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Limit straps

Mastiff

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Who's running limit straps? I don't hear much about it, but letting the suspension bottom out on the shocks seems like a bad idea. What's the best way to connect them?
 
I can't speak to what's "the best". I am having mine made out of seatbelt webbing and using those triangle shaped bolt down seat belt anchors to attach them right to the shock mounts.
 
Yeah, going to the shock mounts is probably easiest. I wonder if the mounts are up to it, especially in the back of a K5. Also, won't the strap have to bend around the shock? If I'm thinking right, the strap would be pushing sideways on the shock as it tries to get straight.
 
I'm not sure I follow, no nothing had to bend around any shocks. It's just a seat belt attached at both ends of the shock. It just catches the weight of the axle just before the shock hyper extends.
 
I'm not sure I follow, no nothing had to bend around any shocks. It's just a seat belt attached at both ends of the shock. It just catches the weight of the axle just before the shock hyper extends.

Draw a straight line from shock eye to shock eye, won't it go through the shock? The strap will have to conform to the outside shape of the shock, but it really wants to go straight from eye to eye.
 
Put it on the inboard side of the shock.
 
I was assuming your worries were based on the arched suspension movement, putting it on the inside would seem to lesson the straps pressure on the shock.

Honestly inboard or outboard I don't see this as an issue otherwise people would be complaining about damaged shocks. If it's that big of a concern drill holes in the frame and weld tabs on the axle.
 
Yeah, going to the shock mounts is probably easiest. I wonder if the mounts are up to it, especially in the back of a K5. Also, won't the strap have to bend around the shock? If I'm thinking right, the strap would be pushing sideways on the shock as it tries to get straight.

The sane way a seat belt keeps your face from putting a new vent hole in the windshield. My straps will be 1/2"-1" shorter than my full extended length of the shock. When it pulls out near its limit that strap catches before the shock does.
 
I guess nobody understands what I'm talking about. If you pull a strap tight, it wants to go in a straight line. If you mount the strap where the shock is, it wants to go in a straight line from eye to eye. If you pull hard, it _really_ wants to go in a straight line. The shock has width though, so the shock will be where the strap wants to be, and the strap will push against the shock. The shock is only a 2-3" wide, but imagine it was a basketball or something super fat, the strap would be squishing into the basketball trying to make itself straight. If the point is to protect the shocks, why introduce a bunch of strain onto the bushings and shaft like that?

But maybe I'm thinking of it all wrong, but all the images of installed straps I've surfed up on-line look like they have dedicated mount points.

I need to go out there and look at the options, but maybe connecting the axle shock eye to a new spot on the frame would be a good option. I've got all kinds of holes in the frame already where old shock mounts used to be.
 
I understand what you mean.




Make mounts that are just outside of the shock body.
 
I highly recommended them for a friends truck, went wheelin', it was a newer IFS truck, and naturally, he pulled one of the cv shafts out of the front wheel.

I haven't personally had any issues with mine damaging the shocks and I'd like to think I have put it through some pretty decent stuff.

Say bar disconnects, and the clamp on the rear leaves were cut to add two more leaves, but now they fan out a bit more to allow more drop.

I guess if you were jumping the truck and slamming the axle down on the shocks I could see some real damage, but from what I have seen so far, most of the stuff just bottoms out somewhat easy.

I know my limiting factor are the shocks at the moment.
 
Limit straps, only limit down travel. You need bump stops to limit up travel (for jumps and other bad ideas).
 
UH, yeah, I know what they limit, I mentioned jumping only because of the quick movement of slamming the axle upwards, yes a bumpstop, but then that same axle is going to drop really fast once the truck leaves the ground, slamming it down on the shocks... If straps aren't present.
 
Yeah, I don't really know how big a deal it is, and it seems like most guys don't bother with it. With the ORD springs I have now though, it seems like the springs won't limit anything, so it's either shocks, brake lines, or driveshaft that the axle might be hanging from. A gentle bottoming on the shock doesn't seem like a big deal, but I'm not sure.
 
I got bored on lunch..red line is strap.. He's saying it will hit the body on extension...


Just gotta move the mounts out. I personally doubt u need them.

image.jpg
 
Honestly inboard or outboard I don't see this as an issue otherwise people would be complaining about damaged shocks. If it's that big of a concern drill holes in the frame and weld tabs on the axle.

^This.

I think you are overthinking this. Maybe with a really soft spring like 56's up front would I think you should really think about this (or possibly 52's). But with the ORD springs, I personally think you would never need them at all and you would notice you went to the work of intalling them to find out you never use them, just my $0.02
 
^This.

I think you are overthinking this. Maybe with a really soft spring like 56's up front would I think you should really think about this (or possibly 52's). But with the ORD springs, I personally think you would never need them at all and you would notice you went to the work of intalling them to find out you never use them, just my $0.02

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "use them". If the shocks limit travel, the straps will definitely be used. I think it's just a matter of whether bottoming out the shocks is a big deal.
 
I got bored on lunch..red line is strap.. He's saying it will hit the body on extension...


Just gotta move the mounts out. I personally doubt u need them.


You completely owned this thread by using professional drafting software to demonstrate your opinion :haha:

I have limit straps on the front of the Tahoe to protect the front driveshaft from suffering too much angle. I have them mounted in double shear with two tabs on each side mounted to the frame and to the diff.

Remember that they stretch, even if they are made of seatbelt material. I was told to expect 3" per foot of stretch.
 
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "use them". If the shocks limit travel, the straps will definitely be used. I think it's just a matter of whether bottoming out the shocks is a big deal.

meaning you will find that 99% of the time the limit strap isn't doing anything
 

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