How much do I raise my front shock towers.

[Charlie69]

I am lowering my 520 3".  2" is with bell tech lowering spindles and 1" with torsion bar drop.  How much would I need to raise my upper shock mount to keep using stock length shocks?  I am thinking 1".

 

I the future I will be be a total of 4" lower in the front if Mike Klotz is able to Z my ball joint lower control arms.  How much would I need to raise my upper shock mount to keep using stock length shocks?  I am thinking 3".

 

Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Laecaon]

I think nothing.

 

Effectively your at the 3" drop, you are only moving the control arm an equivalent of 1" , which really isnt enough to have a problem. Think of everyone who doesnt raise shock towers.

 

With the 4inch drop, you will be back to stock, as the knuckles and Z arms will set the bottom of the shock back to a stock point.

 

 

And really, 1" at the wheel is not 1" at the shock. Maybe 1/2"

[Charlie69]

Thank you for the information, I do appreciate it.

[wayno]

Charlie, I didn't put drop spindles on my 520 and I raised mine back up, it was too low and hitting on everything, I just used the drop arms that I made myself.

 

But I did use different shocks, so I made another shorter set, but before I welded them together I cut off the stock shock mounts.

 

I then used the sway bar mount holes to mount Datsun Roadster shocks which are stud/stud, so that means I do not have a sway bar right now, but I have noticed no leaning or other issues, but I do plan to make a mount that uses the 4 balljoint mount bolts for the sway bar eventually.

Here is the roadster shock mounted in the lower control arm.

Here is the lower control arm up as high as it will go, I have about a quarter inch left, it is resting on my bump stop.

Here is the upper control arm as high as it will go.

Here is the front height without drop spindles, it was too low, I had to raise it.

Every time I entered my driveway I drug the frame on the ground, and every time I went over the giant speed bumps on my road, when it went down the back side the front end would dive into the ground and hit the cross member under the oil pan, and it still does if I go to fast over them(over 20mph).

You should be fine with the drop spindles and the torsion bars, I am so low I had to remove the tension rods from the front and put them towards the back, they were hitting everything.

You will also have to deal with the back, I had to do a major frame notch in the rear, I used 4X4 leafs, used 520 front leaf mounts, and rear roadster leaf mounts.

520 front leaf mounts.

Roadster rear leaf mounts.

510 rear shock leaf mounts with different shocks that are eye/eye.

And I had to remove and put in a new driveline carrier cross member that doesn't hang down.

 

It's a lot of work getting low and safe, and doing all this I didn't have to touch the shock towers.

[datzenmike]

Which bottoms out first, the shock or the control arm. They have a rubber bump stop so I assume the control arm runs out of travel first. As Laecaon said the shock is in towards the fulcrum point so 2" of drop is much less at the shock... if half way back it's half the amount.

 

The problem, if there is one, is lack of compression travel when going over a bump at speed. If you have 1" of travel the shock and spring have no time to slow the crush weight of the truck as it comes down and it's left up to the front tires to absorb. They simply rebound like a rubber ball and the the ride is sharp and bouncy.

[Phixius]

Ive got 2" drop spindles on my 521 with xterra shocks.  didint have to raise my towers. Also removed all the bumpstop mounts. I dont bottom out the shock, the wheel/tire hits the inner fender if I go over a big dip or if I lower it more.  and on a kingpin truck we raised the tower 2" and you have the same results.