Nathan's Long Travel Build

3/16" should be plenty strong. it's more about creating a bigger pad then just the axle itself as in reality when hitting the bumps it won't hit the exact same location every time

 

So... in all my wisdom and precision measuring, something went horribly wrong.
The top rail of the bedcage is 2.5" to high somehow. As in, at full bump, there will be 3" of shaft sticking out the bottom of the shock.
Theres 3 options I can think of.
1. I somehow mount the top of the shock lower than the rail, which might look funny.
2. I move the lower shock mount up on the axle.
3. I cut apart the whole bedcage and re-do it.

I'm leaning toward 2 or 3. 3 would be a ton of work, but probably the best in the end, but 2 wouldn't hurt and would be way easier.

bedcage


lower shock mount


opinions?

 

Running a 16" shock right?

Well I'm more on the side of doing things the right way, instead of just patch jobbing it.

What's your shock angle at? And how far off the back of the axle are they mounted? You went with leaning them towards the right IIRC.

Did you measure the compressed & extended length of your shock prior?

 

he's running a 18in. i was confused at first but i think he did it right? i mean im at about 16.5 travel and im using only a little over 14.5 inches of my shock.

 

so your using 18s... did you see if at full droop if your shocks are all the way extended?

 

I wont be able to reach full droop. My shocks are angled 9* back off vertical, so its close to 1:1. Ish. I'm probably going to move my lower shock mounts up on the axle, because changing the bedcage would be a nightmare. And I'm running out of time.

 

-How far off the axle are your shocks & direction?

-At What angle are they mounted & direction?

- What's your distance from frame to axle @ ride height, bump and droop?

Just ttrying to draw a basic picture of your setup

 

I'm not at my truck now now but ill do the best i can.
2.5" off the rear of the axle
Shocks are angled 9* back
Axle is 5-6" off the frame at full bump (i think)
I'll be strapped 17" down from that

Ill get more accurate details in a bit.

 

9 degrees back at which position?

Also,

What's your shocks extended length at droop and the compressed length at bump?

Apologize for all the questions just tying to get a clear picture.

 

Hard to tell on my phone but does the cage sit higher than the bed? If so why not just cut 2.5" off all your vertical supports and drop the top bar down so its level with the bed. It probably sounds alot easier than it is, I know nothing about fab

 

No I think his problem is he still has 3" shaft length left once sitting on the bumps, that's my understanding anyways.

 

Give me 45 mins and ill do some measuring

 

Yeah so if he drops the top bar 2.5-3" it would bring the top shock mount lower by that much...right?

 

Yes. it would transfer it to the droop tho. Which is more of a bandaid solution IMO. Theoretically it'll work yes.

 

He has smoothies but I agree you want the shocks to be at or very close to full compression. But one thing to watch out for, I have 18" shocks too, if you leave too much droop on your shocks it is a PITA to get them bolted back in when they are full of nitrogen

 

I have smoothies but plan to get bypasses eventually.
The problem is that the extra 3 ish inches of shock should be used as droop.
If i installed it the way it is now i would have 14" of travel, not 17", because my shock would be fully extended at 14" droop.

 

I want 1/2" sticking out at bump and 1/2" still left at droop so that my shock will never fully extend or compress. So that it doesnt break