I have a solid axle (79) that I want to run coil-overs. How do I do the calculations to figure out length of shock to purchase and what spring-rate for dual coils? Any on-line calcs that I have seen are for IFS or TTB. :cry

Glen, I think a lot depends on the length of your shock tower and where you're going to mount your shock at the axle. I'll be running a 16" king coilover (mounting in front of my ttb) and a 14" bypass on the rear of the ttb. But I've read a lot of people run 14" coil overs in general. I hope that helps.

Chris

There is a lot of information here, even some calculators.

Sway-A-Way Techroom (http://www.swayaway.com/TechRoom.php)

sweeet.....bookmarked

Good call excom!

Thanks Chris. Thanks ExCom for the link. I am gonna tube the front so I will be running hoops for the upper mounts. I am thinking of running coil-overs with remote res.

Have another question, are coilovers adjustable externally, or do they need to be benched to change rebound/compression? I am an ex-MX guy, just trying to learn how this sh** works. Thanks

Glen, I think a lot depends on the length of your shock tower and where you're going to mount your shock at the axle. I'll be running a 16" king coilover (mounting in front of my ttb) and a 14" bypass on the rear of the ttb. But I've read a lot of people run 14" coil overs in general. I hope that helps.

Chris

Why are you mounting the bypass behind the beam?

I have a solid axle (79) that I want to run coil-overs. How do I do the calculations to figure out length of shock to purchase and what spring-rate for dual coils? Any on-line calcs that I have seen are for IFS or TTB. :cry

I can't help you with spring rates, but for shock length I would start by figuring out what the fully compressed measurement is. Take the suspension to full compression and because this is a solid axle, full articulation. When you determine the minimum fully compressed measurement I would subtract another .5" minimum to 1.0" to compensate for chassis flex.

Hey Steve,

That's what my guy at Solo recommended. Would you suggest otherwise?

Chris

I'm assuming that like most trucks, your bypass will be doing most of the work. Putting it in front of the beam (and closest to the wheel) will put the shock in its fastest shaft-speed location and make it more effective. Moving a shock further from the wheel will require more effort from it to get the same job done. I hope that makes sense.

There have been plenty of trucks with the bypass behind the coil-over that work great, but it seems to be more of an old-school approach. I'm curious as to why Solo wanted to do it this way.

Thanks for the info Steve. Not sure. We are still in the planning phase so that may change. At this point, the truck is pretty much bare and the body is about to be removed from the frame to have the frame boxed. I'll let you guys know which route we take.

Chris