ok - so i hear of kits with a +6 arm and a 8" shock moving the tab out on the arm and doing a tower and they were getting more travel then the 6" shock- is that not true?
I understand the leverage deal for the most part. I guess I need to read up more on shocks.
So do you get a better ride with the longer shocks or just eaiser tuning?
Its hard to say... the shock could be the limiting factor, but it really depends on the overall design. The main limits are ball joint/uniball angles, cv joint angles and ground clearance needed at full compression. The arms can only go so far down due to limits of joints, and they can only go so far up or else the chassis hits the ground. There are scenerios that if you stuck a longer shock on, you could get more wheel travel, but that is only becuase the shorter shock wasn't using all the travel available. So i guess what i am trying to say is, you can't base the travel strictly on length of the shock.
What you said could be true, but it depends on the other factors as well.
As far as the better ride and easier tuning.. the shock stroke doesn't really have an effect on that either. the longer the shock, usually means there is a lower leverage ratio, so the shock can do a better job of controlling the the suspension. but if the leverage ratio gets too low, you might not be able to get a light enough spring, and the piston is going to need to move a lot faster and further inside the shock creating more heat.. like wise, if the leverage ratio is too high, the shock has to work a lot more to control the suspension creating the need for higher spring rate coils, and valving that is alot stiffer causing the fluid to heat up more as well. so ideal is somewhere in the middle.. for harder racing and abuse, the longer the shock the better, so it can control the suspension easier, but too long, and it starts getting worse... not to say it won't work at either extreme, just not as well as it could.
as for ride feeling, its all on how the shock is tuned and sprung for the particular car. if the leverage is super high, then it might be harder to tune and get working as well as it could, because the shock is kind of overloaded in a sense.. but it could make it feel softer, giving a better ride, but it won't have as much resistance to bottoming out.
so overall, there are many factors that effect the ride and performance and wheel travel of a suspension system, not just the length of the shock alone.
Hope that helps, and doesn't confuse the crap out of everyone.
