Inliners International Forums General Discussion Drive Train shock absorbers

i'm truly stumped trying to figure out how to select a shock based on criteria other than just what fits in the hole! i can't find anything that talks about damping rates.

i removed a stupid amount of mass from my car (a little rambler roadster), its now 2250 lbs measured. the stock shocks, even "regular duty" (thinking that might soften) are simply way too stiff.

i realize that proper damper design will probably be too complex, and not really appropriate for my casual circumstances. and i don't have $1000 chassis software. i'm fine with a bit of cut'n'try.

i'm not racing, won't be overheating or aerating the fluid (seriously, is that a problem for shock-buyers outside of pro stuff?). "light duty" is fine. i drive hard (plan on doing a two-day "vintage rally" assuming i can find shocks!) but it's mainly a street car.

any ideas? motorcycle shocks? i can make my own mounts to accommodate found objects.

my biggest problem at the moment is the rear; probably 300 - 350 lbs per wheel. sprung/unsprung ratio SUCKS (i think that's the technical word for it). live axle, the smallest air springs Goodyear makes with about 15 psi in them, and wishbone and panhard.

suggestions welcome!


PS: anyone ever tried using a lever system to make a shock truly adjustable? eg. a long arm with shock closer to the fulcrum to decrease it's effect... considering that... or making lever friction shocks!

Why not use an after market shock with adjustable dampening? You can get them with both compression and re-bound adjustments. And, if you get shocks that are rebuild-able, you should also be able to modify the damping internally.

well, i can't seem to hear anything factual from shock-sales places about the range. and we know there's a huge difference between shock damping rates for 5000 lbs cars vs. 2500 lb cars, independent of fitment.

good point on the rebuildables though -- i hadn't thought of that. that got me to QA1.net which has what seems to be wide-range adjustables. will look at those.

thanks.

I've been wondering the same thing with my 54 truck. The drivetrain I have in it, weights probably 2/3s of what the 235 & 3 speed did.

I'm thinking about standing the shocks up straighter, for a better ride. I'm also thinking of using eye to eyer shocks instead of the straight pin type.

The shocks that fit on a WWII Jeep might do the job.. They're
about $25 each and you can get them from Kaiser Willys..
The WWII Jeep weighed about 2450...

A lil late to the discussion but a VW bug has a VERY light front end and those shocks might work.... also you can get tons of aftermarket shocks for them.