Rear Upper Shock/Damper Mounts >>Hey Norm<<

[Department Of Boost]

So I'm going through my 2007 front to back right now. It's pretty close to a chassis. I was looking at my shock mounts in the rear and they have two maybe urethane "bumpers" which sandwich the body/mount. They seem reasonably stout. But I just went full rod end on all the suspension stuff so it's a race car now. Fuck NVH, that is out the window.

I was thinking of making them out of delrin or something But then thought that they may need some articulation or I could run into side loading the shafts and wearing out the rods/bushings. Thoughts on that?

I guess I could use a couple of rose joints, make some receptacles, machine the shafts a bit and mount them "full race". But that is a lonng climb for a short slide. Anyone have thoughts on this.

Norm?

 

[csamsh]

How about something like what Terry and Jason did for my corvette? Aluminum mount with a spherical.

 

[El_Tortuga]

How about something like what Terry and Jason did for my corvette? Aluminum mount with a spherical.

You running without rear swaybar, or just caught here with your pants down so to speak with the link disconnected for more travel/easier install?

 

[csamsh]

Disconnected for install

 

[Department Of Boost]

How about something like what Terry and Jason did for my corvette? Aluminum mount with a spherical.

IDK why but I call those rose joints. Yeah, I was thinking I could do that. I really am making more work for myself though, LOL. The car is damn near down to the bare chassis right now and I have a to do list about 100mi long!!!

I wonder if it's really "worth" it. Especially considering my springs are not on the dampers. Then I would so it for sure.

Good lookin stuff, thanks for posting.

 

[Norm Peterson]

So I'm going through my 2007 front to back right now. It's pretty close to a chassis. I was looking at my shock mounts in the rear and they have two maybe urethane "bumpers" which sandwich the body/mount. They seem reasonably stout. But I just went full rod end on all the suspension stuff so it's a race car now. Fuck NVH, that is out the window.

I was thinking of making them out of delrin or something But then thought that they may need some articulation or I could run into side loading the shafts and wearing out the rods/bushings. Thoughts on that?

I guess I could use a couple of rose joints, make some receptacles, machine the shafts a bit and mount them "full race". But that is a lonng climb for a short slide. Anyone have thoughts on this.

Norm?

There definitely is a requirement for articulation even for a stick axle's shocks. If the shock is not mounted perfectly vertical, heave/squat/lift motions will vary its angle (think rear view). If it is perfectly vertical, then cornering roll will. Either way, pinion angle variation over changes in ride height will (side view).

It might actually be possible to use Delrin, but you'd at least want to machine the inside hole with enough taper to accommodate the shaft's articulation requirement, machine the outer faces of the Delrin somewhere near spherical, and use/make some sort of cup-contoured washers. Basically you're trying to cobble a crude spherical out of a split bushing. I actually did this for split-poly sta-bar endlink bushings for a GM intermediate sedan in order to stop breaking the link bolts, so it can be done.

For that much extra work, a rose joint approach like on Mark's car probably starts looking more attractive. But there I think I'd choose a large enough joint to allow fitting a cylindrical spacer between the joint and the shaft - the idea of weakening the shaft by machining it just doesn't set well.


Norm

 

[Department Of Boost]

There definitely is a requirement for articulation even for a stick axle's shocks. If the shock is not mounted perfectly vertical, heave/squat/lift motions will vary its angle (think rear view). If it is perfectly vertical, then cornering roll will. Either way, pinion angle variation over changes in ride height will (side view).

It might actually be possible to use Delrin, but you'd at least want to machine the inside hole with enough taper to accommodate the shaft's articulation requirement, machine the outer faces of the Delrin somewhere near spherical, and use/make some sort of cup-contoured washers. Basically you're trying to cobble a crude spherical out of a split bushing. I actually did this for split-poly sta-bar endlink bushings for a GM intermediate sedan in order to stop breaking the link bolts, so it can be done.

Pretty much what I figured. I thought I would run it past you though. You think through this stuff very well and also have the ability to articulate.

For that much extra work, a rose joint approach like on Mark's car probably starts looking more attractive. But there I think I'd choose a large enough joint to allow fitting a cylindrical spacer between the joint and the shaft - the idea of weakening the shaft by machining it just doesn't set well.


Norm

I agree, if I were to do something it would be like Mark's car. And yeah, cutting the shaft OD down doesn't sound like a good plan. That's easy enough to get around.

I really wonder if it's worth all the trouble on a damper that has no spring load though.............

 

[Norm Peterson]

Damper forces can get pretty high themselves, up there in the high speed regions.


Norm

 

[Department Of Boost]

Damper forces can get pretty high themselves, up there in the high speed regions.


Norm

Yes indeed they do.

I'll have to put some thought into if I want to tackle this. I have SO much to do. But this year is the "final build". I should do it.

 

[csamsh]

I really wonder if it's worth all the trouble on a damper that has no spring load though.............

Can't comment....I never had the cool joints with just shocks while still running leaf springs.

As to is it worth it...my personal experience is that I have never been disappointed in a bushing upgrade on a car, but I'm with you on being a bit skeptical regarding the cost/benefit ratio for the exact mount we're talking about.

I think there are a couple eye-eye kits out there, but they look like they'd eat up 2" of damper stroke, and you'd probably need a new shock.

 

[dontlifttoshift]

Not wasting even a few thousandths of movement in a rubber bushing is worth when running top notch dumpers.

Maximum Motorsports has spherical bearing mounts for the SN95 that I used on my S197.

You have to open the center hole up and drill four 3/8" holes to bolt them in. They have a 5/8" id in the bearing. You will need to make up spacers as needed to fit your shocks, etc.

 

[dontlifttoshift]

Regarding what Norm was saying about Delrin bushings. RideTech does just that for their stud mount applications.

The aluminum on the top and bottom acts as a race and the Delrin you see is actually two pieces that interlock and form a sphere. We have used these on a bunch of GM musclecars and MII retrofit applications without issue. They also engineer their control arms for those applications to ensure that the delrin bearing won't overtravel and bind, an option you really don't have.

In your situation, I would use the MM bearings.

 

[Department Of Boost]

Not wasting even a few thousandths of movement in a rubber bushing is worth when running top notch dumpers.

Maximum Motorsports has spherical bearing mounts for the SN95 that I used on my S197.

You have to open the center hole up and drill four 3/8" holes to bolt them in. They have a 5/8" id in the bearing. You will need to make up spacers as needed to fit your shocks, etc.

I'll do that, but make my own. Easy peasy. Thanks!!!!

 

[BlownSaleen]

Regarding what Norm was saying about Delrin bushings. RideTech does just that for their stud mount applications.

The aluminum on the top and bottom acts as a race and the Delrin you see is actually two pieces that interlock and form a sphere. We have used these on a bunch of GM musclecars and MII retrofit applications without issue. They also engineer their control arms for those applications to ensure that the delrin bearing won't overtravel and bind, an option you really don't have.

In your situation, I would use the MM bearings.

Did you use the Ridetech Coilovers with that spherical mount from MM?

 

[2Fass240us]

Why not switch to a spherical end on top of the shock shaft and use M-18197-A?

 

[BlownSaleen]

Why not switch to a spherical end on top of the shock shaft and use M-18197-A?

I would say that would work perfectly fine. The only down fall I see is that you would have to lay on the ground to make your rebound adjustments on those shocks as opposed to popping the trunk and doing it from there. You would also have to mount the shock upside down to access the adjustment knob easier then that would put your spanner nut in a bad location.

 

[dontlifttoshift]

Did you use the Ridetech Coilovers with that spherical mount from MM?

I used the MM bearing mounts with the JRi shocks that I had on the car. I machined up some hardware to make it work.