proper shock angles

Cruiserhaven · Nov 20, 2004

Can shocks be angled somewhat in the forward/backward direction or do they need to essentially be straight.

I flipped the rear springs in the back (actually had them made flipped so the military wrap would be on the correct side) of my FJ40 so my rear axle is back a few inches from stock. I'm trying to determine whether I need to go to the trouble to move the crossmember that has the top shock mounts backwards or if I can just leave the shocks at a bit of an angle.

*Thanks for the heads up on the pics not showing --- weird, the pictures showed on my computer -- maybe they showed initially and got cached on my computer before Tripod defenses kicked in...

TIA

woody · Nov 21, 2004

your dampening does decrease as the shock gets angled....

but, many stock trucks angle the shocks forwre/backward ....I suspect it won't hurt

(BTW: your pics don't show.....)

mr_manny · Nov 21, 2004

I mounted mine inward to accommodate the 12" 5125...

does it make a difference if bilsteins are mounted upside down?

manny 72fj40

Cruiserhaven · Nov 21, 2004

mr_manny said:
I mounted mine inward to accommodate the 12" 5125...

does it make a difference if bilsteins are mounted upside down?

manny 72fj40

Whose are upside down, mine or yours ?

Waggoner5 · Nov 21, 2004

I don't see the problem on the xmember being forward except under extreme compression the bushings are really going to be bound up.

woody · Nov 21, 2004

Bilsteins are designed for shock-boty-up, but can mount either way.

IMO, while yer in there anyways and have LOTS of room to futx with it, get it so you are happy with it....

If that were mine, I'd adjust

CruisinGA · Nov 21, 2004

All you need to do to correct the angle is cut off/drill out the old shock mount bolts and weld in some new ones facing backwards. Few hours, problem fixed.

Pin_Head · Nov 21, 2004

The biggest problem I see is that it appears that there is only about 3-4 inches of compression left before the shock bottoms out and there is no load on the springs yet. Are you sure they are the correct length?

Cruiserhaven · Nov 21, 2004

CruisinGA said:
All you need to do to correct the angle is cut off/drill out the old shock mount bolts and weld in some new ones facing backwards. Few hours, problem fixed.

That's what I had planned to do (even bought two new pins), unfortunately it looks like if I do that I will have the same problem but angled the other direction-- will have to relocate the crossmember a little to get correct angle.

Cruiserhaven · Nov 21, 2004

Pin_Head said:
The biggest problem I see is that it appears that there is only about 3-4 inches of compression left before the shock bottoms out and there is no load on the springs yet. Are you sure they are the correct length?

No I'm not sure they are the correct length...

When I picked the BE5-6250-H5 it was based on a rule of thumb I was told where:

"1/3 of the shocks travel up and 2/3 of shock travel for downward travel ....so if you have 12 inches of travel from the shock you only want about 4in to 5in of the shock shaft showing when truck is on level ground"

My rear mounts have about 25" from pin to pin -- the BE5-6250-H5 has 14.3" of travel and is 20.5" collapsed, which I reasoned should leave 4.25" showing (about 1/3 of shock's travel) at rest on level surface, and leave about 10" for downward travel (about 2/3 of shock's travel).

BUT, as you suggested, I screwed the pooch when I forgot to account for the compression of the suspension at rest with the whole weight of the body/cage--- should have taken some number of inches off my current at rest measurment to account for the weight of the body...

Tuition at Dumbass University ain't cheap ... SHOCKS FOR SALE

.

CruisinGA · Nov 21, 2004

Cruiserhaven said:
That's what I had planned to do (even bought two new pins), unfortunately it looks like if I do that I will have the same problem but angled the other direction-- will have to relocate the crossmember a little to get correct angle.

The axle will move back some as the suspension cycles (maybe not a significant enough amount), thus having them slanted a little the other way is not as bad as having them slanted the way they are now.

Or, you could modify the lower shock mounts to space out some to get a vertical shock.

I would avoid modifying/moving the frame crossmember IMO. (might just be me, but I would rather modify things like shock mounts than major frame crossmembers)

BMAN · Nov 22, 2004

Simple fix. drill two new holes in the x-member (closer to the center), weld in 2 new pins/bolts facing back, and your good. Your shackle angle shown concerns me more than the shock mounts. You'll get a little bit out of adding the weight of the body and such but I would consider an anti-inversion shackle. Considering the angle at rest now, when your axle falls away it's going to pull that shackle even further forward increasing your chances for inversion.

Cryptic · Nov 22, 2004

The suspension IS almost at full droop. The shocks are well aligned now but the axle centerline will move back quite a bit as the spring is compressed. The bushings can only accomodate so much missalignment. If left alone it will either wear those bushings out quick or maybe damage the shocks. Assume the stock config was correct. Stock flipped springs move the centerline back ~3.75". Lift springs although longer flat length will be about the same at typical ride height range. So moving the shocks to the back of the cross member will be a bit more than needed to compensate for wheelbase increase? But it should be pretty close to original.

PabloCruise · Nov 23, 2004

What year frame are we looking at?
What lift did you use?

I have a question - can the U-bolt plates where the shocks mount be flipped so they are in front of the axle after you flip the springs? It seems to me that this would tidy things up quite a bit!

73lndcrsr · Nov 24, 2004

I moved mine to the back side of the cross-member after reversing the springs. I did some "testing" with a forklift and my shocks would bind up pretty good at full compression.

Sorry I don't have any pics right now.

I made a new bracket from 1.5x1.5x.125 steel. added a new shock pin and notched it for the crossmember then welded it to the crossmember.

I got about 1" of additional height for the shock mount, so I could move it outboard some to get the shock angle more upright.

I used the forlkifts again to get all of my measurements. The shocks I have now are a little short, but I am undecided on what to buy next. I may stay with the DT3000.

Cruiserhaven · Nov 24, 2004

PabloCruise said:
What year frame are we looking at?
What lift did you use?

I have a question - can the U-bolt plates where the shocks mount be flipped so they are in front of the axle after you flip the springs? It seems to me that this would tidy things up quite a bit!

9/73 frame, 4" spring lift with flipped rear springs and 1.5" shackle lift. I also have the 4+ kit for 2" body lift.

Interesting idea about the u-bolt plate flip. The ones I am using are aftermarket u-bolt skid plates so they taper in the front to make it easier to slide over rocks so it might defeat the purpose with them.

.

Cruiserhaven · Nov 24, 2004

73lndcrsr said:
I moved mine to the back side of the cross-member after reversing the springs. I did some "testing" with a forklift and my shocks would bind up pretty good at full compression.

Sorry I don't have any pics right now.

I made a new bracket from 1.5x1.5x.125 steel. added a new shock pin and notched it for the crossmember then welded it to the crossmember.

I got about 1" of additional height for the shock mount, so I could move it outboard some to get the shock angle more upright.

I used the forlkifts again to get all of my measurements. The shocks I have now are a little short, but I am undecided on what to buy next. I may stay with the DT3000.

Can you get pictures? I'd really like to see pics and/or drawings you may have with the dimensions of what you fabbed. Sounds like it would be exactly what I need.

:bounce:

usmcruiser · Nov 24, 2004

I found this link in the Tech section. It has alot of useful information in it about how to measure propper shock length for vertical and angled shocks and how far you can really take the angle of the shock for it to still be effective.

http://www.4x4review.com/feature/shock-genius.asp

Cruiserhaven · Nov 24, 2004

usmcruiser said:
I found this link in the Tech section. It has alot of useful information in it about how to measure propper shock length for vertical and angled shocks and how far you can really take the angle of the shock for it to still be effective.

http://www.4x4review.com/feature/shock-genius.asp

good stuff, thanks

:beer:

73lndcrsr · Nov 24, 2004

I will see if I can get some pics today. If the weather will cooperate.

Here is a sketch also.

proper shock angles

Cruiserhaven

woody

Adulting: do not recommend

mr_manny

Cruiserhaven

Waggoner5

woody

Adulting: do not recommend

CruisinGA

Pin_Head

Cruiserhaven

Cruiserhaven

CruisinGA

BMAN

Cryptic

PabloCruise

73lndcrsr

Cruiserhaven

Cruiserhaven

usmcruiser

Cruiserhaven

73lndcrsr

Share this page

Connect with us

proper shock angles

Adulting: do not recommend

Adulting: do not recommend

Log in

Share this page