CarolinaTA

iTrader: (6)

Hey guys so I went to the drag strip and finally broken 10s this weekend. However my shock on my pass side will not decompress. I have a set of qa1s in the back which i actually replaced last year and sure enough it doesnt rebound on the pass side still. I had it in the shop today and tried compressing it with a jack and the shock just never decompresses no matter where i set the firmness. Any Ideas? I was thinking maybe a weak spring on that side as it did seem to not be pushing as had as the spring on the other side and had more play in it. Also if you agree it is the springs, without converting to coil overs in the rear whats my best option and best place to get them?

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

I don't understand. You mean it won't extend on it's own, or *at all*? They will not extend on their own, they are not gas charged.

BMR Sales2

iTrader: (40)

Are they single or double adjustable? Are you meaning the shock will not extend when you try pulling it or it will not extend from it just being out of the car? Qa1's are a non gas charged shock, so they will not extend on their own. But if you pull the shock by hand it should. The adjustment on a single adjustable controls the rebound rate which sets the firmess of the extension. So it should change how much effort it takes to extend it. Same with a double adjustable and changing the rebound stiffness.
If the shock will not extend at all, or is very hard to extend and does not vary with valving adjustment then the shock is bad. It sounds more like a shock issue than a spring. A spring would just cause a ride height variation and the coils would be noticeably more collapsed on that side versus the other

QA1_Damien

If you put the car up on the hoist and let the suspension droop, will the shock extend out? I think you may need to find a way to get the shock off the car to determine if this is a shock issue or a spring issue. Give me a call on my direct line and we'll try to figure out what is going on here. (952) 985-6433.

MidwestChassis2

iTrader: (1)

What style of lower control arms are on your vehicle?

CarolinaTA

iTrader: (6)

Single adjustable on the rear and it will not pull back out no matter how firm or soft I set it. What I mean in not decompressing is the first hard launch ill do the wheel/tire gets pulled almost all the way up into the fender well and then never levels back out and stays pulled up in the fender well where as the other goes back to a normal ride height. It makes the car appear to be leaning . If left over night it levels back out. Yesterday I had the car on the lift and tried adjusting the rebound on the shock with the **** only to have it not really do anything at all. The tire stayed where ever I compressed it to with the floor jack. The car has a set of tubular control arms from BMR on it.

35-TS704; QA1 18-way Rear Adjustable Shock with Bolt, Single,
1993-2002 F-Body this is the description texas speed has on the invoice. I ordered two of them in october of 2015.

http://imgur.com/a/7uGiQ

MidwestChassis2

iTrader: (1)

CarolinaTA do those lowers have poly or rubber joints by chance? If so what is most likely happening is they are binding up and not letting the suspension move freely.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

I think the shock is just busted.

MidwestChassis2

iTrader: (1)

Good possibility considering, but the easiest way to eliminating lowers binding up is to jack the car up safely an bolt the shocks with a jack under the rear end and see if it moves freely.

CarolinaTA

iTrader: (6)

They are poly. I just find it hard to believe very little driving and two trips to the drag strip over a year and a few months would kill the shock. The car was down for six months last year having the engine rebuilt and again for two months when I changed the converter. I guess I'll check it for binding up later this week.

BMR Sales2

iTrader: (40)

No... the poly is not binding causing this


Have you tried removing that shock from the car and seeing what it does outside of it? It sounds like the shock may be broken internally and stopping the travel

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

I really can't figure out why the shock hasn't been pulled. I'm with Eric here.

CarolinaTA

iTrader: (6)

I know this is way late but I finally got time to look at the car over the weekend. The swaybar endlink on the pass side has become bent at some point so when the shock compresses it gets stuck on the end link and will not come back up until it finally forces itself past where it was bent and then comes the rest of the way back up. I put the cars back half on jack stands and jacked the back pass side tire up with a floor jack and it was very clear and very obvious. Thanks for the help. I was planning to call up midwest chassis to get a new anti roll bar anyway so I guess ill just be doing that.

MidwestChassis2

iTrader: (1)

Sounds good CarolinaTA, as a broken shock is a rarity especially when it compresses the spring would still push it back up as a spring controls the ride height not the shock.