MoparAl- Posted December 23, 2012 Report Posted December 23, 2012 Hi guys, Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all. Ive started the shock relocation at last, im putting the bolts through from inside the frame by welding a length of welding wire onto them and threading them through the drilled holes and using locking nuts to secure. Because the springs have been cut to lower the front i have a bit of a predicament, the road height for the shocks work out at 9.75 in, due to the cut springs the most the arms can travel up from this is 1.75in making a 8in space and when i drop the arms down the extended gap is max 15in. Ive looked at the Monroe chart and the best i can find is the 555002 its 8.625 compressed and 12.75 extended giving 4.125in of travel. What do ya reckon ? Gonna look at other makes in a min in case i can find anything better, any advice would be gratefully appreciated. Alan. ( MoparAl ) Quote
MoparAl- Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Posted December 28, 2012 Well guys its obvious no one understood my predicament, but it seems to have worked out ok. I fitted the F1 shock mounts and due to the front springs being cut down i was able to re-use the original 5752 shocks ! As i stated b4 i pulled the bolts through from the inside of the frame and secured with large washers either side of the frame with nylon locking nuts and split washers. Took her out for a spin and WOW what a difference it has made and all for such an easy install. Happy New Year folks especially to Tim for his kind pm. Alan (MoparAl) Quote
Plymouthy Adams Posted December 28, 2012 Report Posted December 28, 2012 Glad you got it worked out Al..I knew you could get it...if you decide to go back to original height springs..well..you still do the same procedure for selecting shocks..everyone I have spoken to who had done the upgrade has nothing but praise for the improved ride..congrats..you did good for yourself.. Quote
Bmartin Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 To piggy back on this thread, when everyone did their shock relocation, did they set it up for full travel - bump stop to bump stop? I'm trying to decide if I need full droop. I can only see needing that in rair occasions when I make a mistake. Since I won't be seeing full droop often, I believe the shock can handle the load on those rare occasions. I definitely do not want the shock to bottom at full bump, that will destoy it quick and that is what is more likely to be experienced with a lowered car. Right now, I need a minimum of 6" of travel for full bump to droop and I'd like to have a 1/2" of wiggle room. The 33033's are 4.5, the 555003's are ~4. 555004's and 5752's are about 5. Quote
greg g Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 I just put on a pair of rear shocks. These were Monroes and the part number crossed over for Plymouths, Dodges and DeSotos. In reality they were about an inch and a half shorter i full extension, than the shocks that were removed. As you noted, the only time the different length would come into play would be at extreme compression and full extension. So we wighted the car and jacked the axle and put them on. I have driven about 300 miles since the installation and have not encountered any conditions where full travel at either end has been encountered. Perhaps with a full trunk and a bad rail grade crossing at speed, I can not see where it will ever be an issue. That said I believe most chocks are designed to work most efficiently in the center of their range. But still I would poll the group and see what shocks they used when the fronts were relocated. Remember you are already supporting a lot of weight with the front suspension pieces so it may be more critical to have the full travel than at the rear. Quote
DJ194950 Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 (edited) Manufacturers designed the shocks so that a compression bump stop would hit before shock was in full compressed position, allowing for age on the stop. For rebound the shock was shorter than full travel to limit it to prevent the spring from falling down far enough to allow spring to move out of the pockets formed in the a-arms to hold in proper position and misaligning the spring. On leaf sprung rear ends the same applies as the rear spring shackle could flip in the forward position in a full dropped position as as opposed to to the rearward making for No spring travel . The shock will limit the amount of drop allowed to prevent this from happening. The load on the shock is actually low as the weight load under this condition is only the suspension parts weights, not the whole cars weight as would be encountered if the shock bottomed out on compression. This extension limit of the shock prevents either problem when jacking up a car to get wheel(s) off the ground. Have fun double checking. DJ Edited July 30, 2014 by DJ194950 1 Quote
Bmartin Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 I mocked up the shocks tonight using Charlies mount and a 555003. The bumpstops hit first at full bump and the I only lost about 1/2" of droop. A spacer on the top bump stop would take care of that if required. So I'm guessing the angle of the shock and how it pivots makes the straight measurement a little off. Plus the compressed height of the 555003 was closer to 9.5", they were spec'd somewhere around 10.5". These look to be the same as the 33033's but heavier duty. Quote
James_Douglas Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 I just put on a pair of rear shocks. These were Monroes and the part number crossed over for Plymouths, Dodges and DeSotos. In reality they were about an inch and a half shorter i full extension, than the shocks that were removed. As you noted, the only time the different length would come into play would be at extreme compression and full extension. So we wighted the car and jacked the axle and put them on. I have driven about 300 miles since the installation and have not encountered any conditions where full travel at either end has been encountered. Perhaps with a full trunk and a bad rail grade crossing at speed, I can not see where it will ever be an issue. That said I believe most chocks are designed to work most efficiently in the center of their range. But still I would poll the group and see what shocks they used when the fronts were relocated. Remember you are already supporting a lot of weight with the front suspension pieces so it may be more critical to have the full travel than at the rear. Greg, which part numbers are you using? I got a set some years back at NAPA and they had the same length as the factory shocks (with correct MOPAR part numbers on them) which I still have in a box. James Quote
BobT-47P15 Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 I finally used my original shocks on the front after installing the Ford arms. Tried two other numbers, but they were too long. I would say my fronts could probably stand to be about one inch longer, but the current ones seem to be working OK. Quote
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