Re: Shocks
Rich Atherton (gumby(at)connectexpress.com)
Wed, 1 Jul 1998 17:10:17 -0700
Yes. The shocks are the limiting component on suspension expansion, but the
bump stops on the cross member (frame rail in the rear) are the limiting fact
for compression. The shock must NEVER bottom before the compression of the bump
stop on the frame. Serious shock, and or suspension damage can easily ocure
when this happens. When the shock stop the suspension from expanding any
further, there is comparitively little stress on the shock, as long is it is not
too short. A shock that is too long, will not compress as much and will not
allow the bump stops to function correctly. The bump stops are rubber pands
afixed to the under side of the outer edge of the crossmember ( 20 year old
memory here), and are about 2 1/2" thick. Similar ones are on the bottom of the
frame rails directly over the axle housing.
If the shocks are bottoming before bump stops are being hit, a large bump in
the road could punch the shock through the top of the crossmember, or into the
trunk....Not a good thing...
Rich
-----Original Message-----
From: Jay Laifman <Jay_Laifman(at)countrywide.com>
To: alpines(at)autox.team.net <alpines(at)autox.team.net>
Date: Wednesday, July 01, 1998 4:40 PM
Subject: Shocks
>
>
>
>Does anyone know if, when the car is jacked up by the frame and the
>suspension is fully extented, the extension is stopped by the length of the
>shocks? That is, I mentioned that the rear shocks I have are shorter than
>the full extension of the suspension, so that when I jacked up the rear the
>other day, I noticed stress on the bottom mounting spot of the shocks. I
>had assumed that the stock shocks would not have caused this. But, someone
>just commented to me off the list that they thought the suspension will
>normally bottom out (or "top out" really) on the shocks. Anyone?
>