Well, any of you remember the dropped steering arm and panhard that I made last year? You know, the ones that were made from 1" mild steel tubing and failed miserably as soon as I took it on the road? Well, here's round two. Hopefully these will fare a little better.

http://pics.montypics.com/Greg_Davis/2003-04-29/1051627034_View_of_All_Three.jpg

http://pics.montypics.com/Greg_Davis/2003-04-29/1051627098_Drag_Link.jpg

In the first picture, you can see the tie rod just below the axle housing.

Tie rod and drag link are 1.25" solid SS bar, and the panhard is 1.5" solid SS bar.

The stabilizer was moved to the rear of the axle and sits between teh tie rod and axle housing, and is protected by the tie rod.

Some sleeves were machined for the p-hard. They go through the 3/4" heims, and the ID fits the stock bolts. Then there is another sleeve that slips over the first one, behind the heims, and keeps the heims forward in the mounting brackets. This allows me to run a straight p-hard without hitting the front of the diff. It's close (will clean mud off), but doesn't take off any paint.

Off topic, but what is your lower shock mounts? Standard Disco I?
What kind of truck is this?

Those are stock lower mounts. It's on a DII.

looks like you're running rancho's upside down... u have any issues with that?

i've heard several people say that's a bad idea considering the valve-mechanisms of the rancho's. just wondering.

/mike

There are no issues with running RS9000 upside down, unless you ahve run them right side up on the same truck before. they feel OK upside down, but put them right side up and they are much better.

Well, I called rancho about that and they said they can be run in either position. The DII has an eye mount up top and a cross bolt on the bottom for the front shocks. The Rancho's come with the cross bolt on the shaft end. Short of replacing the bushings, that's the way you have to run 'em.

Next time you call rancho, ask to talk to one of the shock engineers. they will tell you differently. Not to mention, that shocks are valved directionally. A shock is valved internally so that the shcok compresses in one direction, with x vavlving, and decompresses in the other direction with x vavlving. Thats why shocks have an XX/XX % ratio. Here is a pic of some FOX 2.0 valves. thre are little discs kinda like a washer, but in different outer diameters, and different thicknesses. You stack the valve discs according to the valving you want. So, if a shock is built to be body down, it should be run body down. You may not notice a huge difference, but it is there.

You cant argue with science/engineering/hydrodynamics. (or can you)

PS, ignore the spring and such on this shock it is not part of a normal shock. And all normal automotive shocks are built in some way shape or form in this manner with the valving and such!

here is an end shot of the valve discs. htese are the decompression valves. A combination of disc thickness and diameter, as well as the placement of the disc determine valving. The top and bottom valves are almost always different, except maybe in some ultra special application, where a shock was custom made for the end user.

Originally posted by Puffdragon
Next time you call rancho, ask to talk to one of the shock engineers. they will tell you differently. Not to mention, that shocks are valved directionally. A shock is valved internally so that the shcok compresses in one direction, with x vavlving, and decompresses in the other direction with x vavlving. Thats why shocks have an XX/XX % ratio. Here is a pic of some FOX 2.0 valves. thre are little discs kinda like a washer, but in different outer diameters, and different thicknesses. You stack the valve discs according to the valving you want. So, if a shock is built to be body down, it should be run body down. You may not notice a huge difference, but it is there.

You cant argue with science/engineering/hydrodynamics. (or can you)


KC,
You're right, but for the wrong reason. Your description of the valving and rebound vs compression is spot on. However, you seem to have missed one important engineering point (only mildly relevant in this case). Compression and rebound are the same to the shock whether it is right side up or upside down. Think about this for a second and you'll see what I mean. Squease the ends together and that's compression, pull them apart, and that's rebound. This concept does not care what direction, whether it's up, down, or sideways.

The key here is that these shocks have some gas inside of them that is compressed when the shock is compressed and the shaft goes into the body. This gas will naturally rise to the highest point in the shock. The ranchos are designed to run with that gas at the end of the body where the shaft enters. If you run the shock the other way, the gas interferes with the valving at the end of the shock. This can (and usually does) cause poor performance and early failure.

Ok?

-John

Originally posted by Rover Addiction



The key here is that these shocks have some gas inside of them that is compressed when the shock is compressed and the shaft goes into the body. This gas will naturally rise to the highest point in the shock. The ranchos are designed to run with that gas at the end of the body where the shaft enters. If you run the shock the other way, the gas interferes with the valving at the end of the shock. This can (and usually does) cause poor performance and early failure.

Ok?

-John

Your very right, I got a brain fart. But the description you gave is my normal description. I can tell you this, We got yelled at at 4 wheel parts for mounting any shock with the body up.

thanks, kc... thats a good description of what i was thinking.. and john you totally nailed why i couldn't see that it would really matter even though I had been hearing otherwise (the part about rebound and compression not having a clue which way was up) - BUT I had not really thought about the gas location and how that might interfere with normal valving...

that pretty much splains it for me.













oh yeah, nice steering arms greg! :flipoff2:

/mike

All well and good but there is no gas charge in Nacho 9000s

Ron

No, your right, they are not gas charged, but they are filled with a volume of air. All shocks have at least a small volume of air. When the shock is compressed, the shaft takes up volume, and as you decompress, the shaft leaves a void, that has to be filled with something. that something in a Rancho RS9000 is air. Some shocks even have bladers, or special foam that takes up the space, without causing major foaming of hte oil.