Re: Wagonmaster Shock Mounting

[bearbvd@domain.elided (Greg Hermann)]

>Okay-
>
>Another chance for all of you knowledgeable old digest salts to teach
>the young whipper-snapper something.
>
>The oft-discussed Wagonmaster I have-'74, 392, AT, 1000 series- has a
>set of nice, but BIG tires on it.  Some prior owner was decking it out
>lie a hot-rod, and put some big meats on it, that are actually too big
>for the wheelwells.  They are okay and barely tuck under at rest, but
>upon driving, they rub enough to smell rubber burning and hear the sound
>of the rub.
>
>I crawled underneath to see if there were anything I could do to correct
>this besides change the tires, and found that the shocks on each side of
>the rear are in different orientations.  The driver's side mounts in
>front of the axle, and goes forward at an angle that is still fairly
>"upright."  The passenger side, however, mounts behind the axle and goes
>rearward, at an angle that is much more parallel to the ground/street.
>I can see that the same holes are on both sides of the frame, that would
>allow the top mounting bracket to go into the frame at either place.
>However, the bottom mounts are on one side or the other of the axle, and
>this does not seem easily movable-without turning the housing, I guess.
>I didn't even look to see where these attached.
>Anyway, anyone want to explain why this is this way?  The one that goes
>from the axle rear-ward is at such a low angle, it seems like it is to
>keep the shock from being too severe when you are driving backwards.  I
>don't understand this one.
>
>So, while we're at it-any easy way to raise my rear end about an inch or
>two?  Springs, I guess, but something easier and cheaper?
>
>Thanks for any advice/knowledge!

The "staggered" shocks are intended to control axle/spring "wind-up" under
high torque loading. Best of both worlds is to mount one in each side in
both positions.

Regards, Greg
>
>Michael