TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue May 03, 2005 2:45 am

...ive been doing a lot of reading on this board, and others....a lot of people have gone coilover in front ... but i haven't really seen any w/ 10"+ travel coilovers. i have a set of 14" bilstein 9100 coilovers i want to use on the front .... but i don't know if it would be a good idea.

i have the warrior 6" over beam, 2.5" wider arms, and i plan to fabricate my own shock towers. (also, the front end is all tubed)

should i bother installing the 14" bilsteins? i'm sure it's overkill since the beam front end can only get 15" travel (right?)...or just keep trying to sell them and buy a set of 10" coilovers? just need some advice basically...

also, can someone tell me about this car?

Tue May 03, 2005 9:44 am

I run 12 in coilovers in the front, with longer arms and a 6 in over beam for a grand total of about 13.5 inches of travel. 14's will be too big on the front. put them on the rear. thats what i run.

Wed May 04, 2005 12:11 am

joe heger and shawn mccallums jimco class 5 unltd. huge type 4, fortin trans, and get this 12" ft shocks. most people run 10" shocks, and thats the std. but recently a few builders have gone to the 12" because theyre able to stroke a little more travel than a 10" will give them. but they arent getting any more than about 16 1/2" of travel. keep in mind thats with 4"-5" race arms. i'd venture to say that they have got to have every bit of 65k in that car if they had it built. outta my league...

Wed May 04, 2005 12:57 am

sweet. one of my favorite race cars out there..and i only have 6 pictures! it's good to actually get some stats on it. i thought the coilovers on the front were 14"...guess the towers through me off.
it was on race-dezert a little while ago, i think it was selling for 25k w/o a trans/engine.

i guess i'll keep trying to sell my coilovers to get some 12" c/o's...

Wed May 04, 2005 3:04 am

I think that car is currently for sale on another website, less motor and trans.

Wed May 04, 2005 10:44 am

I was pretty sure those were 14-inch coilovers on the 501 car.

Regardless, if you have the 14-inch and dont intend to use them elsewhere on you car, I would utilize them. There is nothing wrong with using a larger dampener than needed. Actually, the larger the better due to the fact the more oil and larger tube a shock has, the better it will cool. That is the reason I have 14-inchers on the rear of my car, Baja5's as well. Neither of our cars need that long of a shock to cycle, but if they fit, it is all the better in my opinion.

SHMO

Wed May 04, 2005 10:28 pm

well i was planning to run coilovers up front and torsions in the back (for now). since i have the coilovers, and they aren't going to be used anywhere else...thought i'd put them to use. not sure which way to go still. i kinda like the way the huge coilovers look on the front, beefy...and if it doesn't hurt anything, why not install them.

could somone guide me w/ building shock towers? i was thinking something like this:

(i don't own a bender)

Thu May 05, 2005 12:37 am

look at the way i built my shock towers. same sort of thing, except i braced everything to the center

Thu May 05, 2005 5:30 am

might run a tube across horizontal to connect the two towers.

Thu May 05, 2005 10:45 am

i wouldnt tie them together directly. tie them independantly into the frame.

mine tie to a central framework that was put into place to prevent frame twist (copying a chenowth design)

baja5's structure doesnt come as far inwars as mine, but you can still get an idea

Fri May 06, 2005 12:40 pm

got it.
how should i determine the height of the shock towers. should the coilover be fully extended?

Fri May 06, 2005 12:54 pm

not fully extended. find absolutely full droop and compress the shock a half inch to an inch. thats where the top shoulc go.

Fri May 06, 2005 1:34 pm

A good way to do this is find the extended length of your shock and subtract that 1/2-inch to 1-inch that Brad was talking about. Now, set the shocks aside and grab yourself a wooden 2x2, a piece of PVC tubing or whatever you have on hand that is roughly the same length as your extended shock. Drill a couple holes in the piece the same distance apart as your measurement. Then you can simply use this piece to act as a rigid shock that is the exact dimension you need to build your mounts.

This will help you to position the upper mounts and keep everything square.

Oh, and don't forget to post them pics!

SHMO

Fri May 06, 2005 1:55 pm

i actually thought about something like that after i had setup my suspension for the second time

Fri May 06, 2005 3:33 pm

That fake shock trick works pretty slick. Just bolt the shock stub the the fake shock, and build the supports up to it.

Some other things keep in mind when building custom shock mounts. First, that your shock stubs are square. If your using a typical shock and the mounts are off level the shock will be difficult to bolt on and the urethane bushings will wear out quickly. You want the mounting bolts to run through the mounts squarely, like this when looking at the car from the front

Also, pay attention to Tie rod clearance when the wheel is turned lock to lock. Nothing is worse than using your shock body for a steering stop. Finally, if possible, angle your shock mounts so that the shock is at roughly 90 degrees to the trailing arm when the suspension is fully compressed. This last tip applies more to rear shock mounts, but works up front as well especially with extended trailing arms and longer travel.

SHMO

Fri May 06, 2005 4:07 pm

the angle isnt as important if you use the higher dollar shocks with heim joints instead of rubber bushings. but you still need to be weary of positioning them in a way that the heim joint will travel through its entire motion and bind. also try to keep it as straight as possible to keep the load on the shock parallel with the motion of the shock

Fri May 06, 2005 5:06 pm

looks like i have a lot of work to do. i'll try the 'fake shock' idea after work tonight. it's going to be 37.5"....i'll have the arms raised with the jack in roughly the same position (i can always adjust ride height with the spanner wrench right?).
also, is there an easier way to find all the angles for the notches?

Fri May 06, 2005 5:38 pm

When you say, "angles for the notches" are you referring to the fish mouth cuts for tubing?

SHMO

Fri May 06, 2005 5:43 pm

notches? as in rear suspesion?

Fri May 06, 2005 7:39 pm

yes the "fish mouth".