Going Long Travel Front and Rear

The lower mounts are also up higher

 

Are you saying the lower shock mount? I’m now wondering if the DK lower shock mounts will work with the Camburg bedcage? Anyone knowing why Camburg doesn’t offer a lower shock mount?

 

They may have it just not listed?

 

I’ll ask tomorrow when I call about the bump mounts. I noticed Peeeheeuuu is running Camburg cage and has some shock mounts that sit up a little higher. I asked him about them.

 

Yes swap them out, I ran into the same exact issue. I ended up having Cali Fab build me some bump brackets and now I have a set of camburg spring over bump brackets. I've been lazy to post them up forsale.

 

I ended up having cali fab build me some lower shock tabs, I think @reywcms lower shock tabs sit kind of like mines and @osidepunker and a few others sit lower and forward. I was assuming that it had somthing to do with what bedcage your running as far as shock placement goes. Ultimately I could not confirm it and I left it up my fabricator to determine where it would sit after cycling the suspension.

 

Well I committed to doing the rear finally.

 

Got the bedcage mocked up. Need to drill a couple more 1/2” bolt holes but mangled my drill bit. Bump stops mocked in. Need to cut the fenders off so I can mount my tires and cycle to suspension to find bottom out. Also need to cut the bed for the shocks to go thru and fabricate some lower shock mounts.

 

Nice job!

 

Getting ready to weld in some lower shock mounts. Any tips on shock setup; i.e. how much shaft at full bump and full droop. I have Dirt King lower shock mounts that I think might work well for me. Also, I never realized how far back the axle moves at full bump, as my wheels were stuffed into the back of the wheel wells with plenty of space in front? Im running Fox 3.0 x 16". Ive seen most Camburg rear cage setups with the shock sitting more above the axle vs the Dirtking mounts which move the lower mount more forward. Im leaning towards using it as I don't see a cycling problem and it keeps the shock more vertical.

 

Interested to see what people suggest for travel numbers. On my last setup (not a Tundra) I made it so the chassis was level at full bump, so the rear suspension up travel was based on the front suspension (and if you don't have any rake then that just makes the front and rear up travel the same). My logic was that then the chassis isn't doing anything weird when you land hard, like pitching the nose up. You end up with a lot more down travel in the rear (on most setups) but that also works out so the rear can droop out to keep putting power down while the front is floating.

Without good shock tuning it's hard to say if my reasoning worked out. My setup is kind of weird with a lot more rear travel, so I sometimes wonder if having an extra 2" or so of up travel in the back would work out when the rear slams into a G out and that's not enough travel difference to really notice when landing flat.

Also keep in mind there's an ideal spot the bypasses are at for ride height for them to function best, usually that's around the mid point of the shock travel.

 

I’ve got the dirtking mount also. I think on level ground I have about 7-8” shaft showing at ride height. This is with two spares, full size jack, recovery gear etc.

 

Exactly

 

From some rough measurements, I think 16” bumped and strapped is all I’m going to get. I might have to modify my brake line mount on top of my diff because that is going to be the first thing to hit the underside of the bed. If I have it bumped there is where I assume the lower mount goes, I still have about 3/4” exposed shaft (not counting the 1” rubber shaft bumper). At the strapped location, the rear shock has about 3/4”-1.0” of shaft compression. I might just tack the mounts in place and then cycle the suspension. I really need to put my fiberglass fender on because my tires are getting crushed into the fenders when I try to cycle all the way to bump. I’m not looking forward to doing rear fiberglass…

 

My thought process...

What are the specs on the tube layout? Number of rebound and compression tubes? What is the distance between the bypass orifices off the main body?

If you have a single or primary ride zone (neutral bias, that is centered within the useable stroke length of the shock), a good starting place might be having the primary piston resides equidistant from both the rebound and compression bleed orifices at your target ride height. This would give you equal shock stroke in both the compression and rebound that you can externally tune by using the bypass tappets.

As we can't easily change the relationship of Zones without relocating the bypass orifices...we won't talk about that variable here.

You can instill up-travel bias by having more space above the main piston at ride height by "exposing more shaft":
Depending on degree of bias, the transition from ride zone to rebound zone can be super abrupt and main piston rebound valving should be adjusted to fit your application.
You can instill down-travel bias by having more space below the main piston at ride height by "reducing the exposed shaft:
Depending on degree of bias, the transition from ride zone to compression zone can be super abrupt main piston compression valving should be adjusted to fit your application.

Keep in mind that you should be accounting for the overall constraint and geometry of the suspension system as a whole... bump stops and limit straps in the right places and the right length is paramount in preventing catastrophic component and eventual systemic failure.

As for shock mount orientation in relation to the axle tube...lateral, longitudinal and axial play are all factors here...chose and fab wisely for your application.

-JS

 

All of this is great advice and I happy to hear it. Has anyone else encountered the brake line mount hitting the bed at bump? I guess im trying to justify the Dirtking mounts because they have a very large surface area to weld vs something I would have to fabricate. The bumpstop pad on the DK mounts wouldn’t be utilized since the Camburg spring under bump kit places the bump shock over the factory leaf perch. Eventually I want to cut the factory spring perch off and weld on some a little better looking. This is basically a massive DIY project for me and I’ve been learning everything along the way. This is also my first welding project too so I dove into the deep end in my opinion. Next time I’ll try to take more photos of what I’m trying to describe.

 

Might be better to have your bump stops and strike pads in before attaching the lower shock mounts. Cycle suspension to full bump, locate shock mount where it clears best with 1/4” shaft showing. Limit straps need 1” for stretching and also some wiggle room.

I have a section of the bed crossmember notched out for brake line clearance.

 

Make sure to watch some MIG or TIG welding 101 or tips and tricks. But basic recommendations: grind a 45deg bevel to a knife edge on whatever plate you're welding, that gives you more weld area and you get full depth penetration of the cross section. Weld both sides where ever possible. The welder should have settings for the material thickness, when in doubt run it hotter. And go slow, you want a puddle that you slowly move along, not just jolt from one spot to another and end up with disconnected blobs. Different ways of moving the torch (cursive "e", C shape, straight line) can have advantages in spreading the puddle out, also don't be afraid to do multiple passes and build the weld up.

 

Small update on the progress. The only changes in need to make are to somehow get the brake line holder on top of the axle to sit lower so it doesn't hit the bed at full bump. Tires have plenty of clearance in the wheel wells. Full bump stop will have about 1/4" - 3/8" shaft showing (pic with tape measure is slightly before full bump). At full droop the shock are pushing in about 1" of shaft.

 

Needed for long travel yea

 

Thank you! The brake lines are extended for extra droop. Honestly cutting the bed isn't as bad as I was thinking. It's cutting the fenders for fiberglass im dreading.

 

Can always seal it back up with paneling. We will be doing this on the old mans rig revision that's happening

 

Yea I didn't enjoy that part

 

That's a good thing because I cut a 2.5" hole for my passenger side bump stop in the wrong location... you can see it in the pictures.

 

Loosen and rotate the brake tab, just don't kink the hardline.

For a guy whose never welded, they look pretty good from here. I've seen lots of pretty welds fail though. You're welcome, lol

 

I was definitely over thinking it! I was about to try to shorten it and drill a new hole in the holder but simply rotating it makes way more sense. I guess there is only one way to find out if the welds will hold haha...

 

Made some bump stop pads out of 6061 and some lower limit strap mounts from 1018 steel. Still need to make the upper limit strap mounts for the adjustable clevis.

 

Made the upper limit strap mounts from some 1018 steel. Pretty much copied the DirtKing machined ones with a slight variation, the little counter bore. I don’t like how the clevis holds 2 straps since it’s made for 1,2, or 3 straps. The straps are either really far apart or close but off-center.

 

You do nice work