Raising the rear shock mount?

68L71

68L71

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May 13, 2008
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My diff is raised ~ ½" and the car is lowered. When sitting at ride height the shock is well compressed. In the VIP papers Greenwood shows raising the rear shock mount. Has anyone done this by the method outlined in the VIP papers? How would I go making the clearance in the frame as shown?

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If raising it 1 inch is enough I don't see why it shouldn't work. I suppose you could use a small mallet and a longish steel dowel to indent the frame slightly for the addtional clearnace.
 
daveL82 said:
If raising it 1 inch is enough I don't see why it shouldn't work. I suppose you could use a small mallet and a longish steel dowel to indent the frame slightly for the addtional clearnace.
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Yeh, use the carb adjusting tool...BFH.....:pprrtt::shocking::gurney:
 
mrvette so how do you propose he get the addtional clearance inside the shock mount? I'm sure you have a solution based on you car projects? Did you review the attached image?

The frame can be slightly indented in that area but you'll need something than will allow you to do it from under the car and beyond the suspension that would be in the way. Other than taking a hole saw and trying to drill a hole inside the shock mount that's the only solution I see. It's mild steel and an small area
 
Nothing a wide chisel can't fix, work it more in the center to contour the area. All you need to do is clearance it so the shock eye won't rub.

Josh, are you sure you need this mod? it's only needed if you are bottoming out the shocks. Do you still have the bump stops in place? Are they cut down? Did you test how much the shock compresses by pulling a zip tie tight around the shaft and checking how far up it ends up?
 
A wide chisel in an air hammer is what I was thinking but thought I would ask incase there was a better way.

I am not 100% sure I need to do this and if it is not needed I sure do not want to mess with it. Thanks for the tip with the zip tie. I did unhook the spring and move the arm up as far as it will go and the shock is fully compressed at the same point the bump stop is compressed 3/4". I was thinking of cutting my bump stop down because at rest the arm is <1.5" from the bump stop. I set my ride height at the point where the shafts very slightly slope down away from the diff. What do you think, seems like it would be good to cut the bump stop down some. I could then recheck everything to see if I need to raise the shock mount.
 
The bump stop is the last thing keeping your shock from bottoming out, most don't have a bump rubber inside (the konis do!). Are you constantly riding the bump rubbers? They are nothing more than a sort of progressive rate spring due to their design (thinning out and sort of bell shaped)
 
Twin_Turbo said:
The bump stop is the last thing keeping your shock from bottoming out, most don't have a bump rubber inside (the konis do!). Are you constantly riding the bump rubbers? They are nothing more than a sort of progressive rate spring due to their design (thinning out and sort of bell shaped)
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I haven't driven it much with the current 360 lb spring. With less than 1.5" of travel I would think it would hit often enough. I didn't know koni's had rubber bumps inside…I have bilstein's.

If I cut down the stop, I assume I should cut it as to maintain the same shape? If I do need to raise the mount I might do as Howard suggests and relocate the mount.
 
If you cut the bottom part of, the thinnest part, you loose the softest part of the bump stop. So, then when it hits the bumper will be a lot harder to compress.c I would keep it the same width, just cut down if needed. That way you will never hit the frame itself.
 
Twin_Turbo said:
If you cut the bottom part of, the thinnest part, you loose the softest part of the bump stop. So, then when it hits the bumper will be a lot harder to compress.c I would keep it the same width, just cut down if needed. That way you will never hit the frame itself.
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So turn it into a trapezoid?
 
I have a 360 VBP spring in my '72, street driven quickly for some 15 years, it's taken some shots in that time period.....

I know from the frame measurements to pavement, that it's at stock ride height in spite of the 460 springs in the front....makes me wonder if they are seated right, but too much going on to be concerned now.....

I have had KYBs on there, now Bilsteins.....and stock rubber bumpers, I really need them badly as my tires on full upstroke will compress the bumpers a good bit and have maybe 3/8 inch to the fender....oops....so YMMV with shaving them to a trap shape....I would not....

I don't think much of cutting out the frame bottom Murphy and his laws...probably have to reinforce something, weld bottom seam at least in that area, maybe....:crap::beer:
 
I tried to get a picture of the shock travel I have in the rear. I will have to drive it more to see how far up the zip tie goes.

2404a3aa300175e3.jpg
 
Looks like you need either shorter shocks or move the mount. Might want to take the shock off and completely collapse it, see how far it will go and determine how much travel you have left between fully collapsed and where that zip tie is now. I'm guessing not much. The std. bump stop is pretty soft initially, the thin flap will not hold much. You might bottom the shock out on heavy bumps. She does look good though, especially without those center caps.

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Twin_Turbo said:
Looks like you need either shorter shocks or move the mount. Might want to take the shock off and completely collapse it, see how far it will go and determine how much travel you have left between fully collapsed and where that zip tie is now. I'm guessing not much. The std. bump stop is pretty soft initially, the thin flap will not hold much. You might bottom the shock out on heavy bumps.
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There is a little but not much more travel in the shock beyond the zip tie…I checked when I had them off the car.

What thin flap do you mean the mount for the bump stop or the part where it hits the t-arm? I should be able to modify the bump stop to get a little more travel without cutting the rubber; I will have to look at it again.

Twin_Turbo said:
She does look good though, especially without those center caps.
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I am not sure what it is but I like it better with the caps off too.
 
I mean the tip of the bumpstop, it's pretty thin on the bottom end. It folds over when it hits the arm. The thicker part is where it really starts to become effective like a progressive rate spring.
 
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