Need help with shock relocation

[DarkoNova]

I exploded the stock rear end in my Nova a few years ago, and since it was an 8.2 I decided not to rebuild it. Found an 8.5 in a local junkyard that they said was from a Nova, turned out to be out of a Camaro (I think?) so it's wider than stock. But I decided to use it anyway. I also put 4th gen rear discs on it, so I can't use the stock shocks because they interfere with the brake lines.

I've seen some pricey kits that relocate the shocks, but I don't get why I can't just get a nice thick walled pipe, weld it up between the frame rails, and just weld some little brackets on it for the upper shock mounts. Then just measure the length at ride height and buy some shocks that would fit.



Am I oversimplifying it or would that work fine?

[marolf101x]

You are on the right track. We offer this shock mounting kit (originally designed for our Shockwaves, but it's basically just a shock mount):
http://www.ridetech.com/store/air4li...nting-kit.html

It provides an upper bar with end brackets as well as the shock mounts you weld to the bar.
It also has the aluminum lower mounting blocks that mate to our 4-link brackets:
http://www.ridetech.com/store/tri-li...e-bracket.html

[DarkoNova]

Awesome, thanks. That's the cheapest kit I've seen so far. I was looking at the installation instructions and it says not to angle the shocks more than 25º. So should I just install them straight up? If I have them both on the rear of the axle and they're both vertical, would that do a decent job of controlling wheelhop?

[marolf101x]

The shocks can be mounted at any angle up to 25-degrees to aid in exhaust routing and general fitment.
When you angle the shock you increase the available stroke, but decrease the effective damping rate (and spring rate if it's a coil over).
I don't know enough about the car to suggest controlling wheel hop. It can be caused by numerous things. My general answer would be to eliminate the leafs so you don't have spring wrap, but then again I do want you to buy a 4-link from us!

[astroracer]

The staggered shock set-up on the car was actually developed as way to control wheel hop... If you want to stick the shocks behind the axle that is okay but you may want to invest in a set of Caltracs if you are going drag racing.