Members Al F. Posted August 27, 2003 Members Share Posted August 27, 2003 So you all know I missed the last event (where I could've even won...I almost always qualify behind Per, which means I would've been in front of Per... ) due to needing to get my shocks rebuilt. Well, I installed them last night, and while playing with the rebound adjustment knob one of them started leaking!!! Damn! So its off to the shop again, where they were very nice about it and promised to get it back well before next weekend. On top of that, I'm rebuilding 50 or so feet of fence along the back yard. On top of that I'm getting married in a month. And on top of that they're working me like a dog at the ol' job. Man...no rest for the wicked. It has come to my attention that when I lift the back of the car up, the shocks are what appear to be keeping the rear axle from staying on the ground, though it may be the sway bar. I've been told Konis wouldn't appreciate this. Has anyone considered this or done anything about it? I'm wondering about setting up some droop limiting device(s) and wondering if its a)necessary and b)illegal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsim Posted August 27, 2003 Share Posted August 27, 2003 when I lift the back of the car up, the shocks are what appear to be keeping the rear axle from staying on the ground True. I've been told Konis wouldn't appreciate this Would YOU appreciate being tugged like that? Seriously? Seriously, I don't know what to tell you on that one. But how often do you plan on doing that? I mean, to change the rear wheels, or brakes for that matter, you can put the jack underneath the differential, and not worry about tugging on your 'Konis' (wink, wink). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToTheLimit Posted August 27, 2003 Share Posted August 27, 2003 Al.. So you think you could have beat me in Fernley..OK Lets discuss this again after Qualifying at T-hill.. how about swapping cars..on the grid.. You driven my car..I never driven yours.. Hey just another fun thing we may try to do here in CMC..lol Hope you get your shocks sorted out.. And as for limiting straps..Been using them on on my cars for 10 years not to stress the shocks... Been using a simple cable strap. (about $10 at homedepot) ..Need the straps for endurance events when car needs to be jacked up and not to have rear springs come out of place.. Legal..Yes as far as I can see Per #81..driver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted August 27, 2003 Share Posted August 27, 2003 I've never had a problems suspending the rear end like that. *shrug* BTW - ProParts is right near me. If you need me to stop by with a cattleprod to help expedite your shocks, let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Al F. Posted August 27, 2003 Author Members Share Posted August 27, 2003 Brad...the problem is the best way to get the front up is to jack up one side at a time...at which point all four are off the ground. So basically every day it goes up there. Plus, I tend to store it up on stands so I can work on it here and there. Per...sounds like a simple solution. Is there an easy place already there to do this? I'm not sure about going to top and bottom of the shock since the top is bayonet style...I guess I could slip the wire between the bottom bushing and the washer. Nick...I talked to Craig directly and he promised he'd turn it in one day, so it should be ok, but thanks for the offer. I'll let you know if I run into problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsim Posted August 27, 2003 Share Posted August 27, 2003 Brad <-- brain surgeon Ahhh, silly me for thinking only about the rears... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Pryor1548534703 Posted August 27, 2003 Share Posted August 27, 2003 Take Per's advice and install some type of limiting device...chains, straps, etc. work fine...but be careful to find the right length...too short and you'll affect the cars handling under braking, pulling up on the rear when you least want it....too long onthe resraint and you'll have other problems...sort of like a goldilocks and the three shocks story...and why are you even bothering with adjustable shocks...Sears struts and shocks work great and they're only $100 for a set of 4...rp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsim Posted August 31, 2003 Share Posted August 31, 2003 I've been told Konis wouldn't appreciate this. BTW - wouldn't ANY shock/strut not appreciate this? Just curious... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Al F. Posted September 2, 2003 Author Members Share Posted September 2, 2003 Richard...unless that shock shows up soon I'm just gonna stick a steel rod in there in its place. Heck, I doubt I'd notice the difference anyway with my driving skills! Brad... Not having designed any of these, I'm not sure any of them are really intended to serve as limiters. That said, I don't think its a real problem, otherwise we'd all have leaky shocks on a regular basis. But...for a few dollars worth of wire...well, whatever, I may get around to it, may not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady in Nomex Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 Aw, I was looking forward to the battle of Al and Julie at T-Hill! Hope you can still make it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsim Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 OR (heehee) to work around this in the short term, you could always jack the car as normal, then put the jackstands under the rear axle and the front control arms. I told you I was a brain surgeon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 Al - My offer to stop by Tri-Point is still good. They are really only about 4 - 5 mi from my house and I have some errands to run tomorrow morning that will put me over by them in the morning. Is this a front or a rear shock? If its a rear, I could probably snarf one off of my "Street Car" as long as you got it back to me afterwards I also have some dead'ish stock rear shocks you can use to roll the car around with in the mean time. Lemme know - Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Al F. Posted September 3, 2003 Author Members Share Posted September 3, 2003 Oh no Jules, you aren't getting off that easy! I'll be there, even if it means running without rear shocks. Tri-point promised they'd send it overnight today, but I never got a chance to call them to verify (this working thing is really getting in the way of my racing!) Tomorrow evening its off to the (third) alignment shop. This one should (finally) have the (%$@#$#@) machine that can handle more than 1.5 degrees of camber. I think I set the front ride height a little too high (so as to keep the oil pan out of the dirt through turn 2), and the rear shocks may or may not be in, so the alignment wont be perfect...but I'm running it anyway. Man, you would've thought having two months I would've been ready a long time ago! The good news is my new 60 feet or so of fence came out great! Nick...I'll give you a call if the shock doesn't show. Thanks again for the offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Al F. Posted September 4, 2003 Author Members Share Posted September 4, 2003 The saga continues... The shock finally got here around 7:30 pm. I had no idea FedEx delivered that late. But, hey, its here, so no complaints. I got the car aligned...but I almost shouldn't have. The best they could do was 2.5 and 2.0 neg camber. Yes, thats the closest to each other that they could get the two sides! Then they could only squeeze out about 3.8 caster, even though the car rode in with about 5.5 (at similar camber numbers). I finally gave up and let them tighten everything up. One of the more interesting parts was when the service manager tried to explain to me that a car has negative camber when the adjustments are on the top arm, but since my car has the adjustments on the lower arm they can only set positive camber. At least they got the toe right. I don't care how off the tires are, I'm going to run it anyway and its going to be a great weekend. Besides, all these numbers don't mean a thing when you're in full on four wheel drift through the grass. Then after this weekend I'm going to get some alignment tools and never go through this again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsim Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 all these numbers don't mean a thing when you're in full on four wheel drift through the grass.You took the words right out of my reply button. Look at it this way - maybe your alignment shop is affiliated with PETA. They heard about your gopher hunts, and talked the shop into giving you tamer numbers! Seriously, I think it's time for you to get another shop... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony G Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 Al, Why don't you try a good spin off turn two into the dirt,and then lets see where your caster/camber is at..this will probably do the trick! Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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