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84 d 150 , lowered , rear shocks?

68gtx

68gtx

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what are you guys doing for rear shocks?my truck was lowered before i bought it but the I'm pretty sure the stock rear shocks are still in it , and the angle on them is i would not say not very optimal.. has anyone moved the upper mount ? and what are you guys using for a smaller shock... i am possibly thinking of moving the upper mount point to outside the frame .
i am doing this because i am hoping to run a dual 3 inch exhaust down the passengers side of the truck and out the rear of the truck... inputs and ideas welcome..
 
I assume they did an axle flip to lower the rear ? I'm not so sure about moving the upper shock mounts to outside the frame . Maybe outward some from were they are if you do have an axle flip , but outside the frame ? I dunno .
 
Can you post a picture ? If the angle of the shocks is to bad , then you could even consider moving the lower location and weld a mounting point on your axle for your shock . Yes , both mufflers will have to be on the passenger side because of your gas tank . But even lowered , I would think that you'd have enough room for your tail pipes .
 
Ive run lowered Dakotas for years, the shock angle is always a lot but have never had any issues, even drag racing. I usually run air shocks that way if I carry a load and the axle gets to close to the frame with the load I can air em up.
 
JGC403 said:
Does it really matter? Unless you moved the bumpstops up, the suspension will still bottom out on the bumpstop before the shocks.

My truck an 85 D-150 is a stock height still and I'm running Bilsteins for a Ramcharger, in the rear
part #: 24-018296
https://www.amazon.com/Bilstein-24-018296-4600-Shock-Absorber/dp/compatibility-chart/B009FU4RRI
Click to expand...
You are correct, the stock shock is designed to travel from full suspension unload to bottomed out on the bump stop so yes, a stock shock will be fine. As I mentioned though, your axle is now a lot closer to the bump stop and if you have any load will be that much closer to bottoming out. Sounds like hes more concerned with the angle which again as I point out with Dakotas, has been no problem. But I must also mention to you 68gtx, the longer shock you have the better it will perform (except in remote reservoir shocks) because it has more fluid/gas to do its job and stay cool. So longer at a high angle or short with lees fluid/gas?
 
OK yea, If you lower it you can't change the distance between the axle and bump stop or the axle will hit the frame, only thing you can do is put air shocks on like you said or stiffer leaf springs to keep it from bottoming out.

The greater the angle the less effective the shock is. Lets say the wheel went over a 2" bump before it was lowered the shock may have compressed 1.5". Now with it lowered and the shock at a greater angle over the same 2" bump the shock my only compress 1". These numbers are arbitrary just trying to illustrate my point. At a certain angle the shock won't be able to control the spring.

But since you pointed out that lowered Dakotas shocks are at a large angle and you haven't had problems, the amount that it is lowered now he is probably fine.

Now if he wants to go and re-invent the wheel and redesign the entire shock setup. He could flip one shock to the front of the axle. With one shock in front and one in back of the axle it helps with wheel hop under braking and acceleration. When both shocks are on one side it only controls wheel hop under braking OR acceleration. I forget what side does what. I think if the shocks are on the back it helps under acceleration, if they are both on the front it only helps under braking, I could have that backwards. But if there is one on the front side and one on the back side it will help control both. The 2nd Gen Dodge trucks have the shocks setup like this.
 
And actually the D/W rear shock is a very good design for trucks from a geometry standpoint, the shocks are by design long and oriented outward help center the axle (when a pressurized shock). As you pointed out, drag racing is a different situation that could benefit from shocks mounted parallel to the frame.
 
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