Is 2" before the front shocks bottom out not enough? Wondering if i need to get a pair of "shorty" shocks to give my hiboy more travel, but chrome ones are almost 90.00 each, so if others are getting by with this much travel, I won't bother.
LMAO.... yeah what he said.... just depends on how much ya wanna feel them bumps... I doubt 2"s will do much... maybe be OK if you put some stiff coil overs on them. just my $.02
I too, am wondering how little shock travel I might be able to get away with running a leaf spring suspension. What would you guys running leafs say is the average amount that your shocks travel? I have 7" stroke shocks. Ideally they'd be mounted so that at static ride-height, there would be 3.5" of shaft extended and 3.5" inside the shock body. Instead I have only about 2.5" extended which means that the shock will be bottomed out if the spring compresses more than 2.5" Is it common for leaf suspensions to experience more than 2.5" of compression?
Again, the shock should never bottom out, ever. Bottoming out will blow the shock immediately, if not tear the mounts off the frame. Of course, "others" do things differently, there was a thread on that recently... Cosmo
General rule of thumb, two inches of rebound and three inches of compression. Different shocks require different set ups. Some shocks can operate with less like the Bilstien shocks. They start dampening (slowing the axle movement down) in about 1/8". The common chrome shortie hot rod shock may require as much as 1/2" of travel before any dampening takes effect.
put in some bump stops to keep from bottoming out. I've had 4x4's with about 2" to the stops and they were fine.
Speedway's catalog gives advice in various sections. It says when setting up your shocks, it should be 2/3rds compressed when installed. You would need to mark your shock with a grease pen and extend it and compress it by hand to determine the amount of travel, then determine where 2/3rds should land.
I would say that you need approximately 1" longer travel than the overall distance length between the shock mounts when the suspension is fully compressed and at full droop. This prevents the shock from bottoming out, but also give you the full range of shock travel so the shock can do its job.
You can put a zip tie on your shock piston, measure from top down to zip tie and then bounce it to determine the amount of travel it has. The zip tie will slide up the piston and stays in place to be measured after the bounce.
I have a Model A sedan with an I beam axle and a Posies spring. Travel at the shock is 1-1/4" on bumpy Minnesota roads. I tested it with the zip tie tattletale technique. I have a '38 Dodge PU, channeled, fenderless, with parallel leaf springs and an I beam axle. Travel at the shock is also about 1 1/4". Leaf sprung I beam or tubular front axles don't move much in light vehicles.
I agree with bobw, on my 27 roadster (suicide A axle-2000#wt.- Posies 5 leaf) I have short Carrera 3243s set on medium with just over 2" travel. After going over bumps, pot holes, railroad tracks and steep driveway curbs I've never had the rubber rings get closer than about 1/2" from the top.
Thanks guys! I run an oval track vintage dirt Modified. I only get about 2" of shock travel on rough dirt tracks and throwing the car into turns like will never be done on the street, so I think I'll be okay with a limited length between shock mounts. Worst case I buy some shorter shocks, but I already have a bunch of the longer ones.....and, yeah, I'm a cheapskate.
Cool! I was just looking into this for my hot rod!! The Great Gearhead Collective Unconscious strikes again! I was looking at a pair of SM500s for my A, it has 12" static sitting there in the garage. Cheap at about $50 each for chromed shocks, and I think they'll get the job done. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/870,299_Pro-Street-Rod-Shocks-iNon-Coil-Overandi.html
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