Hummer h3 weight for spring rate

[atvspeed4]

I'm pretty sure that the h3 has almost 8 inches of travel stock when I measured it last time. Remember that the travel of the shock does not equal the wheel travel. Think of it as a lever and fulcrum. So if the stock shock has around 4 inches of travel and is half way down the control arm... Then add a shock that allows full droop to the metal bump easily and there you have it.

 

[06 H3]

Ok so then it's tough to compare travel to other vehicles or even same vehicles for that matter. A guy running a backspaced rim will have more wheel travel then a guy on stock backspaced rim even if the shock is the exact same with exact same bumps in the same location because its further away then the stock rim. I understand samcos project for high speed but then travel wasn't really gained, just performance. The fact that he has triple bypass shocks specially tuned for his rig is a plus but no flex or travel factor.

Now I'm confused, well only a bit. What do most people go by? If someone uses a 10in travel shock and use all 10in of it then wheel travel can be, depending on placement of shock, have 16+ in of wheel travel. So when an aftermarket suspension company like rock crawler or evo claim 14in of travel is that at the shock or wheel, it doesn't state on their websites so is it just a norm of how the industry claims travel?

 

[atvspeed4]

Yes, its that difficult to compare. Suspension geometry is an awesome topic to study. You are right, a wheel with less backspacing "lengthens the lever" and gives a lil more wheel travel but has other issues with increasing the scrub and also stress on the wheelbearing and balljoints

 

[MTUH3]

Here is the cliff notes of what I was able to discuss with Icon. Only had time for a short 5 min talk, but made a lot of sense.

going to a coil over is too much work and money, unless you have a fab shop and have the cash.
going to a longer control arm will significantly affect the way the torsion bar acts. This can be corrected by a stiffer TB, or he suggested looking into a "mini" coilover to help. Longer control arms on stock TBs will cause a softer, squishier ride
look into building new controls arms with different ball joints and ball joint angles to increase travel, trim away material when possible that may interfere. longer control arms will help with that also.

I will be ask more questions from them as they come up

 

[bebe]

Here is the cliff notes of what I was able to discuss with Icon. Only had time for a short 5 min talk, but made a lot of sense.

going to a coil over is too much work and money, unless you have a fab shop and have the cash.
going to a longer control arm will significantly affect the way the torsion bar acts. This can be corrected by a stiffer TB, or he suggested looking into a "mini" coilover to help. Longer control arms on stock TBs will cause a softer, squishier ride
look into building new controls arms with different ball joints and ball joint angles to increase travel, trim away material when possible that may interfere. longer control arms will help with that also.

I will be ask more questions from them as they come up

That's what I've been saying for a while now. 3-4 years even.

Look at the Camburg Chevy stuff....that's what we need. And it may even work without a lot of modifications. In fact - there are more than a few shops that make this type of suspension.

 

[bebe]

Dixon Bros. removes the torsion bars. There is also Brenthel Industries who makes them.

 

[MTUH3]

Bebe... it is because you are so smart. You are not the queen for nothin. Brenthel is in the Raptor business too and a big sponsor of the last event I attended. May be I will see if I can touch base with them too.

 

[atvspeed4]

 

[06 H3]

No ****in way!

 

[Medic_Morgan]

Does it fit!!!!!????


Sent from my secret lair bwaaahhahahahah

 

[MTUH3]

Who is Radflo? What have they done before?

 

[atvspeed4]

Who is Radflo? What have they done before?

They have been around for a long time and make amazing products. http://www.radflo.com/

Their shocks have been used in everything from baja trucks to mining vehicles.

...but I have to break the excitement those shocks are actually for the new dodge rams. Funny how similar they look though. It is pretty much the same design I have been working on but based around a 2.0" Pretty cool though.

 

[Hunner]

Well back to my pickumup truck coil assisted over load rear shocks adapted to the front? ha ha in tandem with the torsions? Just for that extra cushion.
Don't know if there is a length that fits though. These DO NOT but I have not really kept looking.
Maybe Dodge has the clevis lower mount.
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/_/N-8oxxw?itemIdentifier=269936

 

[bebe]

Extended length, compressed length and travel are important too. Not to mention OD of the spring, ID of the Clevis and bolt hole size where it mounts to the LCA (that could be changed with a drill). Bet it won't fit through the UCA.

Rad flo is a decent brand/product, but it's definitely a second tier company.

Many of the GM stuff is clevis mount, Avalanche, 1/4 CHevy/GMC trucks etc.

 

[atvspeed4]

So Bebe, can you share some wisdom of calculating spring rates? The actual math behind it? I have been using the various calculators and have been coming up with some crazy numbers (1,400 lb/in+) I saw that you ran into the same issue but found the actual math behind this.

Thanks!

 

[bebe]

In all the research I did there are no spring rate calculators for IFS. Mike Shaffer, Jeepspeed Baja 1000 Desert racer told me to double whatever I thought it would be. All of the calculators I found were for SA. I found nothing for IFS, even spying around on RDC. I ended up with 650/750 and could probably go 700/800.

If I did find the math, I'd have to go back through my notes, That was 3 years ago :gpa: I think the FOA Calculator was the closest. The main reason for it being off so much was because of the compound shock angle.

 

[atvspeed4]

Hmmm The FOA calculator was the one that came up with 1,400 Lbs/ in even when I change the shock angle to 0 it is still aroun 1,200 lb/ in. Guess it is a trial and error thing.

 

[bebe]

I went through 4 sets of springs before I got to where I am now. And all it did was hold the front end up at 650/750. It could go more, but I like how it rock crawls.