Well, almost finished them. I've still got to take the uppers and bend the arms a bit more for clearance - I bent them without the vehicle present because I couldn't help it. The shocks are pretty close to perfectly vertical - possibly laying back to the rear about a half inch or less. They will lay in at the top about a half inch to an inch at the most, but probably less. Anyway, I've got the upper located, and the lowers mounted on the wishbone. The nice thing about these lower mounts is that they move the actual mounting point of the shock 3" lower than the centerline of the mount itself. These things are massive too - they came off of a '55 F550 bus! Take a look at the setup and tell me what you think. These are the mounts as I salvaged them. The lower mounts, painted and mounted. (The Pink string is simulating my shock) The upper shock mount(ed) The upper and lower mounts with pink string shock Setup viewed from the front. I've still got to bend the upper outward some to better clear the fender.
that's a lot better idea than the square stock!! nice job! sorry I couldn't make it over to help out!
Dude, my plan was to come to you that day anyway! I've been cruising it all over the place the last few days. I'm prepping for MOKAN and the drags - watching, not racing!!!
I was thinking the same thing, maybe even a piece of plate surrounding the whole area to spread the load. That would also push the bottom mount out a bit, giving you a little more angle.
Actually, I didn't put any sleeves in the bones. When I tightened the bolts down, they did crush the bone a bit, but I figured I'd run it awhile and see how things go and keep an eye on things. If they continue to create issues or crush further, I'll go ahead and create some sleeves to go in from the backside.
You can't have the shock eyes at a 90degree angle to eachother. They will bind on the top eye as the axle moves through it's arc. Shocks must be mounted with the eyes parallel. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, it wouldn't be the first time.
This is news to me, as I've never heard this one before. Manufacturers have had them 90 degrees to one another for many years with no problems. I'm also pretty sure that there are people on here who've built their frames with the idea of having the mounts 90 degrees offset to one another. Now, in a perfect world, every one of the mounts would be in an exactly perfect plane with no variance to create any sort of binding. The only problem I can see with the setup I've got on here is that the lower mount is slightly off center from beneath the upper mount. This - in time - will cause the lower bushing to wear funky, which will necessitate earlier replacement than anticipated. In my opinion, if shocks were made to be mounted only one particular way without any ability to 'clock' the upper/lower 90 degrees then they would have made the body of the shock in such a manner so that it could not be clocked. I believe the shocks were manufactured so that they could in fact be clocked to better include a wider variety of vehicles that one shock might fit.
This is an easy explanation... the City of Tulsa garbage crews will only pick up loose material (like boards, branches, etc.) if it is bundled. The wife asks if I need anything from the store, I tell her, and this is what she comes back with. In this case, I like the pink as it showed up brightly under the fenders when doing the mockup.
UPDATE! Just finished installing the front shocks - Monroe Sensa Tracs - and took it for a ride! Feels better, but the front is overshadowed by the bottomed out rear spring which is acting almost like a deadman. It is an improvement, but isn't perfect - yet.
With the shock going straight up and down as it is in this case, I would think the rubber bushings in the shock would absorb any and all binding from the misalignment of the shock eyes. Worst case, your shock bushings wear out prematurely. It seems odd to me that the shock is so far back now...it might have been the best place physically to put it, but seems it might not be the best place for performance. It wont use up nearly as much of the shocks intended travel back there. Maybe that doesn't matter?
Looks plenty strong. I noticed while repairing a 90's F700 truck a couple of weeks ago that the shock brackets on the frame could be easily adapted to a rod and had an old style look to them. Cooter
With the shock laying in a bit at the top, I had to add a thick spacer to move the bottom out a bit, which is nothing major. It looks okay, and I'm pretty much pleased with it and the way the front rides now. The shock does sit back that far because there is literally no room anywhere else to put it! This little RPU has the stock A box, draglink, tie rod, and A spindle steering arms. Between the spring perch and the end of the axle there is a flurry of activity when this thing turns! The nice thing with the lower mounts is that they way they are designed is that they actually mount about 3-4" farther forward than where the actual shock is mounted. By being mounted farther back, the shock works a bit better - at least I'd think so. There isn't much suspension travel - 3 to 5 inches total - and the front shocks made the ride feel better. It isn't 100% better, but it does feel better. I just have to sort out the rear suspension and all will be 'right' I think.
The only difference I noticed with the lower mounts when I mounted the shock was that the smooth part of the stud was a bit larger in diameter than the inside of the rubber bushing. All I did was 'spit on it' to lube it up a bit and just wiggle the bushing all the way onto the stud with a bit of elbow grease. It settled down onto the stud and looks decent enough. Just bear that in mind when you order your shocks as you CAN order them with different sized bushing center diameters.
Looks good! I agree though... crush sleeves buddy! You betcha! It will only get worse, fatigue, crack and... well... adios muchachos! Always a good practice to do so. If you ever decide to sell the car and the next guy decides to muscle it HE/SHE may have the problem in their life time.
Never is a long time, but I feel safe enough to say I'll never sell it. It's been in my family since '64 and was my Grandpap's originally. My dad built it as a senior project in college, and now it is mine. Had my 8 year old boy out in the drive the other day helping to pull the rear shocks off of it while searching for the rear suspension issue(s). 4 generations working or have worked on this thing. I think it is safe. But I do understand what you're saying about the lower bones and crush sleeves. Hopefully in time I'll be able to do a full frame off restoration again and fix all those little issues I've been running into, as well as making it a nearly 'perfect' driver. All in time....
Nice installation -- but I have Ken Davis's on mine, the fronts go behind the axle and you can't see them, a neat setup... http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/kb5id/Modern%20shocks/
I like your setup too (the Ken Davis one). How long are your shocks? Mine wound up being 19" extended and 12" compressed.
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