[Bennyzarb]

What shocks do you use for an upgraded top rear shock mount ??? I herd that 2in extended 80 searies shocks work well is this true and is there any other shocks that are good / and fit

[want33s]

I made a new rear upper mount and inboarded the tops slightly and run GQ standard rears.
Sort of visible here....

[Gwagensteve]

It would be hard to think of a worse shock than an 80 series rear.

80 series spring rates run 220lb/" to 320lb/", there's no interleaf friction, and there's a 2000kg+ car trying to make those springs keep bouncing.

Valving will be so stiff the springs won't move at all.

You will be running 150lb/" or less, with interleaf friction and 1000kg or so - you could pretty much take the shocks off and it would drive OK.

Your question is why I think it's best to start with a "known good" shock that suits your budget and make mounts to suit. It can be hard to find a shock that is soft enough to work properly.

I don't know what compressed length you need - that's the critical dimension.

Commodore shocks might be OK if you don't mind them blowing out from time to time. They are cheap though - even more so if you start with some from a wrecker to experiment.

OME N76 are very soft and very long ( but expensive compared to Bilstein and currently on backorder)

Bilstein 5150 in the soft valving might also work well - you might be able to find a length that works for you on here.

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.ph ... hocks.html

However - here's the thing - with a stock length rear leaf and conventional shackles, there's barely any more flex in the leaf springs than travel in a stock suzuki shock, and certainly not an aftermaket stock replacement shock.

To give you some idea of the problem, I've seen a couple of cars recently that have had extended rear shock mounts on them, requiring bumpstop spacing and a body lift to fit the shock's compressed length, and in each case there wasn't more than 20mm of "extra" travel being provided by the longer shock - there's just no more travel in the springs.

One car I saw had whacky shackles, bumpstop spacers and had less travel than a stock sierra due to some setup problems that would have been immediately clear when the shop that did the work put the shackles in. (!)

In two of the three cases, it now can't be determined what shocks were used to build the mounts and in both cases the rear shock valving was insanely stiff to the point the cars rode terribly. The end result is poor ride, no gain in travel, and a huge headache to try and get the car to work properly because the stock mounts have been cut off, so fabrication is required just to get the car to perform as well as standard. That's a loose-loose modification in my book.

Just some stuff to ponder. There's a bit more to shock choice than what fits. I know that's why you are asking the question rather than buying some shocks and then complaining about the ride, which is great. work out your compressed length and do some reading on compressed lengths and see what you can come up with.

Steve.

[dank]

I run IFS hilux 2 inch rears in mine with stupid long springs ad in boarded about 4 inches or so. I could probably bring them out another 2 inches as I'm about that off full compression but new exhuastion route stopse from doing this I almost find them too soft on fast dirt in boarded.

[Built4thrashing]

[quote="dank"]I run IFS hilux 2 inch rears in mine with stupid long springs ad in boarded about 4 inches or so. I could probably bring them out another 2 inches as I'm about that off full compression but new exhuastion route stopse from doing this I almost find them too soft on fast dirt in boarded.[/quote]


In boarding can make soft shocks feel really loose on fast dirt. You can get away with a slightly harder shock when inboarding the top mount....the leverage on them makes them work better......Well i know what i mean

[jdk81]

What you mean is that due to the trig the inboarded shocks compress at a lower velocity, thus providing less damping as the same shock mounted vertically above the axle.
in essence you need to run a shock with much higher damp coefficient if you mount it inboard, like stock sierras.

[Built4thrashing]

jdk81 wrote:

What you mean is that due to the trig the inboarded shocks compress at a lower velocity, thus providing less damping as the same shock mounted vertically above the axle.
in essence you need to run a shock with much higher damp coefficient if you mount it inboard, like stock sierras.

Yeh thats what i wanted to say.....sorta

[remydog05]

Im thinking of using a cheap gas hilux or 60seires on the rear of mine.
Im not looking for softest or even ride quality, I just want it to drive well on road handling with as close to stock body roll etc, for engineering, rego and rwc.
After then I will look for better option of shock for ride, etc.

Im thinking Como shock would do you good as long as the lengths match up for you.

[Built4thrashing]

Hey remydog05. Ive got the N42 shocks i used in mine sitting here for cheap.
They worked well when inboarded. Nice and long too. Ya got my number...

[Built4thrashing]

Hey remydog05. Ive got the N42 shocks i used in mine sitting here for cheap.
They worked well when inboarded. Nice and long too. Ya got my number...

[Teracis]

I'm going to do an upgraded top shock mount and a U bolt flip as well as moving the shocks to the front of the diff when I do the rebuild on my sierra, the plan is to make the upgraded mount bolt on/removable and not going to interfere with/need to remove the stock mount so if there's any problem I can easily switch it back to stock.

Also, if I'm doing the U bolt flip I shouldn't need extended shocks to be as long because if I in board them, possibly the current ones, correctly (even though they are shorter) I still pick up something like 100-150mm by having the lower shock mount on the top of the diff. The main thing I'll need to worry about is the compressed length and not bottoming them out.

If I'm wrong let me know, but I can't see it being any worse than the standard mounting points inboarded.

Doing the front would also be good but I haven't really had a look at that yet, I'd like to be able to not have to weld to the chassis so I don't want to mess with the front upper mounts, and it's not like I can inboard those...

[Gwagensteve]

That sounds pretty good Teracis, except that if you raise the lower mount and inboard the top mount, and use a stock shock, you'll have very little damping - I think you need to start with a stiffer than stock shock if you are planning on in boarding the top mount far enough to be able to leave the stock top mount in place.

Steve.

[Teracis]

Gwagensteve wrote:

That sounds pretty good Teracis, except that if you raise the lower mount and inboard the top mount, and use a stock shock, you'll have very little damping - I think you need to start with a stiffer than stock shock if you are planning on in boarding the top mount far enough to be able to leave the stock top mount in place.

Steve.

I don't have stock shocks at the moment anyway, when I bought the zook it already had an Ironman lift kit in it, so it has the ironman shocks.

I'll play around with it to get it riding well anyway.

We took the sway bar off it yesterday (I hadn't previously because I need extended brake lines) but did it yesterday because I won't get a chance to wheel it before I get back from holidays and start the rebuild. It made HEAPS of difference to the flex, it's soooo much better! and that was just testing it on the brick wall out the front, I can drive heaps further than before and it's still not even close to tipping, before I took it out it was sketchy as!

[Bennyzarb]

So this isn't helping much I wanted to know what shocks to use and what ones you have used and picks would help heaps

[Teracis]

Bennyzarb wrote:

So this isn't helping much I wanted to know what shocks to use and what ones you have used and picks would help heaps

What's wrong with the examples provided? Is it not what you are looking for? Just need to sift through the information so that you understand why they are saying this shock or that shock.

I've sorted a few examples that have been brought up into ones that people HAVE tried (proven) and ones that people have SUGGESTED (theory).

I hope that helps you a bit more, I don't think you'll get someone here that will just out and out tell you what the perfect shock for your setup is, you kind of need to see the options and decide for yourself.

Proven:
Want33's "I made a new rear upper mount and inboarded the tops slightly and run GQ standard rears."

Dank "I run IFS hilux 2 inch rears in mine with stupid long springs ad in boarded about 4 inches or so."

Built4thrashing "Hey remydog05. Ive got the N42 shocks i used in mine sitting here for cheap.
They worked well when inboarded. Nice and long too."

Theory:

Gwagensteve "Your question is why I think it's best to start with a "known good" shock that suits your budget and make mounts to suit. It can be hard to find a shock that is soft enough to work properly.

I don't know what compressed length you need - that's the critical dimension.

Commodore shocks might be OK if you don't mind them blowing out from time to time. They are cheap though - even more so if you start with some from a wrecker to experiment.

OME N76 are very soft and very long ( but expensive compared to Bilstein and currently on backorder)

Bilstein 5150 in the soft valving might also work well - you might be able to find a length that works for you on here.

www.lowrangeoffroad.co...hocks.html"

Remydog05 "Im thinking of using a cheap gas hilux or 60seires on the rear of mine."



There's a few suggested options, maybe write out a list of each with the stated pro's and cons, do a bit of an internet search for the models suggested and get compressed and extended length, then see which one best fits your intended measurements/setup and go from there?

[Gwagensteve]

Wow! I wasn't expecting that!

Nobody can tell you what shocks to use unless you can tell us what compressed length you need, at which point you don't need us any more, you need to take the list of shocks people have suggested here, your budget, do a quick search on compressed lengths and choose your shocks.

I'll just repeat because I'm really feeling likes not being much help:

Nobody can tell you what shocks to use unless you can tell us what compressed length you need.

Here's a "pick" of a shock absorber



That's as much help as you can get from a photo. You need to post a picture of your mounts so we can see how far laid over they are going to be, but it's still only a suggestion unless you can provide the compressed length you need.

Steve.

[Bennyzarb]

Ok thanks everyone I will have a look tomorrow

[Gwagensteve]

PS my shock eixamples aren't theory- I have used all the shocks I mentioned. Without any info on the application though ( length, bumpstops, spring choice, shackle length, etc) any recommendation is just theory.

Steve.