Shock Measurements, OME heavies (1 Viewer)

[coax]

Seems like there has been a number of questions recently on stock shock length various spring combinations. I bought my cruiser with the 850/830/N73/n74e OME setup, with one of the front shocks blown. I need to replace at least the fronts, so figured I'd post up some measurements as I try to decide if I want to go with longer travel shocks as the replacement.

I've always had a suspicion that with no additional weight there was only a few inches of droop left in the shock which could lead to unsafe handling when cornering and encountering a pothole or somesuch. Leading to a situation where there is not enough down travel available to keep the wheel in contact with the road. There are a few really good posts from a number of years ago. Here's one:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/93169-so-what-point-do-you-need-go-l-shocks-2.html

As a disclaimer, this was done with a yakima tape, so it may not be accurate to the thousandths of a inch (and why the bushing/body measurements are 1/8 off)

OME N73:
Extended Body to body: 24 1/8 inches
Extended Inner bushing to bushing: 26 inches
Extended Upper shield to lower body: 12 3/8 inches

Compressed Body to body: 13 7/8 inches
Compressed Inner busing to bushing: 15 7/8 inches
Compressed Upper shield to lower body: 2 1/4 inches

Where it sits on the car at normal ride height:
Upper shield to lower body: 8 7/8 inches
Bumpstop contact to axle: 4 inches

So, at normal ride height (minus driver, but with 200 lbs of tires in the back) the cruiser has 6 5/8 inches to full compression, and 3.5 inches to full extension That proportion seems a bit off to me.

I also roughly calculate that if I have 4 inches to bumpstop contact, and figure maybe an inch of bumpstop compression (its only 3 inches total, so 33% compression?) that's 5 inches till the axle stops moving upward, but I have over 6 1/2 inches of upward travel.

So I could in theory go to almost a 15.5 inch compressed shock. The OME L's (from slee's website) are at ~15 inches compressed. The longer Procomp 9000's from Ebag's post are 16 1/4, so I'd have to lower bumpstops for that potentially. For reference (thanks to Greetruck!) a stock oem Toyota shock is ~13.5" compressed, 22.5" extended

The option that I am now leaning towards is using a stock length shock, but putting an eye adapter on the bottom to space things down an inch or so. Number of options are also increased going to a eye lower rather than post.

That would put a ~10" travel shock at 5.5 upward, 4.5 downward. Once its loaded a bit more, it would probably rest somewhere in the 50/50 range, instead of the 66/33 % range.

As for brand, not sure if I'll use the OME's again or go to a different one, the OME that blew out was only a little over a year old.

So one question, does anyone have any links to post-eye converters that arn't 25 bucks on the 4wheelparts website?

--Corey

Extended body to body

Compressed body to body

On the cruiser, shield to lower body

Compressed bushing to bushing:

Distance axle to bumpstop

 

[coax]

Looking back at the procomp thread, I'm now wondering if I could go with a lower Eye-stud adapter in the front, and run the shocks meant for the rear. That 14.5 + the adapter would probably come in just under the 15.5 max compression. (I'm avoiding going to an expensive shock until I determine if this is the setup I'll stick with)

Model		Body	Min	Max	Range		Upper	Lower	Gas

924530		2.36	14.56	24.50	10.12		Stud	Stud	Yes
924514		2.36	14.52	24.70	10.18		Stud	Eye	Yes

 

[Ebag333]

Looking back at the procomp thread, I'm now wondering if I could go with a lower Eye-stud adapter in the front, and run the shocks meant for the rear. That 14.5 + the adapter would probably come in just under the 15.5 max compression. (I'm avoiding going to an expensive shock until I determine if this is the setup I'll stick with)

Model		Body	Min	Max	Range		Upper	Lower	Gas

924530		2.36	14.56	24.50	10.12		Stud	Stud	Yes
924514		2.36	14.52	24.70	10.18		Stud	Eye	Yes

For the adapter, someone linked to one that I got for around $5. The fit wasn't real tight, so I used some washers to make sure it stayed snug. Honestly, I'd probably just make my own to spec out of some square stock (which is what I did with my upper mounts both front and rear). Cheaper, and you can fit it exactly.

For the shocks, there's nothing wrong with running a stud/eye stock in the front. Keep in mind that with the adapter on the lower mount you'll lose an inch of room (basically moving the shock mount up an inch). The 924514 requires only 14.5" of room for compression, if you're running 33" tires you should have right about 15" of room for compression. Sounds fine, right? Except that inch you lost from the adapter, which means you only have 14" of room for compression.

That's why I had to adjust the top shock mount up, to give more room for compression. And since I was redoing the top mount, might as well go to eye/eye as there are more options for that (and it's easier to fab up). Ideally I would have used an eye/stud combo, but there's no such thing--unless you mount the shock upside down, which you lose range with the ES900's and it's generally a bad idea.

You'd actually be better off going with either the 924530 or 925530 and staying with a stud/stud setup. The 925530 is a bit longer, so you're cutting your compression awful close and could over compress the shock. The 924530 would fit without that worry (unless maybe if you jumped it).

Of course all the above assumes you have 15" of room fully stuffed, which may or may not be true on your rig. Only way to know for sure is to stuff it and measure for yourself.

For your setup I think the 924530/924514 will be a straight bolt in and ideal for you. If you want anything different, then don't try and do it half arsed and with a single bolt in adapter. You'll end up unhappy because at the very best you might have an ever so slightly better setup...but more likely will end up with a worse setup, and it'll be more time and money. Extend up the upper shock mounts front and rear and run eye/eye for both, and you'll be extremely happy.