I need to add bump stops to the rear axle of my sedan. I have a Pete & Jakes chassis with a Ford 9 inch rear on parallel 4-bar/panhard bar setup with coilovers. I purchased a pair of the Energy Suspension polyurethane bump stops. They are about 1 1/2" in diameter and about 2" tall. They seem to be as hard as a rock! Is there a softer bump stop? It seems like these wouldn't be much different than steel on steel.
I wouldn't mind running the numbers on the coils for you if you have the actual rear weight of your car. Just need to know the weight for the rear, distance from shock mount to shock mount at drive height, And whether the shocks are mounted straight up and down or at a certain angle.
Big Mike, Thanks for the offer. I can't get to the scales right now. When I can, I'll get the corner weights and measure the height, and angle of the coilover mounts. The vast majority of the time the ride is great and I'm not bottoming out. The only time that I might have, I was doing 70 on the interstate and hit a spot where the Illinois highway department dug out an expansion joint, left a 3-4" deep ditch the width of the lane (about 2 foot long), and didn't bother to mark it! I hit it hard. That's what got me thinking about the bump stops.
I installed the same stops on my frame (SRPM prostreet for a 1937 Plymouth) and like you, am not reassured by their presence. Another thread mentioned a progressive stop would be good. Maybe an answer to all our concerns would be stops I saw on an off-road vehicle which consisted of a rubber tipped shaft that disappeared into a nitrogen charged cylinder. I haven't investigated this yet, but if it was feasible, it seemed also to be something that could be home built.
If the new bumpstops don't work as you hope, then you can get rubber snubbers as used on the old slapper style traction bars from Lakewood. There are many places to buy them, and here's one I found: Lakewood Rubber Snubber | Product Details | Pep Boys
Thanks for the input. I haven't installed the new bumpstops yet - getting ready for my upholsterer, so I don't want to pull everything apart so I can get in there to drill and tap the frame rails. I'll have plenty of time after I get it back. The rubber snubbers are about the same consistency as the bump stops I got from Pete and Jakes - I think they'll work fine. I have seen stackable bumpstops of varying hardness that go on the shock inside the coilover - they require taking the coilover apart to adjust. They are used in some road racing applications.
Thanks Pprather - those rubber springs are very interesting. I think I am OK with the bump stops I have now, but if they don't work out I'll definitely be looking into these.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Hot Rod Forum
2.2M posts
175.7K members
Since 2001
A forum community dedicated to hot rod owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about restoration, builds, performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!