DIY4x inboard shock kit input/ideas needed

[iwaxmyjimmy]

why would u mount shocks outside the frame rail?? u can get away w/ shorter shocks and mount them closer to the center of the axle. bout like mounting ur leaf springs closer to the center of the axle to help w/ articulation. but the cons are less control over the rear end. mrk5, arent u looking to get the most droop for the money? this is kinda learning thing for me

 

[miniwally]

It gives more droop but at the expense of control and shock damping ability.

These are not "long travel" suspensions. We are dealing with a bulk manufactured leaf spring, they supply good travel but I think it is less than we want to admit. There is not a bulk manufactured spring out there that can out travel a good quality 16" or 18" shock. 16 to 18 inches of vertical wheel travel is a bunch with a leaf spring.

The idea to lay the shocks down is to get more travel out of the shocks and keep them out of the bed.
In boarding either the shocks or the springs just allows the tire to have more leverage over them. That increases travel yes. It also decreases the control that the spring or shock has over the Tire.

The idea behind springs and shocks is to have them control the tire.

You can mount them under the body and have them stood up near veritcal if you spend the time to do mock them up and work on it.

The down fall to this thinking is the good quality stuff I am refering to has a price tag that might put them out of reach for some.
I would still check into it since they could be the last shocks you buy for the vehicle.

 

[iwaxmyjimmy]

u learn something every day.

 

[cybrfire]

Yep, tipping your shocks at an angle does reduce that shocks ability to control the tire. No two ways about it.

Low lifts, flexy suspensions and the desire to keep the shocks out of the bed be it a blazer or whatever else all contribute to the end result of inboarding the shocks.

Inboarding the shocks works well for some and is probably not the answer for some others. On our R and D truck it worked awesome! It was a 79 chevy 3/4 ton pickup. Light in the tail.

Alot of your cheapo shocks are valved "stiffer" than they need to be for our purposes. Maybe not stiff enough for some other purposes. Two rigs doing exactly the same thing with exactly the same setup can end up with two entirely different shocks based on nothing more than what the driver likes to "feel".

After everything else you'll have to figure out what works best for your rig, your driving style, and what you do with your rig!