Tycho wrote:1971ford wrote:You can definately keep the shock mounting point below the top of the bedside, however you might sacrafice travel by doing so.People are getting about 18" of travel with the Chevy packs, so to be able to have a shock for all that travel you will have to extend above the bedside. Or you can just cut your travel down a tad. Or lean your shocks forward a lot, however there are many views on how this can affect your shocks ability to do its job properly.
I realize that, it's just frustrating that I can't move forward without one thing or the other. Without the chevy swap, I can't properly plan for a bedcage. And vice-versa. I think I'll pay one of the local shops to do it (any views on long drop brackets like the ballistic kit gives you?) if not just for the better ride quality even without the shocks. My stock leafs suck ass.
What's the deal with trailing arms? I see a lot of semi-serious trucks running them.
Also, do I have any other options as far as shock mounting goes (perhaps using a higher quality shock that can handle an exteme angle? bypass?) or even a coil-over in the back?
Edit: With 18" travel approx what size shock should I be buying?
I'm not sure what long drop brackets you are talking about
But yeah you kinda need all the things to put it all together at once. I actually have some extra cash right now , i can pick up some chevy 64's and start working on them and drawing out a plan. Ive seen them for $50 on my local craigslist quite a few times. Then it will be $70ish to re-arch them i'm guessing. I'll run my stock shackles for now, just move the hangers apart.
Ive actually realized my stock f250 packs with a few leaves pulled are better than i would of ever expected. I can barely feel speed bumps. I only get like 10" of travel though.
Are you referring to trailing arms as in a 4 link? or 2 link to go with your springs? A 2 link to go with your leaf sprung rearend is for axle-wrap reasons. You rearend will want to twist under the torque of the engine causing your springs to eventually break but it's not something to worry to much about too much. Many race leaf sprung race trucks don't even bother with 2 links.
4 links are a very expensive alternative to leaf springs that gives you more travel and leaf springs can never be as soft as them. You run a 4 link with atleast a coilover, usually a bypass to go with it. This setup will cost you more than $10,000 including the new rearend, shocks, arms, etc.
It's not that the shock angle is bad for your shocks, it's how well they work when put at a severe angle. You won't be breaking shocks unless you do something very wrong. There are many threads on the forums like dezertrangers of them talking about how shocks work at severe angles.
You wouldn't run a coilover with leaves. You either run a 4 link (no leaves) with coilovers, or you run leaf springs with any shock other than a coilover really. It's one or the other. The coils are like your leaf springs.
Just run a smooth body (no bypasses) 16" (or 18", whichever you can afford) 2.5 or 3.0 resevoir shock. a 2.0 shock would be overheated fast with our heavy trucks, a 2.5 might do it, but a 3.0 will insure you don't lose your shock absorbtion half way through your offroadingness.
1971ford wrote:
Just instead of having the support tubes welded straight to the frame (or bed bolts if the spare tire carrier is different structure than shock mount), have a bushing in between the frame and tire carrier stucture, if that makes sense.
Can I avoid having the cage go directly over the frame? Like, having supports underneath the bed (or tube directly on top of the bed but flat as to avoid taking up space) tie into the frame rather than the traditional approach (yours) The frame on the bump side is so narrow with respect to how large the actual truck is, so all the pretty modern trucks can have bed cages that sit relatively to the outside without any issues since their frames are wider. In the picture I mocked up the yellow line is an approximation of the frame going off your pictures. I forgot to take a distance shot showing both frame and bed, but pictures from your build thread worked just fine. I was able to count 3 bed channels from the wheel wells in as the location of the frame.[/quote]
theskytoucher wrote:
I think you might want to rethink your shock design, You are putting them at a pretty steep angle which is going to be prone to sheer off!
Along the lines of breaking shocks, shock angle isn't a big worry. You souldn't break shocks with just angling them, it is just a matter of how they work when put at an angle compared to how the axle moves during cycle.
As long as you have a nice strong upper shock mount or intersection where it mounts then you should be fine.
. It is trussed, supposively aftermarket axles, disk setup sounds nice for the extra $100
