Rear shock location Nova Pro Street

[the deuce]

Hi Guys,
Im up to welding my custom (homemade) shock crossmember but having some issues, that I would like to hear your thoughts about.

I have lowered my Nova about 3 inches so it is getting tight between the rearend housing and shock crossmember at compression. This is why im planning to install the crossmember about 1 1/2 inches more to the back than just above the rearend housing. I have made spacers for the lower mounts to relocate the shocks back in the vehicle, and I just wanna make sure I dont do anything stupid here.

They shocks were too long so I had to fabricate extensions for the lower mounts, heres a pic so you will get the hang of what Im talking about:

https://picasaweb.google.com/1067971278 ... 2423242514

What do ya think guys, any warning bells here?

Thanks
Matt

[ytnova]

What is the stroke length on the shock? With the caltrac's, the suspension will seperate upon launch, I would shoot for about 1" of shock shaft visable at rest with weight in the car to start with, ex. if it has 5" of shock travel, and only 1" of shock shaft showing, that leaves you with 4" for the chassis to seperate upon launch. This may cause them to bottom out when you street drive it, but you WILL need the extension travel with caltracs at the strip. Also make sure you can adjust this if you need to, maybe one setting for street driving, closer to middle of the shock travel and another for the track that is more collasped leaving more extension available. I have a 5" stroke shock and I have to set them fully collapsed in order to have enough shock extension, ie. none or very little shock shaft showing. Most people run a longer stroke shock and physically mount the upper mount inside the car when the car is real low using a shock crossmember between the rear cage down legs which also doubles as a mount for a anti roll bar. Whatever mounting you devise, make sure they are very strong and have as little flex as possible, it will save you some head scratching later when you try and tune in the suspension. John Heard should have some pics of how he ran his through the floor and used some shifter boots around the shocks to keep the dirt, dust and smoke out.

[the deuce]

Thanks for you input Ytnova,
I have 6" of shock travel. I've fabricated two different mounting location in the shock crossmember so I can have the shocks almost straight up (just a few degrees tilted) for drag, or more tilted (about 15 degrees) for the street. The street setup also gives me more visible shock shaft and that will allow for more of compression.

I have also fabricated lower extension mounts that let me use, if removed the stock Calvert mounting shock tab, or in use, 1" or 2" lower mounting points. My goal is making this setup flexible so I can change it for both street & strip.

The main issue is the lack of clearance between the crossmember & the rearend housing. I only have about 2" of clearance here and Im worried about that when car is used on the street. Thats why I want to weld the crossmember about 1 1/2" back so it will clear the housing during hard compression. The lower spacers would bring the shocks back in the car the amount that I will need to clear the crossmember without getting any binding in the shock eyes.

I thought this would be easier than letting the shocks go trough the floor, maybe Im wrong.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1067971278 ... 9737479074

Thanks
Matt

[chpcamaro]

i completely agree with ytnova. one of the big problems i see with your shocks mounted the way you have them you never want anything hanging below the rim it is a major safety factor so i would go inside the car for safety reasons

[the deuce]

Thanks for your input guys!

I have reconsider this, and decided to raise the crossmember in the chassi instead of adding the lower shockmount extensions.

I will have to reconstruct a little more of the floorboard and make a "kickup" for the crossmember that will be welded in place around 1" above the framerails. I guess I can live with that :)

Thanks alot for your help!

Matt

[the deuce]

This is what I did;
Added plates on each side to the shock crossmember so I could raise it the amount needed, about an inch.

Welded tabs to the shock crossmember so I have 3 different settings for the shocks now. Two almost straight up (about 4 degrees tilted) and one that is about 15 degrees tilted. This will allow me to install the shocks for both street & strip. Street about 3" of shaft showing and strip, about 1-1 1/2" shaft showing.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1067971278 ... 5874959122

I havent weld the crossmember between the rails yet, so please chime in if you see any problem with this setup...

Thanks
Matt

[John_Heard]

I'll chime in, but you're not going to like this..

Ideally those shock mounts ought to be turned 90 degrees so that the bolt is parallel with the axle. There "might" be a potential to bind up when the rear end rotates at launch, which could cause problems. If you think they'll work with say about 6-10 degrees of movement without binding up then cool, but take a look at that.

[the deuce]

Thanks John,
I wish someone would have mentioned this before Ive done the welding :)


Anyway, I will check it out and probably reconstruct the tabs and turn them 90 deg. Problem is that it would be harder making everything adjustable with the tabs turned 90 degrees because the shock is thicker than the eye so it will be clearance issues here.

I guees I will work something out...

Thanks alot for the info John, appreciate it!!!

Matt