Two part question....521 with a 520 on the side

[jrock4224]

so first does anyone know or have used a shorter shock in place of the stock 521..

 

 

.a 521 is pretty darn short to begin with but i have heard of a shorter shock debated about......i am currently trying to figure out a new upper mount that's quick and easy to gain shock travel.....i toyed with moving the lower out but after cycling the arms i see there's no real benefit to that..... so im back to changing the upper....my initial idea is to use the spare frame i have sitting here to be bagged and cut the top of the tower off and leaving it long...then on han's truck, i was thinking we would cut his tower off and weld the longer piece off the donor frame to his tower netting a possible 1-3 inch gain in travel....and make it look as factory as possible with some grinding....when we do this the plan is to re work the snubber to gain travel there too on his truck.... BUT ...on my 521  i wanna figure out a quick solution as this static drop is only temporary till winter when i can bag this truck or swap the frames which is more what im leaning towards since i have a spare to use..so im trying to find either a shorter shock ...(preferred) or make a quick bucket i can weld to the existing tower to gain me a inch or two of shock travel....driving a 521 dumped with out shocks is not advised and I'm only doing it to guinea pig for the rest of ratsun....my spine hurts.....and shocks to more dampening then anything ... my suspension is unusually loud with no shocks...but the lows ......

 

 

 

second question.....

 

is sky blue mentioned that a 520 has a one piece drive shaft stock and will bolt to a 521 4 sp apllication?  is this true cause i could prolly scrounge one up for less then building a shaft.....so at some point did i miss that is a 520 driveshaft one piece and work for this application

 

 

[thisismatt]

Yes, 520 has a one piece shaft.  I actually think my 69 J13 521 has a one piece shaft as well that I think was a carryover from the 520.

[mklotz70]

The one piece drive shaft was used with the smaller engines prior to the L series.  If it's the right length, you'll need to do something about the crossmember that holds the two piece drive shaft.....it will be in the way of the one piece.

 

 

The only shorter shocks I've seen were drop shocks that are about $60-70ea.  Check mini-truckin' or street truck mags for an add......or google them.  The 521 shock is still available.  The 320 shock was shorter, but I never did find another OEM replacement for it, nor, did I find a shock any shorter than the 521 shock.  I built pockets into my Z'd control arms to handle the longer shock. 

[Tristin]

Why dont you quit pussy-footing around JR and get to bagging already?

[Laecaon]

I want to say if you switch to a stud mount on the bottom as well, instead of the eyelet, you may have a couple shorter options (studs also mount a little lower).

 

But at that point, just raise the shock tower, and run some real shocks.

[Tristin]

What is the length of the 521 shock?

[Laecaon]

Gabriel says 12.6 extended/8.59 collapsed.

 

Monroe says 12.5 extended/8.375 collapsed.

[mrbigtanker]

The one piece drive shaft was used with the smaller engines prior to the L series.  If it's the right length, you'll need to do something about the crossmember that holds the two piece drive shaft.....it will be in the way of the one piece.

 

 

The only shorter shocks I've seen were drop shocks that are about $60-70ea.  Check mini-truckin' or street truck mags for an add......or google them.  The 521 shock is still available.  The 320 shock was shorter, but I never did find another OEM replacement for it, nor, did I find a shock any shorter than the 521 shock.  I built pockets into my Z'd control arms to handle the longer shock. 

So i just made a 1 piece drive shaft out of aluminum,as long as your not laying frame you can convert to 1 piece.And just go coil overs already with 450# springs,shock and spring all in one.

[Tristin]

What about running a Rabbit rear shock up front? They have a shorter valve body and good travel length. 

[jrock4224]

Why dont you quit pussy-footing around JR and get to bagging already?

..this is my half ass attempt to back burner that till everything else runs and drive s... including goon including mad sick 70's jet boat...

 

 

 

thanks m klotz i think as low as i am i wont need to do anything with that cross member .... its down hill to the tranny im more worried about the cab... phixius runs a one piece and it clears the cross member but he had it rubbing his cab..... i will clearance the cab if that is required....as far as shocks im gonna do what i said to hans truck but mine im gonna make a new upper piece to weld in to gain some travel....i thought i heard pinto shocks were shorter but have failed to research that......i bought some brand new shocks a while back bu there tolerances must not be the same cause both hans and phixius were lower on there stock shocks....i think monroe just found a close equivalent from a similar vehicle...

 

 

tristin

 

i also have been looking for the shortest collapsed height in a shock with the same mounting style.....its been hit and miss with stats from shock companys...

[Tristin]

What about these:

 

Both, 1978 Ford Mustang II (rear) and the 1987 Toyota Corolla (AE86 rear)
share the same Monroe part# 32191
Compressed length: 10.250"
Extended length: 16.500"
Travel length: 6.250"
Lower mounting code (the same for both) 7/16"x1.7/8" OAL

[jrock4224]

my current measurement shows the stock 521 shock compress...i should go off there facts though since i dont know what the over all ehight is ....like mouning to mounting or over all

[jrock4224]

Gabriel says 12.6 extended/8.59 collapsed.

 

Monroe says 12.5 extended/8.375 collapsed.

this is true i was wrong i have gabriels and they don't collapse as far as other shocks .... i dont know where they measure from...i get 10 1/4

[Laecaon]

 

Kyb

[jrock4224]

well that's how i measure bu there's no way its 8.59...ok just remeasured pretty close to to 8.59.......i guess my dick really is huge

[mrbigtanker]

If you look up the Pinto i am almost 100% sure that was the shortest shock.And that aint no shit.

[Laecaon]

If you look up the Pinto i am almost 100% sure that was the shortest shock.And that aint no shit.

 

 

Monroe says the Pinto shock has the exact same compressed length, but has a shorter extended length. At least that is their application.

 

 

My understanding has been that the 521 has the shortest shock for eyelet/stud mounting.

[wayno]

I have been at baxters with 3 different shocks side by side, the 520/521, pinto, and some other one that was supposed to be short, nothing was shorter than the 520/521 shock compressed.

[mrbigtanker]

Well ok that's good to know,so close I guess

[wayno]

Well ok that's good to know,so close I guess

 

The pinto shocks were basically the same length compressed, but unless they are of better quality, I don't see a point in changing to pinto shocks.

I have went in a different direction, since I use 720 frames, I found a shock that compresses a half inch shorter than the 520/521 shock, it is a stud/stud version, which I can mount in a 720 lower control arm sway bar mount hole, which is 3 inches lower than the stock 720 shock mount hole.

I still have 4 inches of suspension travel, but have not tried driving it yet.

 

And yes, I also made drop arms, but unfortunately I was unable to mount them much lower, as when I made the drop arms, I cut them in the easiest place which basically means the lower shock mount did not get dropped much, maybe a half inch, while mikes drop arms, the shock does not lose room at all, most of what I gained using the stud/stud mounting was lost in the drop arm design.

I gained 3 inches of shock travel room by using the sway bar mount holes to mount the stud/stud design, but the lost 2 1/2" of it making the drop arm, basically I dropped the frame and raised the lower shock mount.