SOLD 1963 Imperial rear shock issue

[ybshore@aol.com]

I used the KYB-5511 shocks for the rear of my '63 LeBaron and had to drop the car to wheel touch the ground in order to bolt them to the bottom mounts. When I raise the car the next time the wheels will surely pull the shocks possibly beyond their stretch. Has anyone had this issue? Is this factored in to the shock design or will this compromise them if raised as such next time? The axle drop is significant when the car is hung. TY.

 

[david hill]

Were the shocks close to the same length as the originals. If they were close within 1/2 " you should be good to go.

 

[CBODY67]

I used the KYB-5511 shocks for the rear of my '63 LeBaron and had to drop the car to wheel touch the ground in order to bolt them to the bottom mounts. When I raise the car the next time the wheels will surely pull the shocks possibly beyond their stretch. Has anyone had this issue? Is this factored in to the shock design or will this compromise them if raised as such next time? The axle drop is significant when the car is hung. TY.

What you describe is normal. The extended shocks are the "extension travel limiter" of a leaf spring suspension. I saw a friend finishing up changing the rear shocks on a '68 Newport, back in about '70. He had the car on a frame-contact lift. With the shocks loosened at the bottom mount, he had a pneumatic jack under the rear axle for support, before hand. After he had the lower mounts loosened, he lowered the jack and the shocks came loose from the spring mount pads. When he had the new shocks put on, he put air into the jack to raise the rear axle to put the bottom mounts to the spring mount pads. Tightened it all up, let the air out of the jack, removed it, then slowly lowered the car back to the ground.

Now, for best results, any rubber bushings/mounts in the suspension should be installed "finger tight" with the suspension extended when they are installed. Do the final tightening when the car is at "ride height", which puts the flex of the rubber bushing in its mid-travel realm of things. Best done this way on a drive-on lift, probably. Or, in the case of a rear suspension, jack stands under the spring pads, with the car sitting on them. And, bounce it a few times before the final tightening.

CBODY67