Manky's Pop.

[spanners]

andy,,,
i,d be tempted to take a bit of the underside of the mount aswell because it must be close on the spring collar when all is assembled , and below the mounting bolt isn,t really adding to the strenght .

[Manky Monkey]

Already on my jobs list for tomorrow Mike. 

[cunningplan]

Again my personal opinion, you have the bolts going in the wrong direction. If it was me I would take the spring off, bolt the shock in place and watch the movement on the bushes when you lift the axle up and down. You really need the bolts going in the same direction as the one on the bottom link.
Question, when you see a old bike with twin shocks? do you see the bolts in the shocks going in from the side or front to back?? Easy answer, from the side so it rotates in the bush and not put sideways movement on the top and bottom eyes.

[kapri]

To be honest Tony, in my personal experience ,it doesn't really make that much difference as if mounted the other way then all cornering loads are passed to the shocker mount whereas now they have all suspension movement, one sort of balances the other . If it were urethane bushed the problem gets far worse and rose joints are the real answer to provide free movement all round.

Biggest trouble is that coil overs are really for race applications and for road use should have bigger more compliant bushings.

[cunningplan]

What about making the top mount wider and put a small spacer each side so its not pinched tight?

[kapri]

It would certainly help the shocker with more give.

[phunkie hiboy]

What about making the top mount wider and put a small spacer each side so its not pinched tight?

Something I said a couple of nights ago. This also needs to be done to the lower mount as well.

[Manky Monkey]

The sleeves in the new bushes are slightly longer than the rubbers, as they should be, & move freely now. I'll check the other side when I take it off & replace them in necessary, but suspect these ones were damaged when the shock popped.
Mr Newbie dropped by the workshop this afternoon, so got roped into helping -well, you will keep coming back Dave! I'm quite happy tinkering with vehicles on my own, but as soon as someone of a more engineering background is watching, I start questioning my own every move -should the bolt go in from this side, or that side? Should I grease this? Should I adjust that before or after fitting? I'm not really that stoopid Dave, just always eager to learn from those who know so much more than me.
Repainted spring refitted & wound up to the same tension as the other one. Took a bit of wiggling to get the top bolt to line up with the holes, but it's in now & the shock has plenty of room to pivot.
When we built the Pop we made up an inch long spacer for the bottom of each shock, between the bottom eyelet & the mounting bracket on the axle, to keep the shock body clear of the axle tube. However, when we fitted the shock to the top mount today & let it hang where it was happy, it was clear we only needed a half inch spacer. Loony's Dad has a lathe in the workshop, but Mr L was busy painting a car & his compressor uses the same 3 phase power supply. No problem. I jumped in my car & nipped over to Wiltshire to see my brother, Brock. In not a lot of time at all he'd whipped up 2 new half inch wide stainless steel spacers. Thank you!
So tomorrow I can finish fitting this side, then modify the other top mount the same. This is the main reason for running the truck in bare metal for now, rather than painting & plating everything straight away. There were bound to be teething troubles but we can repair & improve without ruining the finish.
 

[Olds]

I only popped in for a coffee !
Andy, I think the bottom bolts should be the other way around to reduce shear and bending stress on the threaded portion.
 Once you are fully happy with the way the shocks are aligned, I would suggest making the bottom spacers out of mild steel and welding them in place. This would give the bolt shank more support.
 

[triker_Chewie]

all 4 link kits that are sold locally to me have the shocks set the same as Andys

[kapri]

all 4 link kits that are sold locally to me have the shocks set the same as Andys

Doesn't make them right ,just copycats lol   There are some seriously iffy front suspension designs out there sold by big names in the States as well.

[morrag]

I think you are all missing the point here! The spring/damper suspension unit is not there to provide structural integrity, but to....the clue's in the name,provide springing and rebound damping!!The four or five bar link, Watts linkage, torque tube,or whatever, are what provides the structural strength of the units layout, and should be designed to positively locate, in this case, the rear axle, with as little angular stress on the Spring/damper as possible. So there you go, provided there is no mechanical "fouling" of the suspension eyes, it should matter little what attitude they are mounted in, which is why the bottom "eye" is unshrouded or boxed in,.................... , honest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Manky Monkey]

So that's good then isn't it? -we've got it right?
If I were at the workshop full time & all the parts were to hand, this would be sorted in a day. I'm only there for a couple of hours after work though & not every day as sometimes Marcus has other things to do, sometimes I do. I spent my day off getting the shock rebuilt in Essex, an evening getting the bottom spacers re-made at Brock's workshop in Wiltshire, part of an afternoon at Old Newbie's garage getting them redrilled, (bored to 12mm. Should've been half inch). Now the bottom bolts are too long because we're using smaller spacers & I can't get any new ones till Tuesday cos it's a bank holiday tomorrow. I still need to re-make a brake pipe & re-bleed the brakes too, before Saturday when I'm booked in at a local car show. Progress is frustratingly slow, but getting there.

[morrag]

Being on Hols. full time,these days,I forgot that not everyone was!! it's a tough old world Mr. M, but some of you have to pay taxes to ensure I can live in the manner I have become accustomed too! , but, with a bit of good fortune, your turn will come, I'm sure...........................now what's on the agenda in the workshop tomorrer!! hang on its a Bank Holiday anyway, now I feel cheated .................ho,hum

[Manky Monkey]

I spent all of Friday convinced it was Thursday. Felt quite upset when I was told. So I feel like I've lost a day somewhere this week.
Been to a local steam/country show today. I've been scouring the 'net for a show to go to tomorrow, but can't find anything.
If not, I'll be at the workshop, jacking up the other side of the Pop & remodelling the top mount, though I really wanted to get one side back together before I started the other.