Quote:
Originally Posted by robnolimit
OK, so , I didn't look back to see the comments around this quote, but yes. The more you drop the truck with springs (rear) or bags, the more the shock will lean over. Also, the shorter the shock, the worse it's performance levels (in general). that's why we set our relocation mounts behind the axle and outboard. There are plenty of charts that show the reduction in dampening force per degree, but as a rule, 20* angle loose about 13% dampening. Factor this in, with the leverage concept. The farther back the shock is on the trailing arm, the more leverage it has, and the less force it needs. So, a shock in front of the axle has less leverage, and needs more dampening force to do the same job as a shock behind the axle, that has more leverage and needs less dampening force. With this knowledge in hand, looking at a shock behind the axle, leaning at 20* or 25* makes a lot of sense.
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Ok, so keeping that in mind, this is a balancing act between two things:
- Having a more vertical angle which will result in less of a change in shock angle throughout the travel of the suspension, and thus less of a change in the dampening effect of the shock.
- Maintaining adequate stroke (longer shock, better performance)
At the same time, since the shock is located behind the axle with more leverage, less dampening is needed and therefore a shorter shock isn't necessarily a bad thing even though it would have poorer performance. Considering this, is a more vertically mounted shock acceptable in this configuration at the expense of some shock travel?
I've made an assumption here:
- An even dampening effect is desired throughout the entire suspension travel
If that's not the case, then an angled shock would be preferable *if* you want dampening to lessen as your suspension nears full compression. In addition, you could get creative by adjusting the shock angle to tune the dynamic dampening rate throughout your suspension travel.
I'm new to thinking about shocks, but hopefully the above makes some sense. Please do correct me! I'm planning to mount my shocks through the side of my frame rail, so I can really put them wherever I want, I just don't know where I want them yet
