Thread: Great debate on shock travel

You shock length should suit the spring free length, thats about it. It's incorrect in my opinion to setup your shocks so that static ride height is at the midpoint of the shocks travel, but if you do get that, then fine. The amount of drop that you end up with will just be a function of the stiffness in the spring combined with the weight of the vehicle on it.

As to whether up is more important than down...

Im my opinion, for a tourer up travel is more important. For a rock crawler down travel is more important.

Hay Simon

Whats the free length its obviously when the spring is sitting on the ground correct

Sorry, thats the length of the spring with no load on it.

would matter if the front has less up travel then the rear and the rear has less down travel from the front ?

When I do this. The Land rover has touring weight including pasenger weight, fuel etc. Disconect shocks and use a tape. (Depends on what you want is the limit.) Run it up a ramp till weightless point. Measure eye to eye Or Eye to pin. This is an idea or a usefull stroke. HD springs can make it hard to set up. As they don't travel up well. Better to weigh each quarter and set correct Lb's in spring tension. If a longer shock is needed the top mount has to be moved up or it may bind. Use the tape and draw it out on paper to get it right. Depends on mods how far you go. Dislocation cones, Prop shafts, Links,etc.
If you want to go well off road you need down travel. There is nothing worse than shocks topping out. Yours looks flexy anyway from what I've seen.

Originally Posted by ROVERNIT

would matter if the front has less up travel then the rear and the rear has less down travel from the front ?

No thats not a problem in practise. Actually, it'll be normal as the disco2 is well balanced between front and rear with weight, but the front springs are a lot softer than whats on the rear. Even at factory ride height, the front only has about 2" or so of bump travel where the rear is easily double that. Where you might notice it is when you're into extreme crossups where an imbalance may produce some more sideangle. If you check out this pic that Ricey took of my car in some ruts, the fronts are 230lb/in and rears 300-340lb/in and the travel positions are different front to rear but the disco still sits flat. That the beauty of Disco2 suspension design - none of the classics do that, where most of their flex comes from the rear. The reality of suspension with radius arm suspension designs is that spring rates is only 1 factor in articulation, but when angles get towards the more extreme end of things its the suspension bushes at the axle that also make a significant contribution. In a D2, the front and rear axles have suspension that can work against each other and each can force the other end to flex, where having A-frames at one end which is bind free makes it hard to force the radius arm front end to flex. check it out in all of the D1/RRC/Def pics and compare them to D2 pics.