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Andy Blackley

Andy Blackley

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..about tube shock conversions. They're great!
I just installed the Ratco kit, the one using Monroe Sensortracs. Makes a big improvement in ride and handling. It also eliminated a clunk that had been getting worse lately. I found that one old shock link was completely shot on the right side, and on the driver side the shock was loose and rattling.
It installed in about an hour. I highly recommend it.
 
Was the improvement due to changing to tube shocks, or because you replaced the loosely mounted, old, worn shocks & links with new parts. How would new tube shocks compare to new original style shocks & links? Just curious.
D
 
Dave: The looseness was something that developed over the previous summer of daily driving on bad northern Ohio roads. I had done a lot of work on the back end last spring (repaired diff mounts, rebuilt axles, the usual) and had topped up the old shocks, replaced the rubber bushes where the links bolt to the swing arms, so it was all fairly tight at that point. I started to hear the rattling last September, but put the car away for the winter before doing anything about it.
My opinion is that the Monroes do dampen the bumps much better and improve the ride quality compared to how the car felt last year on lever shocks. This is the first time I had ever done the conversion on an LBC, and I have owned many. I was sceptical too.
The car seems to hold corners better and doesnt bottom against the rubber bump cones like before on tight hard turns over bad pavement. One of the bump cones, which I also replaced last year, under the shock arm was split. I don't need to worry about it anymore.
All of which may only prove that I am noticing an improvement, as you say, because every thing is new.
At any rate, at $160 the kit is almost half the cost of rebuilt lever shocks and new links. Saves weight too.
 
Hey Andy, any clearance problems? I've seen conversions where it's pretty tight between the shock and the stock tire. And some of us are using larger rubber...
 
Rusticus: None whatsoever. I am running 6 inch wide Dayton wire wheels with 195/65 Potenzas. My wheels do not have much camber, like some. Plenty of room.
The instructions recommend that negative camber of more than 2 degrees should be corrected first, and that there should be a minimum of 1/2 clearance from the tire to the bracket. I have over an inch, maybe two, both sides. The bracket has a slotted hole on the inner (upper) mounting hole to allow you to pivot the bracket in and out to obtain clearance.
 
I'm at Ratco almost every week, and watched Tony go through several prototypes of the shock conversion before he got it the way he wanted. Clearance was a big issue with him, as he has 205 tyres on his TR-250.
 
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