This may be a stupid question but nobody I ask can tell me, I have a set of shocks off my 1999 Honda Shadow Ace 750 that are roughly about 12 inches long extended, would they support the rear of my 41 Ford P/U, I am building it like a Rat-Rod/bobber style truck? I am running a ladder bar suspension in the rear and I figure at the most maybe 500 lbs. or so. This is the first project I have done like this so any help is appreciated. Thanxs
Just a guess here but why not...I've seen fatass guys with fatass women on the back of a bike....gotta be at least 500 lbs of fat plus the weight of the bike....which probably isn't really much (I'd guess a couple hundred pounds of bike max actually on the shocks.) worst case condition is try them out and if they are too light buy another pair and double up.
I'm gonna guess that your pickup will weigh over 2250 lbs finished. That would work out to around 900 lbs on the back if 40% of the weight is on the back wheels. That's 450 lbs/shock. Just a guess, but the bike probably weighs 400/500 lbs at most. with 50/50 weight distribution that makes 250 on the rear shocks or 125 lbs./shock. I'd be afraid the shocks would be a little light. Larry T Duh, I forgot about the rider weight. Didn't figure the weight of a driver and passanger in the truck either. Still think they're a little light. Off for coffee.
They might work depending on the weight of the frame how big ur building the truck etc. Do you already have any kind of a frame built for it? Oh yea you probably dont want to use the word rat rod around here the hamb police will get you then try to have some good ole prison sex with you. Just j/k.
I also don't like the word Rat-Rod because of what everybody thinks it stands for, basically what my truck is is a 2x4x1/8 steel tubing frame, the roof has a 6 inch chop and the body has a 5 inch channel, when I have it in one piece it looks the same as Billy Gibson's from ZZ Tops truck. Its has a small block Chev with a 4-speed, 9" Ford rearend with ladder bars There is alot of trucks this style that are very well built, Someone needs to come up with a better name for them.
I worked for a Honda Powersports dealership a few years ago and I sold those bikes to several "hefty" men who had no problems with the suspension. The bike weights just over 500lbs (dry weight) so I think you should be fine. You already have it laying around so, as brewsir said, why not give it a try?
I wouldn't. The springs around the MC shocks my indeed hold the frame off of the rear axle but the valving in the MC shock inside those springs certainly can't be sized to dampen the weight of an automotive rear end with 2 rear wheels and the brakes etc. Springs support weight... Shocks dampen the motion... Is it worth the savings to risk having to do it all over again with automotive parts engineered for automotive loads. You can pick up the wheel, tire and brake assembly of the motorcycle. I doubt that you can pick up the rear end, the tires and the brakes that you are going to use on your truck. That is the weight that the shocks must dampen while they are in motion. I don't see any risk/reward benefit and I don't think it will work. JMHO
The thing that most people forget about motorcycle coilovers is that the swing arm acts as a lever and thus the shocks require heavier springs than if they were direct acting. I disassembled some Harley coilovers, I don't remember what model they were from, and checked the spring rate. They were about 290 lbs. per inch. Probably way too heavy for your application. If you want to check spring rate on coil springs it can be done with a bathroom scale, a ruler and an H frame press. Since the spring was over the rated weight for the scale, I just compressed it 1/2" and doubled the indicated weight for arriving at the spring rate.
I've seen several people try them and they were all too soft. Take a bike that weighs 650lbs or so, with about 57% on the rear wheel (like a Shadow), and you have two shocks that support 370 lbs each w/o rider and passenger. Add the rider at 250 and the passenger at 150, with all of the passenger and about 70% of the rider on the rear wheel, and you have two shocks holding up 695 lbs, or about 350each. They are maxed out at that point, so unless you have something that is really light in the rear, they won't work. They do look good, but are pretty soft. Some of the really big cruisers run 800lbs or so, and the touring versions have stiffer shocks, so they may work if the rear of the truck is light and you find the right ones. Remember that they are as much as automotive coilovers or more if you have to buy them.
They are not as expensive as car shocks if you buy a pair used from someone like me that hardtails 750 hondas every once in awhile! Run a pair on each side if you have to!
Wow, he said "Rat-Rod" AND "bobber style truck" and NO DRAMA! Must be a lot Christmas spirit here on the HAMB today. I doubt those shocks will be heavy enough, but if you have access to more, I'll bet 2 per side probably would.
I'm running a pair on the back of my Tee. They looked a little weak to me. But guy only wanted 20 bucks for them , so I bought them thinking I would give them a try. They turned out to be perfect.
truckedup28 used a set of the rear of his truck he built last. he ended up putting a set of helper springs between the rear and the frame to help the weight. the truck rode great then
Thank you for all your input I am wondering if you run a parrallel leaf spring (same as the way you would run it on a suicide frontend) I think that is what you call it, my frame on the inside is 30" running just a one or 2 ply spring should be enough I would think,
How about using Speedway's coil spring kit for T-buckets? I think it's "realitivly inexpensive" and you could use Air Lift bags to fine tune your spring rate if you needed too. Larry T
coil overs it's the spring rate and angle that's important the more it's angled the softer it gets.springs are just to hold it off the ground and shocks are to stop the bounce.
dude, just keep stacking 'em up until you have enough like 8 or so to match the number of fake portholes on the hood, totally ratrodboobertruckstyle!
had a set on one of my trucks they were a lil light so i added a helper spring then it rode better.......jones
The shocks lay down on the bike which increases suspension travel but makes the ride softer. If you mount the shocks straight up or at a slight angle on the truck I bet they would work. I used the Speedway coil kit on my T Bucket and it rides like a dump truck with no load! Of course my Bucket is pretty light.
thinking about using some on the front on a suicide axle set up...any input would be appreciated..vehicle weight 2500 lbs
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