28 ford pu rod suspension question

[Gacannon]

I got my rod on the road about a month ago. 1200 miles on it already. Overall it handles great, steers great, and goes through the curves great. Having put many miles on original model A fords, I expected some jolts when I hit bumps in the road and it handles them pretty good.

I would like to tinker with the suspension a little more to smooth it up some more. I have a medium rear spring from Speedway and a three leaf on a tubular straight axle in the front. I installed some light duty coil over shocks on the rear to help the rear spring out a little. The front shocks are gabriel and I just selected some that fit to put it bluntly. The front end seems really rigid. the shackles are at 45 deg front and rear sitting level.

Bumps seem hard in the front and softer in the back. I am thinking I have too much resistance with the front shocks. I can sit on the tail gate and the back of the car will ease down like you would expect it to. On the front, the spring seems stiff and it does not give much.

When driving, I cannot see the shock moving when hitting normal bumps in the road. I am a retired engineer, but I really cannot find any method to determine how to size shocks. I used Gabriel shocks as they were cheap. The hot rod shocks from speedway and summit must have gold plating or something because they cost a fortune. I don't mind spending a few bucks to make the ride better but I don't like guessing when spending at least $200 bucks for two shocks for the front.

My gut tells me the rear is ok but the front is to stiff and the spring, even though it has the shackles at 45 deg, just seems stiff. Thinking about taking the shocks off and driving it around to see if the wheels bounce more. That might tell me I need less shock than I have.

I have read several good articles that say most rods are not set up right. teams of engineers design standard automobile shock systems, but there must be a good logical approach I can use to avoid buying expensive shocks that do not help.

This forum has been very helpful for me during the entire project. I started from scratch back in September 2010 and got her done in 5.5 months doing everything myself. I knew spring overs were rough rides but they are so damn simple and cheap and do a good job.

Any suggestions are welcome. Its ok like it is, but I am sure the wife would not mind an improvement in the ride comfort level.

Thanks

Bob in Ga.

 

[zzrodder]

Taking the front shocks off and test driving it would certainly tell you they are the problem. Chances are that the spring is just too stiff though, you could try taking out leaves and see if that improves the ride. I've often just picked shocks out of the Monroe catalogue just based on dimensions, they don't really give you an idea of how stiff they are, though I guess the gas charged ones are going to be stiffer. If the shocks are the problem, mounting them at more of an angle will make them less harsh. Yeah the fancy ($$$$) shocks are nifty and many have adjustable damping but it is hard to get by the cost....
I remember the older Gabriel shocks were adjustable (adjust-o-matics ?) you pushed them all the way in and turned them to select 1 of 3 damping rates, don't know if they still sell those ??[S

 

[LOWANDRATY]

Harsh ride

If taking the shocks off makes it smooth, then try to find a set of old stock vw shocks, there has to be some new old stock laying around somewhere, no gas shocks just plain old shocks, mid-america still sells the old cofap shocks they are not gas, and are pretty cheep.
In my mini truck days we use to take all the leaves out of the rear spings and just keep the main and that would make them smooth.

 

[Gacannon]

28 pu suspension

I will take the shocks off and see if the wheels bounce around. My gut tells me the spring is really stiff also. Its not a Model A spring, its a spring I got with a tubular dropped axle from speedway. The spring did spread when I put the engine weight and body weight on it.

I drove Model A's without shocks on dirt roads all the time. When you hit wash boards, the car would just drift all over the road and jar you to death. That was with skinny 21 inch tires. I am only running 25 lbs pressure on the front right now. 30 makes it worse.

Will take the shocks off tomorrow and run up and down the road. About had myself talked into doing that anyway.

Will post back what results I get.

thanks

Bob in ga.

 

[bob w]

Shocks on hot rods are one of my favorite subjects. I believe all oem shocks are too stiff for light weight rods. I used to buy Monroe racing shocks from Speedway because I could get a "extra light/extra light" calibration. They are no longer available. I've talked to Pro Shocks and they claim their chrome shock that Speedway carries in the hot rod catalog is about as light a calibration shock you can buy. I like them on my Model A tudoor. On my very light Fiat I used Alden coilovers with 14 position adjustable shocks and found the lightest setting to work well. My '27 roadster has home made friction shocks that look nice but do very little damping. Surprizingly, it goes down the road nicely and doesn't ride harsh.
On my Grandson's Bobber '38 Chevy truck I removed the new truck take-off Bilsteins (from a full size truck) and put a worn out set of shocks from a '64 Chevy half ton on the rear. Still too stiff. Ended up angling them about 45 degrees to kill a lot of the stiffness.

Spring-wise, I always put teflon buttons between the leaves if the spring doesn't come with them. I also round and taper the spring ends. And remove leaves as necessary. I've even shortened leaves an inch at a time until I get a decent ride.