[bluelightning302]

im tired of my 68 galaxie scraping the long tube headers on speedbumps but cant find a rediculously stiff shock out there.i Went on summit racing and saw that there some circle track shocks for the LTD,are those stiff?What about adjustabe drag shocks,can those be adjusted so that they can be stiff? Im young so ride quality (or lack there of) isnt gonna bug me much,any help would be greatly appreciated,oh yeah im going to do springs in the future (a few months) but $$$ dictates that shoks will be first

 

[jakengle]

Shocks won't solve header dragging problems. Besides that, new stiffer springs from Eaton Detroit Spring are only about $150. QA-1 or similar adjustable shocks won't be much if any cheaper.

www.eatonsprings.com

 

[psivory]

I used Gabriel Hyjackers in the rear on my rebuild, gives me about 3" of lift if I want and real easy to install.
They were only $30 each at Autozone.

_________________
Scott
1967 Galaxie 500
Original Paint, Chrome, Glass

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: psivory on 3/16/06 10:10pm ]</font>

 

[Beoweolf]

Shocks have nothing to do with ride height, especially on the front. (air shocks are a different animal, they combine the shock with an air bladder that can adjust ride height a few inches, also struts can be used to change ride height, but that would require even more money). Shocks are dampeners, meaning they control the rate of a spring’s reaction to compression/extension by absorbing some of the energy and turning it into heat. If you live on the east coast, there are people that understand weight jacks, that might be something to look into.

As mentioned above, your cheapest route is stronger springs, another is to get tires with different aspect ratio…the newer, low profile 225 x 40 vs. older F60 or F70 wide ovals or regular passenger car tires (with 78 or 80 aspect) may have 2 inch or more difference in total height. Also moving from 14 or 15 wheels, up to 16, 17 inch, with the appropriate tire, can also raise the ride height of the car.

A lot of class racers swear by having tall wheels/tires on the front for better roll out, reaction times. Not much for comfort or handling, great for drag racing.

The point is shocks are not going to solve your problem. The best they can do is slow down how the wheel reacts to a bump or pothole. The cure for distance between headers and speed bumps is to raise the car.

What may help is how you go over speed bumps. Hitting them straight on is not the way to do it. If you go over them at an angle, sometimes thats enough to widen the amount of time one wheel or the other is on top of the bump, which allows the car to ride a little high ove the bump.

 

[MauriSSio]

that was my brother,he asked the question for me.im not trying to raise the ride height nor do i want to,basically this is what i want "The best they can do is slow down how the wheel reacts to a bump or pothole." as beowolf said. i understand the headers will always be low i just want the car to stop feeling so floaty and sometimes bouncy

 

[psivory]

Best thing I did for my front end was add a larger sway bar. With the new end links and shocks it improved the "mushiness" a ton.

 

[jakengle]

You can order stiffer springs with any amount of lowering from Eaton Spring, so you can keep the low ride height and make it as stiff as you want. I still don't think you're going to improve the header drag much with better shocks if you have the soft, 40 year old original front springs.

I put the 1 1/8" Tbird sway bar on my 65 with one coil cut out of the original front springs and new gas shocks and drove it 20k miles like that. The sway bar totally transforms the cornering, and but it didn't effect the way the car goes over speed bumps.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: jakengle on 3/17/06 7:52pm ]</font>

 

[tbirdchick]

On 2006-03-16 11:33, MauriSSio wrote:
that was my brother,he asked the question for me.im not trying to raise the ride height nor do i want to,basically this is what i want "The best they can do is slow down how the wheel reacts to a bump or pothole." as beowolf said. i understand the headers will always be low i just want the car to stop feeling so floaty and sometimes bouncy

If I understand correctly, you want to stiffen the front end without raising the car. How about an adjustable front end where you can set the ride height exactly where you want it for the price of Eaton springs? If this sounds good, go to Speedway Motors and check these springs out:

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/xq/aspx/paging.yes/dept_id.158/display_id.169/qx/Product.htm

A 550 lb front spring should be about right for stiffening purposes. These springs are too short for your Galaxie as-is, so you'll need a pair of adjustable spring shims:

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/xq/aspx/paging.yes/dept_id.712/display_id.3389/qx/Product.htm

BTW, most Ford front shocks are the same. I'm using a pair of '77-'79 T-Birds on the front of my '64 Custom right now.

Just a different way to solve your problem...

Jan

 

[MauriSSio]

thanks!

 

[interceptor460]

Look into coils springs. Shocks control the motion of the springs so you don't get sea sick.Look into what I wrote on coils in the Torino section the topic was (coil springs).I own two 68 ltd's .One has really stiff coils and larger sway bars. And the other has H/D coils but are at a less spring rate.Remember the front end was designed for driving comfort, not for quick lane changes.I use TRW coils .