How Much rear suspension travel is considered enough?

[johnparts]

I've been shopping rear coil overs for my car and with the triangulated 4 link I built it to have 4" of travel up and down but the shocks don't seem to be available for what I think would be acceptable travel. I can either go really short with a 15" overall 10" compressed shock or go overkill with a 18" overall 12" compressed. I was thinking of going with the 15" overall and limiting myself to 5" of travel but will that give me a really rough ride?

[bret]

4" can work on a light car IF you are careful about setting ride height, spring rate and shock tuning.
5" is much better. The long the rtravel the better the ride quality will be and the more latitude you will have in setting ride height.
If you have a heavy car 5" is almost a must.

[Bryce]

Also take into consideration how big of a bump you can see without bottoming out on the bump stops.

Say you have a rear weight of 1500 lbs. Coils are straight up and down with 750 lbs on each side. If you have a 250lb spring and hit a 1G bump. the spring will compress 3".

Just do some math. Suspension travel needs to consider the spring rate as well.

[johnparts]

so a car that weighs in at 2700-3000 lbs can work on a 5 inch total travel set-up?

[johnparts]

Also take into consideration how big of a bump you can see without bottoming out on the bump stops.

Say you have a rear weight of 1500 lbs. Coils are straight up and down with 750 lbs on each side. If you have a 250lb spring and hit a 1G bump. the spring will compress 3".

Just do some math. Suspension travel needs to consider the spring rate as well.
it would take a 4 inch bump to bottom out on the bump stops

[silver69camaro]

so a car that weighs in at 2700-3000 lbs can work on a 5 inch total travel set-up?

Yes, that should be ok.

[Vegas69]

Alot less than Steve Rupp has now.

[johnparts]

Yes, that should be ok.
Well that's all I needed to hear. It's nice to know someone from Art Morrison a company I have nothing but total respect for is on the same page as me.

[johnparts]

4" can work on a light car IF you are careful about setting ride height, spring rate and shock tuning.
5" is much better. The long the rtravel the better the ride quality will be and the more latitude you will have in setting ride height.
If you have a heavy car 5" is almost a must.
Right But are we talking 5" in both directions or 2.5 inches up and 2.5 inches down?

[johnparts]

4" can work on a light car IF you are careful about setting ride height, spring rate and shock tuning.
5" is much better. The long the rtravel the better the ride quality will be and the more latitude you will have in setting ride height.
If you have a heavy car 5" is almost a must.And Brett I am thinking of bagging the car is there a set-up that is small enough to run in place of say a standard koni or comp engineering coil over? and if so what lengths do you have available?

[JRouche]

Right But are we talking 5" in both directions or 2.5 inches up and 2.5 inches down?

10 inches of total travel would be pretty deep for a car and not needed. Id have to assume its 5" total. JR

[JRouche]

And Brett I am thinking of bagging the car is there a set-up that is small enough to run in place of say a standard koni or comp engineering coil over? and if so what lengths do you have available?

Check out the air ride tech shockwaves. They are a pretty good swap out for a coilover. JR

[marolf101x]

You are looking for 5" total travel on the rear.

This is the page you are looking for:
http://www.ridetech.com/store/suspension-systems/shockwaves/universal-styles/skw7000-series.html

Though we offer a lot of different shock options I have listed the Master Series as they are the most common.
7000-series Shockwaves use an air spring that is 4" in diameter.

[johnparts]

Could you give me an idea of how much that system with a controller and compressor would cost? And how much weight would it add to the car?

[marolf101x]

If you are only doing the rear you'll need a manual control system such as this:
http://www.ridetech.com/store/suspension-components/components-hardware/single-axle-compressor-kits/2-way-analog-compressor-package.html

The nice thing is, if you ever decide to do the front as well you can add the appropriate parts as everything is scalable.


Weight:
a 3-gallon AirPod (http://www.ridetech.com/store/control-systems/airpod-ridepro-e3.html) weighs in at 24lbs. If you take out the board, the cover, half the valves (the AirPod is a 4-way system) you'll loose maybe 6-7lbs.

[johnparts]

well I will be doing the front too.

[marolf101x]

If you do the front at the same time as the rear you'll want a 4-way control system (each corner has individual inflate and deflate controls).
We offer a variety of systems to fit your budget; from the entry level manual system:
http://www.ridetech.com/store/control-systems/ridepro-standard-analog-4-way-system.html

Up to the e3 digital control system in the AirPod configuration (all plumbing and wiring done. . .just drop it in, connect a few lines and you're done):
http://www.ridetech.com/store/control-systems/airpod-ridepro-e3.html

If you decide to do the rear first, then add the front at a later date you'd start with a 2-way system like I listed above. This will control the rear. When you add the front you'd add another valve block:
http://www.ridetech.com/store/suspension-components/components-hardware/compressor-system-components/valve-bodies/ridepro-2-way-airvalve-assembly.html
and an additional control panel:
http://www.ridetech.com/store/suspension-components/components-hardware/compressor-system-components/analog-control-panels/ridepro-control-panel.html

Or, at that time you could upgrade to a digital system instead of adding more manual switches:
http://www.ridetech.com/store/suspension-components/components-hardware/compressor-system-components/ridepro-e3-and-levelpro-components/ridepro-e3-control-system.html

[johnparts]

ok well I know what I need to save up for now.