Thread: What length front and rear shock

im no guru on suspension slunnie,uninformed,bennyIIa,rick130 are the guys in the know but i think 80 series front shocks give an extra 2" travel so whatever that lenght is cross reference that over to the shock of your choice....as for rear i personally would go something with no less than 10" stroke if you have aftermarket components to allow more flex i would aim towards something with at least 12" as a minimum....then theres retaining,dislocation etc etc i am currently running 15.5" stroke front and rear but i extended the mounts up front and made adjustable rear mounts but as for front i would like to re-position the shock outside the spring... having said that i would prefer to run coils overs instead.

Can you confirm that the shocks are 15.5" stroke? That's a lot on the front without extending the turrets a fair way!

Most rovers will cycle 10" shocks up front and 12" out back with minimal mods.

Originally Posted by Grimace

Can you confirm that the shocks are 15.5" stroke? That's a lot on the front without extending the turrets a fair way!

Most rovers will cycle 10" shocks up front and 12" out back with minimal mods.

Hey grimace
They are the largest adjustable ranchos available I extended the front turrets about 6" they max out just as the spring leaves its perch...I only got these for a make do thing until I get funds and time for coilovers..

Cheers for that c.h.i.e.f. I am running 2" extended rear trailing arms withmrose joints and custom A-frame set up on the rear. I do have a set of 2" extended HD shock turrets available in the shed but currently running the standard length.
I also have a set of 2" extended front radius arms using jonny box mounts instead of the rear bush which allow for more articulation. And rear dislocation cones and adjustable rear eye to eye mounts.

15.5 sounds rather reasonable and I should be able to get fox remote res shocks for the front of a GQ to fit on all four corners.

Ill give it a go and post what happens

I am very interested in seeing your plans!!! I noticed you live close to myself I wouldn't mind to meet up one day just to have a squiz at your setup if that don't bother you??
I am currently in the process of trying to figure out what to do with the rear end of my 110..when you made reference to 2" extended trailing arms are you just reffering to trailing arms to accommodate a 2" lift (cranked) or are they actually 2" longer ? Personally I would like to run longer rear arms or a triangulated rear and front (much discussion on this guys that know are uninformed and bush65) but doing this would mean cutting chassis etc etc
I was considering going rose jointed trailing arms but then it won't be road legal I have been investigating Johnny joints which should be ok but my greatest concern is being legal and not dangerous to others...

Any pics of your rear end would be great ...

Unless someone has fitted them there are a lot of variables.

If you have the data on your current springs and shocks, you can probably calculate the shock length for the new springs by comparing spring free lengths and adjusting the shock open length by the difference if that makes sense. The arcs of the suspension are a variable, but I wouldn't get too excited about that and I'd aim to keep the spring captive by about 10-15mm or similar unless you plan on retaining. This keeps the spring in and unloads most of the energy out of the spring when full travel is reached to help preserve the shock. The closed length will be determined by the shock design and some are better at this than others. If you were looking at remote canisters then these are about as good as it gets when comparing open lengths to travel.

When you've done this you will need to compare the closed length of the new shocks to that of standard shocks and extend the bumpstops by the difference - this is to prevent damage from bottoming the shock.

If you plan on altering the shock turrets to suit and maintaining the bumpstops then you would use shocks that travel by the same amount or more than what the spring will allow the suspension to travel assuming that you can contact the bumptop (NB, you probably cant replicate full compression statically) and then extend the turret so that it again keeps the spring captive by about 10-15mm - you will also need to know the base measurements of your suspension to calculate this.

what slunnie said
i done the last option but without calculations i potted it almost on the mark on the front which will be fine for now...as slunnie and myself have discussed before about dislocation or retaining i am considering dislocating the rear and retaining the front there are some reasons 1.as previously mentioned shock is inside spring which makes mods a tad more difficult 2.retaining in my opinion will give a better feel and more controllable along with preserving shock life......there will be no point in me going coilovers without re-designing everything to accommodate the flex mainly the front end for that matter...once i get to this stage i think it will be safer and easier to just go stupid and make it a strictly offroad vehicle...

sorry if this has gone off track a tad but this section needs some more discussion

I forgot to mention the obvious.

If you cant calculate these for whatever reason (eg lack of data), then install the springs, lift the vehicle on the springs until the springs are only just compressed by 10-15mm and take a measurement. All manufacturers take the measurement from the centre of the eye, but this varies for the pins - check with the manufacturer of your choice there.