FMTV Shock Absorbers

[Ronmar]

the 2008 corrola front mcpherson struts when taken out and the spring taken off of the strut with some flat mount plates welded on each end to fasten to could replace our airbags on the cab air ride . I will let you know when i get around to R&D on that .

If you remove the spring, what is going to support the cab weight? I mentioned earlier I was weighing the cab at the back, it was for this same purpose, developing a cab suspension alternative as I am not sure I want to stay with air. My first weight measurements tell me each airbag/spring needs to support approximately #350 static weight at ride height, with 2 passengers… I was looking at some front and rear suspension components off of a mitsu, as our cab weight with 2 pax is probably similar to a small/compact auto. I was not having much luck finding specific weight info(dampening & rebound) for the suspension components though, and I am certain they all have too much travel. Stock travel is just under 2”… I stumbled upon another idea though that may work better. I need to re-do my weight measurements though as this is vital, with so little suspension travel(am looking at increasing it to 2.4”) to get the spring components correct so the cab sets at mid-range ride height at its operational weight… self adjusting air definitely has an advantage here, so I may scrap the idea and build my own air system…

 

[chucky]

If you remove the spring, what is going to support the cab weight? I mentioned earlier I was weighing the cab at the back, it was for this same purpose, developing a cab suspension alternative as I am not sure I want to stay with air. My first weight measurements tell me each airbag/spring needs to support approximately #350 static weight at ride height, with 2 passengers… I was looking at some front and rear suspension components off of a mitsu, as our cab weight with 2 pax is probably similar to a small/compact auto. I was not having much luck finding specific weight info(dampening & rebound) for the suspension components though, and I am certain they all have too much travel. Stock travel is just under 2”… I stumbled upon another idea though that may work better. I need to re-do my weight measurements though as this is vital, with so little suspension travel(am looking at increasing it to 2.4”) to get the spring components correct so the cab sets at mid-range ride height at its operational weight… self adjusting air definitely has an advantage here, so I may scrap the idea and build my own air system…

My idea is to remove the mcpherson shock out of the center of the spring and use the spring in place of the air bag with flat metal plate welded on both end to be able to use nuts and bolts to secure the spring in place . I just need the springs to support the weight of cab/nerf bars ect upper storage and to have just a little give in the spring to take out the big bump and road vibration . And to have a constant go to spot once parked for alignment of pass thru from box to cab .

 

[Mullaney]

My idea is to remove the mcpherson shock out of the center of the spring and use the spring in place of the air bag with flat metal plate welded on both end to be able to use nuts and bolts to secure the spring in place . I just need the springs to support the weight of cab/nerf bars ect upper storage and to have just a little give in the spring to take out the big bump and road vibration . And to have a constant go to spot once parked for alignment of pass thru from box to cab .

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Thinking about that... What about the addition of some sort of shock absorber. Only reason I ask is that having a dimwitted friend back in high school who took OFF the absorbers of his car. He would hit a bump, and the thing would bounce down the road for several minutes... A double bump would be worse (think a rough road). Just trying to help you think it out...

 

[coachgeo]

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Thinking about that... What about the addition of some sort of shock absorber. Only reason I ask is that having a dimwitted friend back in high school who took OFF the absorbers of his car. He would hit a bump, and the thing would bounce down the road for several minutes... A double bump would be worse (think a rough road). Just trying to help you think it out...

Look at the cab suspension for the same cab.... on Steyr trucks. (12M18?) They use coil over shocks .... the guys I have talked to say the SUCK and they usually add air suspension seats to compensate..... and go with the dual cab shocks w/springs upgrade as offered by a high dollar outfitter on the other side of the pond. All of them said they would much rather have our cab air bag ride system

 

[Ronmar]

Yea coil spring will be a problem if you are planning on roof storage and possibly varying cab weights by a large amount. That is the tricky part with such a small amount of travel. a little weight change and you start regularly hammering on one stop or another… Or you select a spring rate so high that this doesn’t happen and suffer a hard ride as the consequence…