Need Help Destroyed another shock

[wmhjr]

Matt, I don't think the 1/4" o-ring is a bump stop. I considered it a travel measuring tool and nothing else. You can see how much compression you're getting based on how far up the 0-ring gets pushed up on the shaft.

But I'm still curious as to why there should be a difference front to rear. I have Varishock double adjustables and was also a little concerned about the shock having to support the full extended spring rate in the front since the shaft isn't quite long enough for the a-arms to be fully extended (ie, car on left with wheels at full droop). I asked, and got the question - "what do you think happens in the back?" which made me realize what was going on.

The only thing supporting my rear axle when the car is on the lift (or if a wheel comes off the ground while driving) is the rear shock. That's the normal mode in an a-body coil spring suspension. The spring rate is roughly 1/3 of the front spring rate, but the weight of the rear assembly, etc probably compensates quite a bit.

[Bow Tie 67]

I never considered the o-ring one either, but that is what CW called it.

As far as the rear / front shock supporting weight at full droop, its ok for the shock to do that you just dont want violent crashing events at either extreme.

[Vegas69]

The spring rate difference is a good point. I really don't think the rear sees full extension near as often either. It's not independent like the front. Bottom line, a bump stop should've been engineered into that frame.

[wmhjr]

Yeah, I'm not saying I know the answers here - just what I thought about myself and what I was told.

So far, I really like the quality and the performance of the Varishocks. I did find that there were some interesting parts of the install. However, I was concerned when I installed the front ones in particular because of how I needed about 10 hands to hold the coil maintaining the index, keep the shock centered, make sure that the shaft was going through the hole in the upper coil perch (which it wasn't directly aligned with) and the shaft was slightly too short, requiring the springs to be compressed a bit for the shaft to get through the hole. So, as soon as I installed the upper bushing and the washer/nut, obviously that was the component taking the stress of slightly compressing the coil when there was no weight on the front suspension.

I talked to Mark at SC&C and AC. Both said it was a non-issue and reminded me how the rear was that way no matter what. They said if I was running the car at the drags and the front end was coming up and down hard on a consistent basis, I'd need something to limit travel. I've only had the shocks on for about a month, but thus far (including extensive time on a 2 post lift where the suspension is at full droop) I've encountered no issues.

Just my 2 cents. Nothing more than that.

[Bow Tie 67]

Heidts challenge results

5th auto-cross
7th road course

5th over-all event

I'm going to say, I LOVE the new front shocks.

I have never been very good at the autocross, now the car transitions much better allowing me to learn to drive the car and not fight it.

On the road course she was very predictable and had no problem handling the large rumble strips when I was to wide or pinched a corner.

Street manners are vastly improved, the new shocks can be dialed down and give me a more sedate ride.

All in all I'm very happy and dont believe I need to worry about bump-stops. I have set the compression bumpers down on several occasions and only had them show contact once ( railroad tracks ) although I did not feel any harsh compression.



Plane and simple RideTech coil overs work!!!

[Vegas69]

Congrats, sir...