Shocks/Coilovers

[1bad68cat]

So I have a small dilemma. I need to order rear coilovers for my project and need help with a decision. I want the car to handle well with a decent ride. I know longer shocks can give better ride quality and shocks mounted vertically are more efficient than angled. The issue I have is if I mount my shocks vertically I have a short shock relatively speaking which doesn't bode well for ride quality. If I angle the shock, packaging of other components becomes an issue (ex. exhaust). If you had to choose between short, vertically mounted shock versus longer angle mounted shock. Which way would you go? I can gain an additional 2" of shock stroke angling the shock 20 degrees. Thanks in advance.

[bret]

So I have a small dilemma. I need to order rear coilovers for my project and need help with a decision. I want the car to handle well with a decent ride. I know longer shocks can give better ride quality and shocks mounted vertically are more efficient than angled. The issue I have is if I mount my shocks vertically I have a short shock relatively speaking which doesn't bode well for ride quality. If I angle the shock, packaging of other components becomes an issue (ex. exhaust). If you had to choose between short, vertically mounted shock versus longer angle mounted shock. Which way would you go? I can gain an additional 2" of shock stroke angling the shock 20 degrees. Thanks in advance.

Don't be afraid to angle your coilover a bit to accommodate your surrounding environment. A couple of tips...1. Angle the top of the coilover inboard and to the front, not outboard or to the rear. This allows the natural arc of the suspension to work with the coilover instead of against it. 2. Give yourself as much shock travel as feasible...a minimum of 3" of compression travel in the rear. 3. When calculating spring rates, it is a simple math problem to accommodate the effect the mounting angle has on your target rate. Look at our spring rate calculator here: https://www.ridetech.com/info/tech/s...te-calculator/

[1bad68cat]

Don't be afraid to angle your coilover a bit to accommodate your surrounding environment. A couple of tips...1. Angle the top of the coilover inboard and to the front, not outboard or to the rear. This allows the natural arc of the suspension to work with the coilover instead of against it. 2. Give yourself as much shock travel as feasible...a minimum of 3" of compression travel in the rear. 3. When calculating spring rates, it is a simple math problem to accommodate the effect the mounting angle has on your target rate. Look at our spring rate calculator here: https://www.ridetech.com/info/tech/s...te-calculator/

Thanks for chiming in Bret. Would there be any noticeable difference in ride quality after the minimum 3"? Currently I can mount your 4" stroke shock vertically in my setup. The other reason I'd like to mount them vertically is to give the 3" tail pipes I'll be running room. I'd prefer not to run dumps. What stroke length shock are currently used in your 4 bar kits. I called earlier and got PN 12116510, but there were no specs on your website for me to reference. These will be installed on my 67 Cougar in the link of my signature.

[Shawn0331]

4" of stroke with some double adjustable shocks seems like a good ride to me? Since you're building your setup see if your shock allows it to be inverted, taking away some unsprung weight can only do good.

[1bad68cat]

4" of stroke with some double adjustable shocks seems like a good ride to me? Since you're building your setup see if your shock allows it to be inverted, taking away some unsprung weight can only do good.

I ended up ordering ridetech's HQ series coilover for the cougar application. It has 5" of stroke and is a single adjustable unit. I do plan on inverting as mentioned also but will need to see if the shock body/threads become an issue when I try to package it under the car.