it won't very much in any case. It seems to be a popular idea to angle the shocks, coil over or not, but that reduces their effectiveness for a given stiffness.

Ray

 

Definitively YES. You can. There are things to know, but not necessarily pros & cons.

Presuming you are using a hairpin, ladderbar or some other type of trailing link that has the pivot out in front of the axle, moving the springs/shocks to the front of the axle will effectively lower their ratings. You are giving more leverage to the unsprung weight behind the springs/shocks. So long as you aren't moving them drastically, say 50% of the distance between axle and trailing arm pivot, you will hardly notice.

 

Interesting. I wasn't sure if there would be a problem or not. Seems this set-up might work well with a Modified project down the road with 4 link rear suspention.

 

Also you'll have a little more suspension travel with them mounted in front of the axle. Wich is good thing on a sreet car. Especially if its a low car making you run shorter stroke shocks. Just up the spring rate accordingly.