front shocks info wtd plse,shortened strut housings?

[joelbrown]

ive lowered my ute recently, got the original front springs compressed , they are too soft and bottom out too easily now tho so am nt guna run with them any more. i dnt wana go dwn the whole cert route so am stickn with non adjustable. im currently gttn sum custom coils made up at chamberlains that will b much harder and will b no gd with the existing shock. now i am havn trouble gttn info on the best shock setup to run with these heavier coils. any 1 out there in the no? cheers. Any info on a shortenened strut off the shelf to fit 1200 ute wud b much appreciated

[beaver]

You may have to shorten the strut tube and run a shorter bodied shock so that you keep decent travel. Or you could just get the original shock absorber insert shortened (places like autolign will do it, the just machine the insert rod down and rethread) to keep the new spring captive

[joelbrown]

im up with the play on gttn the rod shortened to keep the spring captive so it doesnt all droop loose when jacked up, but am not so familiar with shortening strut housing etc, like u cud carefully cut off n lower the spring seat n reattach but unless u cut dwn the top of the strut tube to increase travel there is not much point in moving spring seat (perch). but ive never really heard of cutting dwn strut tube, also wudnt it be pretty hard to find a short insert to fit?

[classicdat]

Are you currently running inserts or is the strut std? If it is std the solution is pretty straight forward. Do you have disc front brakes, if not maybe you could look at replacing the whole strut when you do this mod, not too difficult. Post up more info on what you have got, there are plenty of guys on here with knowledge in this area to advise.

[joelbrown]

Im runnining all original gear, its a disc brake front, untouched shock

[joelbrown]

i was jst lookn thru net, found a guy with a 1200 coupe who had the top end of strut housing shortened and fitted with VW golf kyb inserts. hmm. i may head dwn to autolign with my struts and run this by them. a place called total performance in lower hutt did the coupe ones

[classicdat]

I don't think that will be needed, if you are only dropping it a bit and not needing Cert the strut should be OK I think, although others know more than I do about lowering it. All you should need to do is change the oil in the struts and fit a spacer to shorten the drop. I'd be keen to help in a week or two. Easy and inexpensive.

[joelbrown]

Im droppn 3"ish outa the front, it only leaves bout 25mm of travel at that. The springs im gttn made are guna be 200 pound. I had a look underneath with the front reassembled without the springs and ground clearance was around 115mm at the rails, plenty. So on monday or tuesday im guna chk out gttn the top of the shock shortened a little bit to give me a bit more travel than jst 25mm with my 5mm (if that) chopped down bump stop. At the rear iv got 2" blocks and reset leaves which has taken it dwn nearly 4" , its still got 110mm ground clearance at the rear and 2" travel, bump stops have been cut dwn to jst above the top of u-bolt

[joelbrown]

What do u mean about fitting a spacer?

[classicdat]

The spacer fits on the shock shaft and prevents it returning to full droop, keeping the spring captive. If you shorten your shock shaft then you should be sweet for travel.