shock questions..........

what are the best shocks to run?? what is the best way to set them up?? there are sooo many articals on 4-links and airbags but nothing on shocks. any and all help would be great.

bump

If I remember right they should be behind your airbag point, as to not dampen before the bag does its job, and they should be as close to vertical to prevent premature wear.

^^^ It doesn't quite work like that. The bag doesn't know that the shock exists and the shock doesn't know that the bag exists. They should be viewed as two separate systems that just happen to affect the same motion simultaneously in different ways. One doesn't do its job before the other.

There are two many different variables to say that there is a

Yah Steve at RCD is awesome he is the one that helped me out with the shocks on my ford. I was very pleased.

max thanx alot, but could you gve me more details on the third paragraph

I'm not sure what you want me to elaborate on.

do you set it up at ride height or laid out? how do you know when you need to run a stiffer shock or not? how do you figure out the valving

I set it up through the whole travel. You can't just address it only at 1/2" travel and hope for the best. It's a bitch at first, but it does get easier.

If the shock can't be run ate 75% of travel or more, I will opt for a stiffer shock. And as a side note, Slam bags also use a stiffer rebound valve becasue of their notoriously high spring rate.

I don't figure out the valving. I call Steve Duck and tell him what I'm doing and if I think it needs a stiffer or softer shock.

All in all, it comes down to experience. As a newby, you will have a tough time determining if the suspension is too stiff or too soft. Also big wheels play a major part in shock valving because of "unsprung" weight (not gonna get into that now.)