Unusual Shock Idea

[McClurgM]

Here is an idea i had about shocks:
Please see the diagram:

The IDEA:
The shocks are attached to each other side-by-side.
One shock is right-side-up the other is up-side-down.
One shock shaft attaches to the frame (shock hoop) the other attaches to the axle.
the shock bodies are attached to eachother (welded?)

In theory, this would allow a shock with a compressed length of 15" and an extended length of 25" (normally 10" of travel) to obtain double the amount of travel (20")


Please give me any feedback you have. I wonder if this setup would work. is it even possible?

[Alpine Spirit]

Well... I dont thing the bodies would take the pressure.

20" of travel is huge... and leafs will go to full droop before you got to the bottom. If you have ever seen the pics of Ryans rear end falling out on an obstacle he is running 15" shocks.

But hey ideas is what gets the brain goin.

[McClurgM]

How would the pressure be different? (forgive my ignorance)

It was really designed as a solution to Curley's problem.. he needs a shock that can be about 17" compressed and roughly 32"or so extended. His leaves really flex that much..... so that is a 15 inch spread already with the possibility that they will flex more later as ther are new springs......

Long story short i was looking for a 15"+ shock thats not $$$. This setup would allow the use of way cheaper shocks. (procomp 1000,3000,9000 ...)

[Ryan Gee]

He just needs to bend some new hoops...

[Ryan Gee]

What he needs to do is take his current shocks off and go flex it out hard somewhere. Then measure the total up travel and down travel at the shock connections. He then needs to take the shock that handles that amount of travel and wire it to the determined static position from the measurements. Next hook the shock to the axle and new hoop.. find the angle the hoop works well at and cut/attach.

A person could always measure for hoop distance during attachment too... it is just nice to have that third point to hold things stable while welding/holding with hands.

[Lance T]

Interesting idea. Good thinking out of the box. BUT...I see several things wrong here:

-You can't weld a cheap shock.
-Twin tube shocks like ProCrap (Monroe), Rancho, Gabriel, and others can't be run upside down.
-Twintubes wouldn't be able to be bought in the required valving you would need.
-The shafts would not be compressing eye to eye...the would be running at an offset slant.
-Two monotube shocks wouldn't have as much piston surface as one 2.5". More work load, more likely to fade, more moving pieces, more friction, higher oil temps, etc.
-The advantage of having two shocks being that you could lower the rebound and compression valving wouldn't hold true since the two shocks are working as one.
-20" of straight vertical travel looks like this...

http://www.giantmotorsports.com/products/64leafs-06.jpg

We usually use a set of 18" monobodies for this. It is very rare to use a 1:1 ration for leaf springs. This particular truck can drive over a 30* ramp with...IFS! The horror! Anyway back to the ratio. Springs twist as they go through their travel. While the eyes help To control the pathway of the shock, 20" of stroke would actually help control over 20" of travel.
-...

I'll stop there. Like Ryan posted, he just needs to build shock hoops. I will add a good set of shocks will go a long way. A set of Fox, King, Sway-A-Way, Walker Evans, Bilstein shocks will be a billion times better than a cheap twintube shock. You can find them used for fairly cheap. First do what Ryan suggests and measure/build.

[McClurgM]

We flexed it out without the shocks. that is where i got my numbers. Measurements were taken from shock mount on the axle to the shock mount on the hoop. roughly 17" compressed (17.25 actually) and approx 31" extended (30.5 actually) but they are new springs that may droop more as they break in. that is still 14" of travel now, possibly more......

[Lance T]

The bumpstops are what are actually stopping your bump travel. For full drop lift the rear end off the ground and stand on the tires. Than measure your ext. length.

Having your springs settle will more affect the ride height than the travel and will have no effect on your bump travel. You can lower or raise the existing shock tabs to fit a 12" stroke or rebuild the hoops for a 14" stroke.

[Ryan Gee]

He can extend his hoops in about 20 minutes....

[McClurgM]

There are no bumpstops in his front end. The limiting factors are hood and downtravel.

what about making a bracket of sorts to hold the two shock bodies together? it could bolt to the two eye-loops at the end of each shockbody and have some bracing to keep it sturdy.

[Lance T]

There are no bumpstops in his front end. The limiting factors are hood and downtravel.

Bump is up travel...what does the axle rest against when it is stuffed up? If there are no bumpstops for the bump travel you should put some in.

what about making a bracket of sorts to hold the two shock bodies together? it could bolt to the two eye-loops at the end of each shockbody and have some bracing to keep it sturdy.

See post 6.

[McClurgM]

The axle rests aginst nothing.....the tire will hit the hood. he will put some in later....

Post 6 talks about welding....not making a brace.

""The advantage of having two shocks being that you could lower the rebound and compression valving wouldn't hold true since the two shocks are working as one." - The idea is to make a long travel setup cheap.....not to increase performance over crappy shocks. plus its kinda wierd looking. thats it.... better than not running any shocks at all (his current state)

I dont see how it would be different in terms of movement, wear, heat etc....over a single shock setup.
I am not trying to be a jerk, i just dont undestand how the valving, offset slant and piston surface change in this setup. I guess i would maybe need to chat more about the physics associated with it to understand.

[ChefTyler]

All other things aside...when you have the two shocks like you are suggesting you will have issues with the opposing planes of travel between the two shocks, you'll end up with a stress point where the two shock bodies meet and you will likely break the shocks and/or bracket you made to hold them together.

One of Ben's biggest reasons for putting the new cab on was to make it look like the high dollar rig it is, why would he want to fawk it all up with a ghetto-rigged shock setup that may or may not be safe and/or perform well.

I guess I just don't get the motivation.

[Lance T]

Me niether...

Post 6 talks about the planes of the two shocks like Tyler just did. And...You CAN'T mount a cheap shock upside down. So if you are going to be paying for 8 montube shocks...why not build it with the right shock and hoop? Four Bilstein's in the right size will be half as much money.

[Alpine Spirit]

Me niether...

Post 6 talks about the planes of the two shocks like Tyler just did. And...You CAN'T mount a cheap shock upside down. So if you are going to be paying for 8 montube shocks...why not build it with the right shock and hoop? Four Bilstein's in the right size will be half as much money.

And last longer w/ better performance. So here it is.

* He needs longer Hoops, They can be extended and that can be welded with out issue.
* He needs the correct size quality Shocks
* He needs Bump Stops, if it keeps smacking the frame it will fatigue both the frame and axle tube.

[CurleyMan]

I actually just need to rotate my tabs on the hoops. The only reason i do not have bumpstops is because i changed the center pin location and spring rate.. Adjustable height bumpstops are in the works... It doesn't bother me to bump stop the axle half an inch or so away from may compression... In my opinion leaf springs do compress and droop further over time... However I will only buy cheap shocks for the nissan so if i max out the 14's in a year screw it i'll pick up some 15's for 35 bucks a shock... I know shocks are important but my rig is for rock crawling not jumping or driving 80 mph everyday...

[CurleyMan]

and i'm not hitting the frame... the tie rod comes within a couple inches but that's it... The problem I see with the double shocks is that i'd bottom them out and trash em... and it would cost twice as much. If I'm gonna spend more then 40 bucks on a shock it will be for my car....

[McClurgM]

Thanks for the explanation

[Packman5280]

ben i still have yer shocks if you need em back just let me know.

[CurleyMan]

oh yea i forgot where those 14 inchers or 13 inch shocks.... either way if you could get them back to me that would be sweet....

[McClurgM]

There was no real motivation. Just an idea.
I guess thats I why I like to post up ideas here, I always get constructive feedback.
I am more of a hands-on type of person, but enjoy posting beacuse of the comments that you all give back.

Thank you!