Squeaky Penguin's (Trip Reports) Build Thread

Steering rack due in tomorrow. Exhaust is tacked up and just needs a hanger.



And my shocks shipped. Going to try to wrap this thing up next weekend if everything goes well.

 

Next weekend....

 

Nice! lookin good.

 

May copy your shock mounting idea with notching the tube and welding directly to the frame...seems like it would be more solid that way with a piece of plate welded to the inside of the frame to weld the rest if yhe tube to that plate. Watching to see of the tube will clear the bed where its at. How vertical is that tube in comparison to your axle?

 

It's a little optimistic, but you never know.

Mine will be welded to the top of the frame and the frame boxing plates. FWIW, I ran my old setup with a small piece of plate welded to the inside of the frame for a couple years and it worked fine. Both would be best if you're not boxing the frame.

This picture shows where it is in relation to the axle:



It's only tacked on, may move it around depending on how the shocks end up.

 

I'm just thinking I might not be able to get the tube high enough to accomadate my 10" shocks i have. I'm just gonna have to measure didn't scenarios I auve in my head. But I really like your idea.

 

There's about an inch gap between the frame and the bed, so that crossmember is as high as you can get the mounts. Should fit....

Will hang the lower mounts as low as needed to keep the shocks how I want them.

 

Yea not like going a bit below the axle will cause that much harm.

With 10s vertical, you'll be at least 1-1.5'' below the axle would be my guess.

Are you going to go as wide as possible?

 

That's what I wanted to do from the start just couldnt think of the most effective way to get the tube that far up. That way I have a stationary upper and I can adjust the lower mounts as needed like you just stated. School has handed me no free time so I shall watch and wait for you to complete yours

 

Yes. As close to the frame as possible.

Rule 1 of shock mounting I should have learned the first time: get the upper mount as high as possible.

I spent a lot of time with no time and money in school as well. So I know how that goes.

 

Kiddin me? man i'd love to go back to college days. Plenty of time and money haha

 

Yeah plan to get this done as soon as school is done in 4 weeks.

Pfff not when you dont have any scholarships...my Dumbass didnt apply for any. Now I'm trying to get in a D1 school with none...

 

well who's fault is that??? haha

 

Not mine

 

I know we have spoke of this in another thread not too long ago:

How bad was your bouncing (front-rear) on concrete roads before you did recent work the the rear. Ever since I installed the swingout rear w/ the bigass tire hanging off the back, concrete roads are absolutely brutal. Asphalt roads are nice and smooth, but the cracks between each section of concrete cause my rig to harmonize forward-to-back and bounce around like a friggin jalopy - so much so that the cutoff line on my projectors becomes distracting at night. I'm assuming it's because all weight is on the absolute forward most and rear most positions of my rig (keep in mind I don't have anything in the bed 90% of the time). I think a simple solution would be to relocate my spare tire to the bed... but then that kind of defeats the purpose of the swingout in the first place. I was hoping that the frame plates would help a bit, but no such luck. Have any suggestions?

 

You need different valving on your shocks. Simple as that.


though i realize..that in itself isn't that simple haha

 

See you say that but I'm here with little money, 7 classes and zero real free time after volunteering. I started riding the motorcycle more than driving the truck because even gas is starting to kill me. Did you take like 3 classes or something

 

So does valving need to be changed in order to compensate for the rocking motion? Are we talking front and rear shocks, or focus on just the rear for the time being. I realize the ol OME shocks aren't the greatest, but I'm trying to work with what I've got for the time being until I have time/funds to actually do the rear proper... giggidy.

 

hell no. When i went to school in Wyo i never had less then 23.5 credit hours a semester. I would just go work on Frank at 8pm-2am when i could. Weekends too. Worked out for me..but i was used to class 5 days a week 8-4 and several small jobs. Plus lots of studio time and practicing trumpet 1-2 hours a day a least. I got paid to go to school though..scholarships man Going to college is practically what built Frankenstein hahaha

Well..can't change the valving on the OME shocks anyways. So not a lot you can do for the time being.

Could try and drive slower or faster to get the frequency of the bumps to hit at a different pace that the current shocks can cope with.

 

I'm aware of that - more so wondering if shifting weight around will help out?

Faster? I can't go faster. My rig doesn't go fast... let alone faster.

In all seriousness, I did try to change speeds while on the interstate yesterday. Faster seemed to help a little, but nothing significant. Speed is subjective, especially when I'm dogging up I-70.