Shock length question - shock gurus, please...

[racerxlilbro]

I just got a set of aluminum bodied Konis for my '79 Crossle 35F. When comparing the new to the old Armstrongs, I've noticed the front shocks are an inch shorter. When installed on the car, there is noticably less droop. Figure an inch at the shock is probably more like 1.5" or 1.75" at the wheel (car is still on stands, so I haven't measured).

So, the question(s) is/are what are the effects of less droop? And, is there any harm in making the shock a droop limiter?

[Purple Frog]

Many (maybe all ?) modern cars use the shock as a droop limiter especially in the front. My car has probably less than 1/2" of droop when I lift the chassis.

I'm assuming you are talking about an older outboard shock design.

In your case all that droop you see when the car is on stands may not represent what the car actually uses on the track. The normal range the car goes through on the track may not get close to what you see on the stands. So it may not matter that you have reduced droop.

I knew of one '88 Reynard that used droop-limited shocks with preload on the front. To change ride height you installed different shocks, or took the shock apart and changed the thickness of the shims inside the shock. Boy was that a fun car to set up.

When in doubt, if its a Crossle, call Neil Porter. 209-722-7373

[racerxlilbro]

Many (maybe all ?) modern cars use the shock as a droop limiter especially in the front. My car has probably less than 1/2" of droop when I lift the chassis.

I'm assuming you are talking about an older outboard shock design.

In your case all that droop you see when the car is on stands may not represent what the car actually uses on the track. The normal range the car goes through on the track may not get close to what you see on the stands. So it may not matter that you have reduced droop.

I knew of one '88 Reynard that used droop-limited shocks with preload on the front. To change ride height you installed different shocks, or took the shock apart and changed the thickness of the shims inside the shock. Boy was that a fun car to set up.

When in doubt, if its a Crossle, call Neil Porter. 209-722-7373

Yeah, I'm afraid to keep bugging Neil...

Thanks for the info. I'll see what it looks like when it's on the ground.

[Marshall Mauney]

So, the question(s) is/are what are the effects of less droop? And, is there any harm in making the shock a droop limiter?

On that car, I think the shock is effectively the droop limiter anyway, up until the anti-roll bar starts to interfere with the A-arms (not a very solid droop limiter). I've seen Crossle 32/35s equipped w/ quite a range of shock lengths - I'm not sure if this was random with replacement units, or if there's any real design effort going into the selection.

The real question regarding droop is: how much chassis roll will you have under cornering load, resulting in one side going into droop? Your setup (Springs, ARB) will have a pretty big impact on this, so there's no single correct answer.

[Side note: I ran Armstrongs, Carrerras, and Konis on the 32/35 I used to own, and I found the Konis to be the best of the bunch. They also had the shorter droop you mention, and I didn't find it to be a problem. I think they were 3012s, but I may be remembering this incorrectly....]

[racerxlilbro]

On that car, I think the shock is effectively the droop limiter anyway, up until the anti-roll bar starts to interfere with the A-arms (not a very solid droop limiter). I've seen Crossle 32/35s equipped w/ quite a range of shock lengths - I'm not sure if this was random with replacement units, or if there's any real design effort going into the selection.

The real question regarding droop is: how much chassis roll will you have under cornering load, resulting in one side going into droop? Your setup (Springs, ARB) will have a pretty big impact on this, so there's no single correct answer.

[Side note: I ran Armstrongs, Carrerras, and Konis on the 32/35 I used to own, and I found the Konis to be the best of the bunch. They also had the shorter droop you mention, and I didn't find it to be a problem. I think they were 3012s, but I may be remembering this incorrectly....]

I got them on the car, and set the car to my previous settings with no issues whatsoever. I am anxious to try them out this coming weekend. Thanks for all the input, everyone!

Brad

[Bill Hetzel]

My Crossle 32 came with Koni 8211's. Compressed, the length is 10 1/2 and extended at
14 1/4. They have way too much droop. On the stands, there is a 2 inch gap between the 8 inch springs and the spring platform. On the track I think there is about 2 or 2 1/2 in. of shock travel.
BTW, the Koni's work really well on the Crossle.