Shock mounting question....

[GKR]

Other than requiring a heavier spring rate, what other concerns should I have when mounting a coilover at about 50 degrees. It wouild be a 2", 14" travel shock. I'm working with limited space is why I would need to lay it over that much and still have the 14" travel shock. The other thing I was wondering is due to the fact that it won't be a one to one ratio for wheel to shock travel, would/could I run a shorter shock more upright and achieve the same wheel travel. Thanks in advance.

[SteveG]

That's really steep for a coil-over. Can you give us more details on the application? How much wheel travel do you need out of it?

[GKR]

I was thinking about swapping out the coils for coilovers on the rear of my Bronco. Mostly running trails and rocks but a few days goin fast at the dunes too. Truck is pretty heavy, 14 bolt rear, cage, tools, inside spare (40" Toyo) I'm running a 12" Bilstein short body at near stock angle right now and don't come near topping or bottoming it out due travel limitiations of the coil spring (78/79 Bronco 4" lift Superlift).........plus I think I might be looking for something to tinker on.....

[300]

I would have to see a picture of those coils in the back! They will certainly be the limitation on travel, probably max out at 10 or 11 inches. The stock leafs are going to be nearly that good. Laying the coilovers down at that angle is possible, but it will need rates about 1.5 times greater than if they were straight up and down. With a truck that has probably 3000 lbs at the rear, coils with the rate you need start to get hard to find.

[magic carpet XLT]

correct my if i am wrong, but that amount of angle will also effectively make your spring rate digressive. i'm kinda familiar with your setup GKR, and i would find a way to put the shocks straight up into the bed and then box them in so you don't have a dirt nightmare.

[SteveG]

I would have to see a picture of those coils in the back! They will certainly be the limitation on travel, probably max out at 10 or 11 inches. The stock leafs are going to be nearly that good.

Agreed. You could get 18" of wheel travel and even more articulation with a good set of leaves. And you could still keep the shocks under the floor... I'm guessing that's the goal here?

Leaves would work better than coil-overs at a bad angle. Are leaf springs still an option?

Now that I've given you my opinion on everything you didn't ask about I'll try to answer some of your original questions. Yes, you'll need more spring rate. If you're just putting down the street you'll be fine, but it's going do some crazy things when you start making the suspension work. Especially at speed. The problem is your spring rate will be dropping as the suspension compresses.

A shorter shock at a better angle would be better.

[SteveG]

I just checked out your rear suspension. Man have you got a lot of fab work into that truck! Very cool.

If you're dead set on coil-overs in the rear and you want to keep it relatively simple, I would consider the same basic mounting you have in front. If you're willing to go up through the fender well you can probably get almost as much travel as the drive shaft can handle. If you're not willing to go through the floor then just fit the longest shock you can with the suspension fully compressed. A bar going across between the two shock towers would be ideal, but you could probably build a good cross member under the floor that would suffice.

From a performance perspective, I still vote leaves with your current shock mounts.

[GKR]

Thanks for the advice to all. I'll be keeping the 4 link because it climbs so much better. I'll crawl under and look into goin up through the fenderwells. Most of the go-fast coilover rears I seen come up through the floor just inside the fenderwell. My problem is I crammed an oversize rear seat in to haul my son and the in-laws across the dunes every summer. And thanks again for the feedback, the laid over option sounds to have more negatives than it's worth.

[rezrider]

Thanks for the advice to all. I'll be keeping the 4 link because it climbs so much better. I'll crawl under and look into goin up through the fenderwells. Most of the go-fast coilover rears I seen come up through the floor just inside the fenderwell. My problem is I crammed an oversize rear seat in to haul my son and the in-laws across the dunes every summer. And thanks again for the feedback, the laid over option sounds to have more negatives than it's worth.

I took a look inside ReadyWelds Bronco at the KOH event last week. He went thru the wells and still has the back seat HOWEVER, he had to shorten the seat back about 6" (each side or total...can't remember, I think total) in order to make room for the shocks. This will allow for 2 full size people to sit comfortably...or 1 child and let gram and gramps cook dinner while you're out having fun!

[billy1911]

The only answer I can think of is doing a cantilever but its a lot more work. But you can run a shorter shock depending on how you setup your cam arms.