Shock Absorbers Safety and Handling

[Allen]

I am a firm believer in shock absorbers. I am sure this subject has been talked about many times on the forum. So without boring some of the senior members to death, I would like to hear from people with knowledge in both suspension and front-ends. Whether the knowledge comes from reading material and understanding or if you have a car or not, knowledge is knowledge. QUESTION. Is it okay to mount a shock absorber to a lower front-end link on a hair pin or a four- bar, especially with the load on a clevis or anything else?-- Your opinions on this, please. Also, you guys that have this kind of application, is it working for you okay?

 

[Rick]

I am a firm believer in shock absorbers. I am sure this subject has been talked about many times on the forum. So without boring some of the senior members to death, I would like to hear from people with knowledge in both suspension and front-ends. Whether the knowledge comes from reading material and understanding or if you have a car or not, knowledge is knowledge. QUESTION. Is it okay to mount a shock absorber to a lower front-end link on a hair pin or a four- bar, especially with the load on a clevis or anything else?-- Your opinions on this, please. Also, you guys that have this kind of application, is it working for you okay?

I have the Total/Wintec shock set up that mounts to the lower part of the hair pin BUT there is a spreader brace between the top and bottom to even out the preasure.Works just fine for me.

 

[Differen T]

I am a firm believer in shock absorbers. I am sure this subject has been talked about many times on the forum. So without boring some of the senior members to death, I would like to hear from people with knowledge in both suspension and front-ends. Whether the knowledge comes from reading material and understanding or if you have a car or not, knowledge is knowledge. QUESTION. Is it okay to mount a shock absorber to a lower front-end link on a hair pin or a four- bar, especially with the load on a clevis or anything else?-- Your opinions on this, please. Also, you guys that have this kind of application, is it working for you okay?

The purpose of the shock absorber (a misnomer) is to control the oscillation of the spring. Unless the shock is an adjustable type, the rate of damping is built into it. But since the rate is determined with the shock in the vertical position, the mounting points do have an effect on the shock rate. The mounting points determine the motion ratio which is the difference between the amount of wheel travel and shock travel. Keeping motion ratio as close to 1 to 1 as possible allows the shock to work as designed . Motion ratio on a street rod should not become a problem unless the shock is mounted on a very severe angle. A far more critical concern is that the mounting points do not allow the shock to reach its fully compressed position when the suspension hits a bump as this can cause internal damage that will ruin a shock instantly. As stated above mounting the shock on the radius rod is a method used on some rods.

Al

 

[Ted Brown]

I have the front shocks on my personal ride mounted to the lower portion of the Radius rod, the bracket welds to both the top and bottom rods, If I were to use a 4 bar setup, then I use a long arm as part of the radius rod bracket that welds to the axle to mount the shocks on that bracket and not just the lower bar... BUT! if the 4 bar linkage is larger in OD, like, 1 1/4" X .188 DOM tubing, minimum size, then a mount to that non-turnable rod, may work out fine...

 

[Youngster]

Nice write-up Differen T.

One thing I've found is folks don't use replacement shocks on these light cars. Heavy duty shocks are not necessary, standards are plenty.

In my mind the hyro shock conversion for the Total chassis looks and is a bandaid for the old friction shocks. Although it may work just fine, I too wonder about the stress placed on the clevis'. On a hard bump I would rather see the shock tied to the axle someway. If something is going to let go I'd want it to be the shock instead of a hairpin. JMO

Ron

 

[Ted Brown]

Yes you are totally right about breaking a hairpin, or anything for that matter... That is why rubber bump stops (travel limiters) should be figured into a new build, and for sure not to have the shock ever bottom out, bad enough for it to have to lift the whole ft end if it ever wanted to do a wheelie... a safety strap or overload leaf in reverse would help in this area... I have seen way too many shock brackets work their way out of the frame...

 

[fordsbyjay]

Mine are mounted on the lower bar as well. I used Ron's shock mount but modified it to fit my car. The only problem I ran into is I used an 8.5" shock and I believe Rons bracket is for the 10" shock (hence the reason I had to modify it). The ride was a lot better then the friction shocks and it made a big difference.

Here is the problem I ran into.

Here is where I cut Rons bracket apart.

Here is the finished product.

 

[Ted Brown]

Looks like the bracket needs to be longer, so that the shock will not ever bottom out... If there is not compete finished weight on the chassis, including drivers weight, the shock should be pulled apart at least to 3/4 of it's travel out... Now I see you have that shock on just one radius rod and a threaded end as well, I would not use them that way myself, if it had the welded end with 4 bar type bushings, that would be a different story, I surely would hate to see you ever break a lower radius rod end, that could cause the rest of the ship to sink as well... not a good thing in any case...