rear shocks - I searched

[jesusgatos]

Has anyone added read shocks to their deuce? I'm talking about trucks that have NOT been bobbed.

 

[clinto]

The rear suspension is so astonishingly stiff that I suspect it would be totally pointless.............probably the reason the original designers didn't bother to add them.

 

[dabtl]

It takes so much weight to get the rear springs to flex that I have never had that much on my deuce! We took several feet of roofing to the dump and it still did not seem to flex the springs.

 

[cranetruck]

Leaf springs have built-in damping as a result of friction between the individual leaves. When spring packs are used with fewer leaves, shocks are added. Never lubricate leaf springs.
My 757 has more flexible spring packs and also uses shocks, both front and rear.

 

[jesusgatos]

I understand what you guys are saying about the springs, but the springs themselves are on a pivot, so there are really two types of suspension movement: there's the compression of the leafsprings (not much of that happening) and then there's the balancing effect between the two rear axles. The balancing between the axles is where I think shocks might help out a little bit, especially with axle-hop. Nobody has tried adding shocks to the rear suspension? Really?

 

[2Deuces wild]

A spring less traveled.....A shock to the system.

 

[jesusgatos]

A spring less traveled.....A shock to the system.

Huh?

 

[tm america]

yes shocks would help i agree an empty truck wont flex the springs much but the whole rear suspetion is on a pivot .and that is what makes for a bad ride in the back .i think if you put shocks on one of the rear axles it would help greatly with wheel hop.like the kind of wheeel hop you get when you hit a set of railroad tracks and the rear end tries to kick side ways.the big problem is getting shocks with enough travel.i;ve seen guys put shock on unimogs .that have a bellcrank setup to get the right ratio

 

[jesusgatos]

That's exactly what I was trying to say about the rear axles being on that pivot. you could run shocks on just one axle with close to the same valving on the compression and rebound side of the piston, but I think I'd rather just use four shocks to help balance the damping at each wheel. Mounting won't be an issue. I'm sure I can design some low-profile mounts that allow me to fit long enough shocks under there. I'm thinking that I might revise the axle chain-up brackets that I'm making to incorporate upper and lower shock mounts. That would be a really clean solution and would kill two birds with one, er, bracket?

 

[jesusgatos]

It would be super-easy to adapt a front-shock setup to the rear, but I'm sure that would limit travel and I'm thinking more along the lines of 2" race-quality offroad shocks (Fox, King, Swayaway, etc.). And hydraulic bumpstops too (at least up front)!

 

[cranetruck]

These trucks were probably designed for loaded conditions and compromised some of the riding qualities when empty. My crane truck is never empty with the 4,000 lb crane, so I haven't noticed any of the wheel hop you are talking about.

Again, I like to refer to the m656/xm757 series, where many of these "problems" were addressed. The xm757 tractor model, running without a trailer or possibly much lighter load on the rear axles did get shocks in the rear, while the cargo version didn't.

 

[tm america]

ya front would deffinately limit the travel.you could run a long shock mounted on an angle to get the travel needed i dont think you would have enough room the run them straight since they would be to long to fit between the bed and the axle

 

[jesusgatos]

...refer to the m656/xm757 series, where many of these "problems" were addressed. The xm757 tractor model, running without a trailer or possibly much lighter load on the rear axles did get shocks in the rear...

Thanks for the info. I'd like to see pictures of that if anyone has them to share.

ya front would deffinately limit the travel.you could run a long shock mounted on an angle to get the travel needed i dont think you would have enough room the run them straight since they would be to long to fit between the bed and the axle

Mounting them really won't be much of a problem. I've got a lot of experience putting shocks places they shouldn't go, and I'm usually working with even less room. I was really asking 'why' more than 'how'. I'm just kind of surprised that this isn't a more popular upgrade. The whole idea of the axles pivoting to equalize pressure and traction is cool, but any type of un-damped suspension makes me want to gag.

 

[cranetruck]

Here are a couple of images....

Right click and open link in new window for full resolution.