Replacing Rear Lever Shocks with Tube Shocks

[KVH]

It's not like me to do that, but after removing my lever shocks and seeing that the mounting holes on the rear differential bridge are stripped, I'm thinking seriously about the conversion.

What to people think about the conversion? Will the benefits outweigh the guilt?

I wouldn't mind putting the lever shocks back on and just using a nut and bolt arrangement on the bridge.

But I'd value the advice of others, including whether to bother retapping the differential bridge bolt holes, or to just insert a good fitting bolt and use lockwashers and a nut on the back side.

Thanks.

 

[hondo402000]

I would say you can retap the stripped holes with the next size up, you might have to also drill out the hole in the lever shock for the next size bolt, or use a longer bolt and put a nut on it, we will see what others have to say too, maybe some else has done that type of fix

Hondo

 

[boeingpilot]

I did the Moss Motors conversion on my TR4A a while back and have been quite happy with it. I've heard conflicting info on which method is best. Some say to avoid the mods that only attach to the original lever shock mounting points as it has been known to cause frame damage. Others say to avoid drilling into the sheet metal at all costs.

The Moss kit has brackets that mount to the lever shock mounting points and then bolt to another bracket mounted inside the boot. Everything lined up nice and square and I haven't had any problems in nearly 3 years of regular driving.

Let us know what you decide.

 

[davidk]

Check out the Rat-co shock in coil spring conversion. I'm considering doing this also. https://www.rat-co.com/coil%20overshconversKit.html

 

[tomshobby]

There are pros and cons to tube shocks and lever shocks. Something to consider is why were lever shocks used in the first place? Tube shocks did exist, they are on the front suspension. Seems to me that the engineers had a reason.

Another thing is this, will replacement parts be available for everything used in the conversion for the next 10, 20, or even 30 years?

I have seen some with tube shocks reversing and installing the lever shocks again.

As for myself the lever shocks do everything I require of them. And if I felt I needed a little more from them I would have the valves uprated.

But remember as always this is only my opinion and what I would do for my own reasons. It is in no way a judgment on anyone using tube shocks or am I trying to tell anyone what to do.

 

[DanB]

I re-drilled and tapped mine several years ago, and eventually that wore out too, so I went to a coil over conversion. I did not use the Ratco kit or Revington TR, but ideas from both and created a coil over replacement. So far it is doing fine, although I do want to get a different pair of shocks. Right now I have cheap Gabriel shocks in there, and they ride okay, but the travel of them isa little too much. Here is a British V8 thread on it.

Dan B
South Charleston, WV

 

[DNK]

Dan , think ht needs to be changed to a j peg

 

[justin_mercier]

I too am debating changing over to shock in coil (would go the ratco route) as I do my frame off restoration. Not only is it a much nicer conversion than the tube shocks hanging off the lever shock mount points, but it also tidys up the whole area under the car there, giving more room to work on stuff.

 

[hondo402000]

I would question why the bolts strip out, is it because they come loose and are not tightened up and eventually wear the threads out, I usually retorque my once a year, and when I had my shocks rebuilt I went with the up rated stiffer version and I like the way they feel.

Hondo

 

[DanB]

Hondo, I would guess that might be right, however I also don't think it should be necessary to go through all the bolts on the car every rear and check the torque. Locktite might help, but I am pretty sure I used loctite on mine when I did the redrill. You can look at the thread I linked above and see how it wallowed out the holes to oblong and finally broke off one of the mounting ears on the shock.

I liked the design of the Revington kit for the most part, as you can see our version is modified from that a little. The Ratco is also very good.

Don, I tried to paste that pic from the clipboard. Didn't work. It is on the BritishV8 thread linked above though.

Dan

 

[hondo402000]

I only check the shock mounting bolts. I noticed a clunk when I first purchased my TR6, and found that the shock bolts were loose, so I usually check them when I grease the wire wheel hubs, I didnt insinuate you retorque every bolt on the car but since the lever shocks during the movement try to twist the shock and since I have read of others having the same problem, I do it as preventive measure, hince my bolt are not stripped out either, elongating hole and broken ears would be a sign of loose bolts

Just my opinion

Hondo

 

[vettedog72]

I bought my conversion kit from somebody on this net; it works great, much better than the levers.

 

[hondo402000]

I liked the conversion kit, but after thinking about it, seems to me that when you bolt the bracket on to the existing mount that now you have added a large lever and even though the shock does move, I would think you are now really twisting that mount and can rip the mount from the frame eventually, unless you have the kit that attaches at the top of the bracked thru the body, I like the coil over version, Just a thought

Hondo

 

[TR6BILL]

Again

Super solid frame, BPNW mount, driven for 2 years with Spax shocks. There are many like this. Beware.

 

[DNK]

Ditto Bill
If your gonna do it. Do it right

 

[jimg]

Again

Super solid frame, BPNW mount, driven for 2 years with Spax shocks. There are many like this. Beware.

Ouch, not good. Any chance the shock bottomed hard ?
I have the same conversion & raced hard for two years & no sweat.
Jim G.

https://s698.photobucket.com/albums/vv341/TR4jim/?action=view&current=DSCN0759.jpg

 

[TR6BILL]

Hi Jim, and welcome to the forum.

Anything is possible. All I know is it happened, the car was certainly never raced like your TR4. IMHO, the frame was not designed for this type of torque. That said, the guy that did the welding on my car at the factory might have had a bad night before work the next day. But when I posted this on the net several years ago, I got responses from around the world, this pic even showed up on a British Triumph website. The fellas at BPNW, nice as they are, claimed they had never heard of this failure before this. Curious. The fix was a Ratco crossmember replacement.

With additional rearward brace. I certainly do not fault BPNW. I kinda felt uneasy when I originally installed the conversion. So really it is my fault, if you will. I did the conversion with my eyes wide shut. The new owner of my TR6 has had no issues with the fix for over a year now. Others have not had the problem but went ahead with a similar rearward brace, which I personally think is a good idea if you have this setup and want to insure it won't happen to you. My 2 cents.

 

[Leebo]

I did the Blind Moose brackets and am very happy with the performance. However, I did break the area around the lever arm shock mount (not as ugly as Bill's). Rather than go back to levers, I welded it back together and boxed the frame. That was 4 years ago and I've been trouble free ever since. My $.02 is that if your frame is weak/rusted back there it should probably be boxed regardless.

-Lee

 

[KVH]

OKAY, this is all really confusing. If I read the pictures correctly, the force of the tube shock brackets appears to have cracked at least one car frame--right along the rear differential bridge.

So, why wouldn't I just drill out the stripped holes for the lever shocks and put a lever shock right back in its place, but using a nut and bolt instead of the threaded bolt that came stock? I'm not sure there will be any further play or reason to suspect any future oblong wear.

 

[Brosky]

When you make this type of a change, there is more than just up and down motion to consider, hence the broken frames. The best fix is the most expensive, but BobbyD's bracket approach comes in a close second to avoid potential issues that seem to happen quite a bit.