Shock location
- Thread starter Waygoner
- Start date
old_CWO
Well-known member
Military quarter tons had them aft of the axle and canted back. When I did mine I mounted the shocks forward of the axle and canted forward slightly, darn near straight up and down. There was a cross member there already so it was just simpler for me. Honestly I doubt it much matters either way in a single axle trailer application assuming they're mounted in such a way as not to bind up or bottom out. I also don't think they are very effective when using standard trailer springs as they are so stiff there is not much rebound to dampen. That may be a point of disagreement from others.
honda250xtitan
Active member
i mounted mine straight back. Trucks have them alternating to help for axle wrap, obviously no torque on the trailer axle so thats not an issue. Just make sure they are mounted in the middle of their stroke length so you can compress the axle and droop it out without letting the shocks be the limiting factor. if youre doing normal trailer leaf springs it's not much travel to worry about. I ended up removing the overload, adding a lift block, and adding crappy rancho's to mine. It really did help control the bouncing.
I want to bring this back up, partially to add some info but also to ask some questions.
The info I will add is this:
-For every degree you lay the shock forward or back ward (from the 90* angle of front half of the leaf spring to the shock in an L shape) it reduces the effectiveness on the valving of the shock. It also gains you axle travel compared to shock travel. So a 10 inch travel shock, layed forward at 20* (im making this number up) will allow the axle to travel 11.5 inches.
-"ideally" the shock will be mounted so that when the leaf sprung axle is at full bump, the shock is at a 90* to the front half of the leaf. Space doesnt allow for this so lean them forward or aft, and let the shock tuner know if its a shock that can be valved.
-Technically to locate the shocks mounting locations, you take the spring pack apart and just run the main leaf, cycle the axle and see where the upper and lower shock mount should be.
- Shackle angle is important, dont mess that up.
-Mounting the shocks as far outboard as possible gains in sway stability. Mounting them inboard gains in flex smoothness... and more flex travel than shock travel.
Now for my questions: Anyone here mounting any 10-13 inch travel leaf packs and shocks? Im kind of hoping to see some taller shock mount ideas. I have a leaf pack that is an 11 inch verticle travel and 13 inches flex travel when a set of 15.25-25.25 eye to eye shocks are mounted at a certain location on the axle tube.
Im starting a trailer frame from scratch and am looking for shock tower inspiration.
The info I will add is this:
-For every degree you lay the shock forward or back ward (from the 90* angle of front half of the leaf spring to the shock in an L shape) it reduces the effectiveness on the valving of the shock. It also gains you axle travel compared to shock travel. So a 10 inch travel shock, layed forward at 20* (im making this number up) will allow the axle to travel 11.5 inches.
-"ideally" the shock will be mounted so that when the leaf sprung axle is at full bump, the shock is at a 90* to the front half of the leaf. Space doesnt allow for this so lean them forward or aft, and let the shock tuner know if its a shock that can be valved.
-Technically to locate the shocks mounting locations, you take the spring pack apart and just run the main leaf, cycle the axle and see where the upper and lower shock mount should be.
- Shackle angle is important, dont mess that up.
-Mounting the shocks as far outboard as possible gains in sway stability. Mounting them inboard gains in flex smoothness... and more flex travel than shock travel.
Now for my questions: Anyone here mounting any 10-13 inch travel leaf packs and shocks? Im kind of hoping to see some taller shock mount ideas. I have a leaf pack that is an 11 inch verticle travel and 13 inches flex travel when a set of 15.25-25.25 eye to eye shocks are mounted at a certain location on the axle tube.
Im starting a trailer frame from scratch and am looking for shock tower inspiration.
