Motorcycle shocks

[chopper tom]

Any of you guys ever tryed or owned a t with a set of motorcycle rear shocks on the rear. If so how did it ride and handle ?
And have any of you used some tie rod ends instead of hiem joints?If so how did they work out .
I'm on a tight budget as usual but i still would like to try some new stuff sometimes.

 

[LumenAl]

I have tie rod ends on my tie rod, drag link, and radius bars... works great... looks clean too! (OK... they are all polished stainless steel too).

 

[Brucer]

I rode in a T that an older gentleman had built using 4 motorcycle shocks, he used the old harley chrome shocks, 2 on each side of the rearend...

I wouldnt have trusted it but this guy has built many T-buckets, like 30 in all.. so when he asked me to go for a ride in a blown t-bucket it didnt bother me a bit..

 

[LumenAl]

...Any of you guys ever tryed or owned a t with a set of motorcycle rear shocks on the rear...

I've not done this, but any time I've seen HD shocks used, they were two per side... like a Jag setup...

 

[T-Odd]

I originally planned to use four Harley Dyna shocks but ended up having a cheap pair of coilovers.

Then I got smart and bought some good QA1 coilovers.

If you want to save money, save it somewhere else. Don't chrome anything, paint it with a rattle can, whatever - but don't go cheap on the suspension.

If the ride sucks you ain't gonna drive it as much. Had I known better I would have put the QA1's on a long time ago.

My bucket would have DOUBLE the miles that I have on it, and I drove my car a lot with those cheapo coilovers.

I need to soften up the front and get some hydraulic shocks up there also. Good shocks on the rear definitely make a difference in my experience.

 

[Youngster]

T-odd is right. Go with the QA-1 coil overs. You won't be sorry. Speedway has a good price on them. Sometimes you just need to bit the bullet and spend the money for some of your parts. A good many folks have tried the m/c shocks and most all of the ones I've talked to have switched them out for something better.

Ron

 

[norseman]

Im running 2 pair of Harley shocks. I will be upgrading this fall.. They were enough to just get by but leave alot to be desired, not much travel. Do as said above, get a decent set of coilovers, your kiester will thank you....

 

[chopper tom]

Im running 2 pair of Harley shocks. I will be upgrading this fall.. They were enough to just get by but leave alot to be desired, not much travel. Do as said above, get a decent set of coilovers, your kiester will thank you....

Thack you guys for the info ,alot of great responces!
Norseman, Do you have some pics of your set up you can show me and how long have you been rideing yours that way ?
I can always upgrade latter ,i just want to get it rolling so i can move it around .
I usually run coil springs off a smaller car on the rear and just build the bukets and put s-10 shocks threw the center and it works great on the 3or4 that i have done in the past [even handled well for a homemade set up] ,but i always wanted to try the motorcycle shocks out for myself .
I deffinately will not spend the money on coilovers ,it just isnt worth the money to me .the coils spring set ups that i use works just fine for me ,but they dont look as good as coil overs do.

 

[norseman]

I wish I could share a pic but my new camera wont interface with my olde computer. I know deleware bill over at the ntba board runs a similar setup.
Ill dig a bit I might have an old a pic someplace in this mess...

 

[norseman]

Try googling Minnesota Tz, Street Rod club for T Buckets, Street Rods, show cars, hot rods, rod runs and cruises., go into the members section and look for Paul and Karrie Rohweller, theres some old during the build crappy lookin pics there! lol, its bout all I got online at the moment..

 

[T-Odd]

choppertom, if you are set on trying motorcycle shocks get Harley Dyna shocks, don't even THINK about Sportster shocks... they are the biggest piece of CRAP made by Showa (owned by Honda???).

I pulled the Sporety shocks and put some Dyna (wide glide or low rider) shock in their place - made a WORLD of difference on my motorcycle.

On the Dyna they are mounted at 45 degree angle. This has an effect on their performance. You mount a PAIR per side at an almost 90 degree angle and I'd bet they could handle the weight.

This was my original plan, bought three pairs on ebay for $25 -$35 a pair with shipping. One set ended up on my bike, another set on a friend's bike after he rode mine, the other set is in the box in the garage.

ANOTHER idea, air bags. You can get a pair of bags for a Pete Cab for under $100. John Brown has the setup and it works great on his bucket.

I've got some pics around here somewhere.