• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Request for information...

Share this page

Randy Forbes

Randy Forbes

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
I need a dimension from a front shock absorber.

If anyone has a loose shock laying around that could take a measurement for me, I'd sure appreciate it.

I need to know the space between the shock arms where the upper trunion attaches. See (crude) picture for detail.

Please be as accurate as possible as this is for a machining project.

Thanks for your help!

attachment.php


[ 11-08-2003: Message edited by: Randy Forbes ]</p>
 
Thanks Dave!

Now, how did I know it would be you to have the right information...?
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Dave Russell:
1.756"
D<hr></blockquote>

Hmmm ... I have two shock absorbers from my BJ7 sitting here and they measure 1.775" Not that surprising that there would be .020" difference but thought you would want to know Randy.

Cheers,
John
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by John Loftus:


Hmmm ... I have two shock absorbers from my BJ7 sitting here and they measure 1.775" Not that surprising that there would be .020" difference but thought you would want to know Randy.

Cheers,
John<hr></blockquote>

Thanks John.

Interesting to note.

Were the pinch bolts snug in both cases?

I'm in the "thinking about it" phase of turning out a couple of upper trunions with some "value added" functions.

Years ago, I used some UHMW with an off-center hole to get some negative camber.

No way to fine tune the bush as it was driven into place.
hammer.gif


Now with some machine tools in my garage, I plan to develop this a little further. The eccentric bush will be made from a bronze-alloy will a hex cut on the end to allow it to be rotated. The trunion will have a pair of pinch-bolts to secure the bush to the trunion at the desired setting.

As for the difference in shock arm spacing, the final cut on the bush would be after I measure the ones fitted to my own car. I just needed something to work with. As most of you know, I can't quite reach my car (1100 miles south of me).

Again, my thanks!
 
Randy,

The pinch bolts were tight. Not surprised to find a bit of manufacturing tolerance in the arms. These are new/rebuilt WW Auto shocks.

A pair of new rubber bushings measure 1.845 uncompressed. This would allow for .089" of compression on the stock bushings. I suppose that you could spread the arms at the pinch bolts a bit by using shims.

The rubber bushings allow for quite a bit of difference. As you say, final adjustment of length would need to be custom fit to your shocks.

You might find this interesting - check the section on "Front suspension, camber, tires. Chris Dimmock does a lot of serious racing.
https://www.myaustinhealey.com/Austin_Healey_technical_articles.html
D

[ 11-08-2003: Message edited by: Dave Russell ]</p>
 
Yes, interesting AND informative.

I had thought about the shock plate idea too (when I was doing the chassis restoration all those years ago...), but since the bolts are always loosening up on their own...

I was never aware of the different length shock arms, not sure that we'd find many Wolseleys (SP?) here anyway!

Likewise, glad to learn how he's taken the toe adjustment into consideration. I believe that my steering side rods are an aftermarket affair made up of rod ends and a threaded shaft. That's already to my advantage! I remember being disapointed at the time I got them for not being one piece like the originals.

I'll be sure to keep everyone here posted as the work takes shape.
 
Randy,
This sounds like a great project.How much adjustment potential is there in a eccentric bushing?
CDK
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by CDK:
Randy,
This sounds like a great project.How much adjustment potential is there in a eccentric bushing?
CDK<hr></blockquote>

No "numbers" yet, just working with a mock up. But, I was able to get "some" negative camber with my old UHMW bush.So there must be 2-3 degrees available.

With this current project, I plan on getting all my negative camber by increasing the offset of the kingpin in relation to the upper shock pin. The eccentric bush will just allow me to get both sides dialed in the same.

Just have to wait and see if it works or not...
 
Just a little progress report...

The upper trunions are as far along as I dare go without having a car here to match dimensions to.

Here's a look at the eccentric bushes that will fine tune the camber adjustment. Again, they're only as finished as I dare go before I get the car back...

attachment.php


The upper trunion needs a lot more work... Definitely going to put this baby on a diet!

attachment.php


And they come in UHMW too...

attachment.php


[ 11-16-2003: Message edited by: Randy Forbes ]</p>
 
Back
Top