Quote:
Originally Posted by aardvarcus
Looking good! I am assuming the PVC was just for mockup and will be replaced with a bolt and some washers.
It is hard to tell from the pictures, but how close is the shock mount on the hitch side (not trailer side) to the pivot point? The further the shock is from the pivot point (in the front/back direction) the more the shocks will travel with respect to the angle. If the mount is close to the pivot from a front/back perspective, you may want to move it closer to where the hitch mounts. I would hate to see all that work to not have the shocks travel enough to provide adequate damping.
Also, you will probably want to make sure that at the normal resting position on flat ground the shock is roughly in the middle of it's travel. That way the shocks won't over extend/compress if you drive over a sharp change in slope on the road.
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Yes, the PEX pipe was only fer mock up purposes and not fer road use. I'll have to hunt down some 5/8" OD tubing and see what bolt will fit through that tubing. I know I want to have some spacers welded to the 2" to 1.25" adapter so it will be better able to handle the associated stresses. The tubing will then be passed through the adapter and welded in place. A grade 8 bolt will keep the shocks secured on the mount.
I measured from center of the pivot hole to the center of the shock hole on the rear tongue of the hitch and came up with ~3.75" If I were to have mounted forward on the main bar of the hitch, I would have issues with the tailgate...that is I would've have to disconnect/air down the air shocks any time I had to access bed via the tailgate...which isn't something I was gonna look forward to if I had to get things in/out after I hooked up the trailer.
I understood that the further away from the pivot point, the more dampening action I would see on the shock. Extending the tongue to the rear seemed like the best compromise with my requirements.
The 2" to 1.25" adapter that I cannibalized fer the top shock mount can be mounted at any vertical point along bulkhead so I can adjust fer the range of the shock(s) to allow fer maximum clearance and within the range of the shock. If you look further back into this thread, you'll see where I was testing the maximum range of the end of the trailer and when it would contact the truck/aerocap. I think the shock will be well within this range.