Posted by ryan on December 05, 1999 at 14:06:46:
In Reply to: Edelbrock IAS shocks posted by Ben on December 04, 1999 at 15:24:55:
How do they compare with Ranchos version of this shock?
: Just finished installing & test driving the new Edelbrock IAS shocks. They live up to the performance catagory, as they are "firm" without the "roughness" over pot holes, railroad tracks, etc. Wife noticed that they were better over the tar strips on the freeway. They even did a very good job on the "off road" track in the local watershed that I've been test driving modifications for years.
: Some notes that might help others with instaling gas filled shocks.
: Front is 18mm hardware. Rear is 13mm & 21mm hardware. The front is easier to get at from the bottom if you remove two of the fastners holding the "rubber flap" (those fastners are "one time" so replace with nylon 6-32 fastners & washers...I riveted with washers).
: The factory straps have the shocks to short to make the bottom bolt hole and when cut, you only have one shot at getting the bolt into the hole as it passes. All this is under pressure and you cann't push the bottom hole back up to match the hole on the vehicle. I used the block & tackle from my windsurfer, but that got grease all over it and went to the hardware store and bought a two, 2 wheel pulleys. Tie the top pulley to the top & bottom of the shock (1/8" string a couple times around the knuckle of the shock, tie a roman hitch or some sort of knot that you can untie easily). You can "recompress" the shock if you miss lining up the holes all by yourself. Guess the gas pressure is in the 75lb-100lb or more range. You have to Hercules to push it back by hand without the pulleys.
: With that arrangement you can ease the shock down while you force the bushing into the mounting bracket (i had to use a rubber mallet).
: The boots have plastic ties that you are to install aournd the top and suggest you install them with the boot as low as possible. If you install the boot higher, when the suspension fully extends, it will pull the boot down and if not low enough, will pull the bottom of the boot off of the bottom ring. I also installed two ties and sprayed silicon to seal the joint around the boot & shock body. Just a few "picky" points of mine.
: Hope this helps someone out there.
: -Ben
: PS....Bought the shocks on line from "Performance Products" (one of the sponsors of this forum) one of the shocks had been opened and installed. It was obvious that that person had cut the tie, the shock extended and they couldn't get the bottom knuckle lined up with the mounting bracket, so they sent it back. I didn't want to install a potentially "used" part. Performance was VERY good about the whole thing and sent a replacement & return shipping tag (prepaid). Not their fault (other than that they should really check returns better), as the person had the box restapled and looked like it hadn't been opened (rear shock had grease all over it, the top mounting tabs showed that the bolts had been fully torqued and a bunch of marks indicating that they "pounded" on the bottom knuckle trying to force it up to line up with the mounting bracket).