Hi all! Can anyone help me clear up some confusion regarding shock absorbers on a 2” lift?
My Surf (’93 2nd Gen) had already been given a 2” suspension lift when I bought it. This seems to have been done with aftermarket coils and shocks at the rear, but just by winding up the original torsion bars at the front. It has never given me a problem before, but the original shocks have now worn out and need replacing. I looked at the Roughtrax website and found there was a choice – standard height or for a 2” lift – so naturally I ordered the latter. These, to be exact: http://www.roughtrax4x4.com/?doc=16&cid=997&vid=1621
When they arrived however, they are noticeably longer than the original shocks which are on the car now. In fact, when the new ones are fully compressed, they are just 7cm shorter than the old ones when they are fully extended.
When I phoned Roughtrax for confirmation, their suspension expert (Brian, I think) told me that this was because my car’s lift was done using the original torsion bars, not the aftermarket ones which form part of Roughtrax’s official lift kit: http://www.roughtrax4x4.com/?doc=16&cid=1145&vid=1163
I asked him what the difference was between the torsion bars and he told me that the aftermarket ones are “splined differently”.
Two things about this are confusing the hell out of me. Firstly, I’m sure the aftermarket bars ride better and are probably stronger than winding the originals right up, but in both cases the end result is that the wheel sits 2” further down away from the chassis, so I can’t see how using different bars to achieve the same lift can require different lengths of shock.
Secondly, the travel of the front suspension is limited top and bottom by bump stops on the chassis rail hitting on the underside of the top wishbone and the upper side of the bottom wishbone. So however the lift is achieved, unless the geometry of the suspension is changed (eg. by adding balljoint spacers), it must still sit within this range. The suspension is stiffer with the bars wound up, so the weight of the car pushes it down less far, hence the lift, but this is still within the range of the standard shocks. So I can’t understand how using either torsion bars to lift the suspension should require longer shocks.
I tried to put this to the guy from Roughtrax, but we kind of went around in circles of logic and missed points until it started to sound like I was trying to start an argument. There are only so many times you can repeat the same points before it starts to sound like you’re getting confrontational, and he was starting to sound annoyed. I wanted to keep on Roughtrax’s good side in case I need to exchange the shocks, so I backed down.
So am I completely missing something here or do Roughtrax not know what they are talking about? He did say that he’d sold hundreds of these shocks to people with 2” lifts and had no complaints, so I wondered if anyone here has used them? Any ideas or input would be highly appreciated!
My Surf (’93 2nd Gen) had already been given a 2” suspension lift when I bought it. This seems to have been done with aftermarket coils and shocks at the rear, but just by winding up the original torsion bars at the front. It has never given me a problem before, but the original shocks have now worn out and need replacing. I looked at the Roughtrax website and found there was a choice – standard height or for a 2” lift – so naturally I ordered the latter. These, to be exact: http://www.roughtrax4x4.com/?doc=16&cid=997&vid=1621
When they arrived however, they are noticeably longer than the original shocks which are on the car now. In fact, when the new ones are fully compressed, they are just 7cm shorter than the old ones when they are fully extended.
When I phoned Roughtrax for confirmation, their suspension expert (Brian, I think) told me that this was because my car’s lift was done using the original torsion bars, not the aftermarket ones which form part of Roughtrax’s official lift kit: http://www.roughtrax4x4.com/?doc=16&cid=1145&vid=1163
I asked him what the difference was between the torsion bars and he told me that the aftermarket ones are “splined differently”.
Two things about this are confusing the hell out of me. Firstly, I’m sure the aftermarket bars ride better and are probably stronger than winding the originals right up, but in both cases the end result is that the wheel sits 2” further down away from the chassis, so I can’t see how using different bars to achieve the same lift can require different lengths of shock.
Secondly, the travel of the front suspension is limited top and bottom by bump stops on the chassis rail hitting on the underside of the top wishbone and the upper side of the bottom wishbone. So however the lift is achieved, unless the geometry of the suspension is changed (eg. by adding balljoint spacers), it must still sit within this range. The suspension is stiffer with the bars wound up, so the weight of the car pushes it down less far, hence the lift, but this is still within the range of the standard shocks. So I can’t understand how using either torsion bars to lift the suspension should require longer shocks.
I tried to put this to the guy from Roughtrax, but we kind of went around in circles of logic and missed points until it started to sound like I was trying to start an argument. There are only so many times you can repeat the same points before it starts to sound like you’re getting confrontational, and he was starting to sound annoyed. I wanted to keep on Roughtrax’s good side in case I need to exchange the shocks, so I backed down.
So am I completely missing something here or do Roughtrax not know what they are talking about? He did say that he’d sold hundreds of these shocks to people with 2” lifts and had no complaints, so I wondered if anyone here has used them? Any ideas or input would be highly appreciated!
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