OSM Garage Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Hey all Just wondering if this is possible/legal/safe Spied these on trademe My question is would it be possible/legal/safe to have these replace my rear shocks? Next question if the above questions answer is yes, is would the angle of my original shocks make this sort of setup redundant? (See terrible pic) The big issue that I can see is the way these bolt up to my diff. Instead of the shock fitting in between mounting brackets, it sits on a stud that comes off the diff. Same mounting issue to the chassis Vehicle is a 1983 Sigma Station Wagon. Chur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemi Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 not sure about the angle , wouldnt recommend it thought . buut as soon as you add adjustability its a cert . i personally wouldnt if the shock and spring were not designed for it , because thats a pretty extreme angle for the thing that is holding the vehicle up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowzer Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Have thought about this for my own car. For one the shock mounting points are not designed to take the weight of the car on it Also, the mounting points are usually closer to the center of the vehicle than the factory springs. This would make the back end less stable, I think. Pivot points and all that. This is just theory, I haven't looked into it properly yet but they are the things that spring to mind that could cause issues. Best bet would to make them fit where the factory springs are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSM Garage Posted July 22, 2010 Author Share Posted July 22, 2010 For one the shock mounting points are not designed to take the weight of the car on it Yeah, thats what i thought. The bolts would break off in no time I guess. Probably suited more for a parallel setup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Yes it's possible and yes it needs a cert and yes your car will be jacked as at the rear unless you pretty much cut those springs in half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSM Garage Posted July 22, 2010 Author Share Posted July 22, 2010 335mm fully extended Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 I can't comment on Cert issues but race guys put coil over shocks onto leaf spring rear ends all the time. The shock mounts and bolts are normally well strong enough. There is no issue with the shocks and coil overs being on an angle but it does change the gearing of the spring/shock combination Having said that they guys I see probably have 100-200lbs springs over their shocks, rather than the full rear loading as the leaf is still needed to locate the diff. Shock mounts are normally pretty bloody strong though, but I don't know Sigmas. The springs in the photo look way too strong for a coil over in a addition to factory springs. What poundage are they? What are you hoping to achieve by adding to the existing rear end? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelies Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 175 lb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSM Garage Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 What are you hoping to achieve by adding to the existing rear end? I just saw them and thought "I wonder...." My only issue is where it would mount on the diff. The rear suspension setup as similar to this pic. That bolt will be taking the full load of the car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowzer Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Yeah, looks a little dodge. I wouldn't be trusting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike-e Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 ^agree/do not want. wouldn't trust that one high tensile bolt for load of car/shock loading of suspension since its likely to shear/bend with that setup. Would trust if you welded a plate with a hole in it to support both sides of the shock bushing. But looking at that by the time to space the suspension out far enough for the spring seats to clear the diff housing (assuming your not having it mega jacked) your going to be loading up some strange forces onto the axle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikuni Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 I would trust the bottom mount more than the top myself. I've broken a top mount on my Chevette before, just from having stiffer shocks in there, it wasn't holding the weight of the car at all. I imagine another main reason for you looking at this option is to lower it more? Chevettes are setup like this from the factory and the lower you go, the less the shock actually does. You can probably visualise it, as the diff comes up closer to the body of the car, the shocks level out, to the point where they are just wobbling around and not actually doing anything. The first thing you do on a Chevette if you want to get it handling better is upright the rear shocks. We're lucky because in sedans they are already upright so you can just cut the turrets out and run them in the hatches and wagons. I suggest you look at doing something similar if you want to go to coilover rear suspension. It looks like theres nice solid chassis rail directly above the lower shock mounting point, so perhaps after reinforcing both points a little you could mount a small coilover as pictured, in this position? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogre Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 ^^have a look at the rear of an EX lancer, pretty sure they are pretty much straight up onto that chassis rail like mikuni is saying.Is that pic a sigma or somthing else?I need rear swaybar setup like that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSM Garage Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 Yep rear of EX Lancers shock positions are straight up and down. But sigma wagons arent Picture above is of a Mitsubishi Magna wagon (FWD) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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