Where are my bump stops?

[vrinner]

So on a stock SVO, where are the bump stops located? Neither my daily driver or my race car have them.

I'm having my Koni's revalved and the shocks had bottomed out (bottom of shaft hit the bottom of the shock body) causing the lower seal to get blown. So there is additional cost there to fix.

In order to stop this from happening again, I'm putting in Koni bump stops but these mount on the shaft of the strut. Tri-Point (the guys doing the rebuild), say that the Koni bump stops are very progressive and will keep the shock from bottoming out causing the same problem.

They are also shortening the shaft and the body length by about an inch to give an extra inch or so of travel. Any thoughts on that?

So my $135 per shock rebuild has turned into about $300 per shock, however I'm getting a custom valved shock, with additional travel, and new bump stops. I thought about going with a custom built shock but those would be upward of $800-$1500 each. Getting the stock Koni's to "true" double adjustable would be about $500 with all the other stuff needed.

Any input you guys may have is appreciated....

[Pat_in_L.A.]

If you replaced the onion heads with aftermarket camber plates, that's likely where you gained an extra inch or more of strut shaft length that caused it to bottom out. (the shaft didn't get physically longer, but the upper mounting point had been lowered !

[vrinner]

The car is lowered with Motorsport C springs

The car has Central Coast Caster/Camber plates.

[Ken Potter]

Double Whammy!

[vrinner]

So where are the origal bump stops located?

[Ken Potter]

Up inside the onion head / plastic sleeve that covers the exposed portion on the shaft.

[Pat_in_L.A.]

Mine has rubber inside the springs front and rear between the spring perches, as well as the rear axle bump stop mounted on the frame rail inboard of the shocks. Ken is right about the one inside the onion head boot too. Don't ya just love these hi-performance replacement parts that eliminate the critical original components of the car?

[Ken Potter]

Yes I have the rubber sleeve inside the spring also. But if you dis-assemble the onion head there is a rubber isolator that extends down inside the plastic tube with a kind of "donut" type bumper. The top can be seen where the shaft comes up through actual metal part of the head.

[vrinner]

They are also shortening the shaft and the body length by about an inch to give an extra inch or so of travel. Any thoughts on that?

[Pat_in_L.A.]

Originally posted by vrinner
They are also shortening the shaft and the body length by about an inch to give an extra inch or so of travel. Any thoughts on that?

That's a typical thing to do on a lowered car. on 65-70 mustangs we used to shim the upper shock mount location up with spacers and longer bolts

[vrinner]

on 65-70 mustangs we used to shim the upper shock mount location up with spacers and longer bolts

Interesting...my caster/camber plates have two large washer/bushings between the shock tower and the plate. They total about an inch. So it looks kindof like the attached drawing. Is that "normal" for caster camber plates or do you think this was dont for the additional travel (obviously not enough)?

One problem that I had was the top of the shock was hitting the hood (causing the adjuster to get bent/broken).

I'm thinking now that I can have the shock shortened and then remove just one of the spacers to give me the needed clearence for the hood.

[Pat_in_L.A.]

Originally posted by vrinner
... Is that "normal" for caster camber plates or do you think this was dont for the additional travel (obviously not enough)? ...

I'm thinking now that I can have the shock shortened and then remove just one of the spacers to give me the needed clearence for the hood.

The spacers are likely there to adapt a previously available kit to work with the longer SVO struts.

Here's the drill:

1) Pre-assemble the front end with sway bar disconnected and spring removed.

2) Remove or shorten bushings until you have acceptable fender clearance.

3) With car on jackstands, put a floor jack under the control arm and simulate full bump conditions.

4) Measure the amount of clearance between the top of strut housing and the bottom of the monoball (in other words, how much chrome shaft is left showing) If this is a pain to measure, strap a wire tie to the shaft, jack it up to full compression and lower the control arm again. Note the location of the wire tie, that's your clearance. If the wire tie is smashed you have no clearance and the same thing may happen with your new shocks as the old ones. Add bump stops as necessary.