restoman45

iTrader: (2)

does anyone here realize that when they use the hal shocks that the fronts are about 1 3/4" shorter than the stock decarbons(from lower mount to top of sticker, not top of rod when fully extended)...which means even when you modify the stock snubber to fit the hals, they will travel about 1 3/4" higher than stock when you bottom out, and anyone who knows anything about mechanics will also realize that this will cause the tires to go 3" or so higher before the hals bottom out...this could cause a lot of damage on ones car...does Pains car have hal shocks...i wonder if that is why he had soooo much damage...its inevitable in the position he was in, but it may have been able to be minimized if he had machined a hub to fit over the stock shocks(this is only if his car has hal's on it). am i the only one to realize this? my father works at a machine shop and is going to machine a 1 3/4" aluminum "hub" to go over it to make up for the missing length. if all works out well, maybe he will sell a few of them if he has the time. does anyone here get what im trying to say?...btw, these hal's have been nothing but trouble...no rear studs, modify spring seat, snubber, etc...so much for "bolt in" *rolls eyes* so, anyone here get what im tryin to say?...basically, u will bottom something else out before your shock bottoms out, lol.

Gev

I think I understand what you are saying.

However, did you re-use the stock bump stop that was on the struts when replacing them with the Hal's? The bump stop is this black cylindrical thing with metal at one end that goes over the top of the strut (rod goes through it).

restoman45

iTrader: (2)

yea, we are gonna reuse it (bore out the hole bigger), but even w/ that, you still need a 1 3/4" spacer on top of that to make up for the hal being shorter...get it?

xaon

iTrader: (12)

I put the stock snubber back on the top of mine, didn't have to bore out any hole bigger. Pain's car had so much damage because he picked the front end off the ground 8 feet and then slammed it into the concrete. You're going to have alot of damage no matter what the setup is when you bring it down that hard.

I for one put my front HAL's on this past week and I didn't run into a single thing that wasn't expected.

restoman45

iTrader: (2)

how did u put the stock snubber over the top for the hals...the hole is way to small to get over the circumference of the hal rod and the bolt makes it even worse(you gotta bore it out)...and about pains, yea, no duh, lol, but the hals prolly only made it worse...right now, my front tires slam right up into the fenderwell even w/ the snubber in...i for one dont want to ruin my fender, and a-arms, and make it easier to make my headers/k-member slam the ground over a pot hole or any other "bottom-out" circumstance...

xaon

iTrader: (12)

I threw the snubber over the end of the shock and pushed it down a little, then I put the top spring perch over it with out the top bushing and used the nut to suck it down. Pulled the nut and top spring perch back off and then installed the spring under and put it all back together. Works great.

My tires were rubbing on the inner fenderwells when I would turn, I set the stiffness to 12 and it cured most of it but still ahd some rubbing on hard turns. This was because my car was LOW in the front, almost no gap between the tire and the fender. I could've put my front swaybar on and gotten rid of the rubbing, but since I planned on raising the ride height I just drove it that way for a couple days. Yesterday I got out and ran the spanner up on the shock and rose the front end just a hair higher than it was stock. I can now set the shock to 1 and I have no rubbing issues at all when I take hard turns, nor will the air dam hit the ground on hard breaking. 1 is way too loose for the track though, I will have mine set at 2 or 3 which gives it just the right mix of looseness/stiffness for launching it and keeping the front end from bouncing the whole way down the track. What setting do you have your shocks at currently and how low is the front end of the car?

The stock springs on my car would coil bind WAY before I bottomed out the shock.

restoman45

iTrader: (2)

i dont have the car all together yet...but w/ out the spring on, the front tire jams way up into the wheel well, and if that were to happen, my headers would bite the dust...headers, cats and k-member for that matter. w/ just the stock shocks on, the snubber hits before teh car is really close to smashing the ground. i dont have stock springs btw, i have the eibachs which are already 1.5" lower than the stock springs to make matters worse...but do u get my drift how the hal shocks will cause the tires to rise at least 2" or more higher up before bottoming out unless u put a bigger snubber fitting in there which will in turn cause waaaay more damage than it would if the stock shocks/hals w/ bigger snubber would cause...2" could mean the difference between bent headers and getting away w/ out a scratch...i would rather do it the smart way and add a bigger snubber than be sorry down the road when i have to dump 1k plus for a new set of headers...get my drift?

xaon

iTrader: (12)

your springs are going to coilbind long before the shock will bottom out. You're going to have to put the spanner nearly all the way up the shock with the eibach springs to get a decent ride height.

I see what you are saying, but I really don't feel it is an issue, nor has anyone else over the years. Realistically if the suspension travels that much then you have the shock way too loose. I've yanked the wheel with mine and dropped it back down on the ground and it didn't drop down far enough to bottom out anything on the car. I've also got longtube headers and a BMR trakpak which SEVERELY limits my ground clearance.

theblur98ss

iTrader: (71)

I just installed hals with hal springs and didn't use that 'snubber' at all. I don't think I could get it to fit in the hal springs. Should I go and put it on? I just set the spring on the spanner and then in against the upper mount.

xaon

iTrader: (12)

You really shouldn't need the snubber with the HAL springs. It's been my understanding that they go into coilbind VERY easily. The fit on getting it in with my stock springs was pretty close, I really doubt it would clear the HAL springs.

Just curious, did you get those rear shocks shipped out Brad?

restoman45

iTrader: (2)

yea, i havent heard of too many problems, but it just worries me, ill prolly just make up a small lets say 1.5 or 1" hub to make up most of the missing snubber material...about the coil bind, maybe your right, im not sure, but i would rather have snubber bottom out b4 i get coil bind. thanks for the reply's!!!