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Re: Shocks as travel stops -Reply

To: mgs@Autox.Team.Net, boballen@sky.net
Subject: Re: Shocks as travel stops -Reply
From: Bill Eastman <william.eastman@medtronic.com>
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 08:41:08 -0600
Bob and others,

I am sure that every car is different on how well the springs limit travel
on a leaf spring car.  I suppose that once the shackle lines up with the
spring, you would run out of length and that would limit rebound.  I expect
that what Bob experienced was that the suspension stopped travel when the
leaf spring went beyond neutral arch a sufficient amount to support the
weight of the axle and that happened before the shock topped out.  While
this would stop the suspension when jacking the car, I think that a good
bump could cause the axle's inertia to bend the springs a bit more and
reach the shock's rebound limits.  Such an situation would be driving fast
on dirt roads with a beer keg in the trunk for example.  Personally, I
never changed a shock with the suspension unloaded so I cannot confirm or
deny Bob's experience.

 Leaf springs usually are fairly limited for suspension travel.  They also
have a lot of internal friction.  I drove my trusty Scout for a long time
after the front shocks sheared with no apparent ill effects in handling. 
The little truck had been used for snow plowing and the front springs had
sagged to the point where there was only an inch or two of jounce travel. 
The ride was a little harsh to say the least.

And yes, the injured football player is wearing a Bill Eastman Designer
Halo.  It sure looks small on him though.  The ring around the head has
four sharpened titanium screws that are torqued into the skull to
immobilize the neck.  They usually use novocaine to aid this procedure. 
One time I got a call at night from a local hospital.  The doctor was
putting a halo on a patient and he found, after applying the head ring,
that we had forgotten to package part of the linkage the stabilizes the
neck.  I quickly drove out to the plant, picked up the missing parts, and
delivered them to the doctor.  During the 2 hours that this took, the
doctor and nurse were taking turns holding this guy's head still since,
once the halo is in place, there is not enough room to use other
stabilizing devices and he did not want to take the ring off and put
another one on.  After all, you can only force so many titanium screws into
one person's skull.

Regards,
Bill Eastman
61 MGA 

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