you cannot use identical extenders for both the driver & pass side.. call Western & get the extenders for the LIghjtning/Harley trucks with staggared shocks
SHocks should be the same length.
Rob W
you cannot use identical extenders for both the driver & pass side.. call Western & get the extenders for the LIghjtning/Harley trucks with staggared shocks
SHocks should be the same length.
Rob W
This is driving me nuts!!!!Originally posted by 2002GreyHD150
you cannot use identical extenders for both the driver & pass side.. call Western & get the extenders for the LIghjtning/Harley trucks with staggared shocks
SHocks should be the same length.
Rob W
I call Sport truck direct and they tell me that Western only makes one type of extender and that's it. Never heard about this issue ever and he says he sells a ton of Lightning stuff.
Called Gill at So Cal Speedshop, as indicated in this thread previously, and he tells me that the Lightning takes identical extenders on both side. The Harley on the other hand is as he states "completely different".
I get into the details and he tells me "Listen we make these kits and I assure you that the L and HD are different. Then he adds that "we have encountered problems with Lightnings with DRUM BRAKES". I tell him that none of the 1999-2004 Lightnings were ever made with drum brakes and I seriously doubt that owners would make that change.
At this point, I get the feeling that I may as well be speaking Pakistani and the guy seems to think that I'm from outer space.
So, this is my issue: The passenger side shock is a full 1.5" longer than the one on the driver's side. How do I solve this problem?
Red
Red So Cal has proven time & again they dont get it or understand, it took me 4 YES FOUR tries to get the riught extenders.
the L & HD use staggard shock rear end. THE L & HD are the same. The nver had drum brakes in the Gen II series trucks.. '99-04....
So with West. Chassis I don't know what to recommend. I am on the roadthis week in denver. if you want my So-Cal CORRECT HD/L extenders send me a PM...make me an offer.
Rob W
Which QA-1's are that if you know by chance? Thanks RonnieOriginally posted by 2002GreyHD150
Hotchkiss does NOT include shocks. QA-1's are the choice here. Extenders are not used anymore with this since Ayrton found there is another QA-1 that is shorter than what we were using.
Rob
'03 Lightning 10.50 @ 128.50
Truck built & tuned by AVT Performance(843-365-6918). Whipple Powered, Racetested Nitrous, BTS Tranny, & Detroit Truetrac
the best way is to have your truck on the ground or on a drive-on lift so you can measure the at rest length of the shocks... then take one rear shock out & 1 front shock out & measure them fully compressed & fully extended... give QA-1 those (3) meaurements & they can abosolute best shock for your truck...
the original QA-1's recommended were too long for the TVS & required extenders... the new one Aryton found were better but still not correct for every truck... example.. if you tow alot...you will need LESS shock travel becuase with a load on the rear or in the bed... the longer shocks will bottom sooner. Aslso the TVS will loose some payload & towing capaicty, so a set of load assist air bags may be needed, especially in the heavier S-Crews.
the best option is to measure on the truck... you can get by with stock shocks or Lightning spec Bilsteins for a few miles until the correct QA-1s arrive...
Now with all that said...TVS no longer recommends the QA-1's, Air Ride technologies no longer uses QA-1 & more & more companies are switching away from QA-1 except in the very light Streeet-rod market. Why? shock failures. the upper mounts were snapping off. the valving wasn't up to the weight/spring combo etc. My Qa-1's w/TVS were DESTROYED in under 30,000 miles... I sold them as rebuildable cores to a memebr here. If you ONLY plan to road race/open track the truck... especially a lightning.. QA-1's are the way to go with a set of Upper Heim joint tops...
Adjustability is overrated & really not all its cracked up to be on a streeet truck... even one that see's occasional track use.
for a 90% + street truck the TVS/Bilsteins will do MORE for you for WAY less(literally HALF) the money & leave you extra $$ for other mods...
Just my .02.. since I have had pretty much every shock with my TVS (Stock, Bell tech, Edelbrock, & finally TVS/Bilsteins) & literally every suspension set up out there... use your mod $$ for something tangible.
Rob W
Last edited by 2002GreyHD150; 02-17-2006 at 08:22 PM.
All I can say about QA-1 is from their coil over struts that I tried to make work on my Cobra. I tried them with 12"x175/350# progressive springs. They didn't work out so I changed to 350# linear springs. Struts totally destroyed themselves within 2k miles. Had them rebuilt (I had to buy a new strut body for one it was so tore up) and revalved by a shop that does Nascar shocks and is an authorized QA-1 shop and paid top $ to get them done. Within 2500 miles they were trashed again. I changed to coil over Bilsteins and have never looked back. No more QA-1 stuff for me.
I have the street-rod/MUstang II coil over conversion in my '78 Mustang II King cobra & love it... but then again.. my King CObra weighs like 3,000 lbs total with me in it...
Qa1 + heavier cars = failure...
Rob W
Rancho RS-9000 then? If they are good enough for Off Road Vehicles like Bronco's and the like why not for our Trucks....adjustable, built for off roading on heavy 4x4s sounds like something that would be better suited for us.
The struts I had were marketted for the SN95 Mustang. I had them revalved stiffer and used a better grade synth oil in them. Naake Motorsports did the work and those guys know shocks. The damn things were always noisy as hell and just never worked worth a crap. I am sure there are others with different experiences but with the number of proven alternatives I don't expect to ever do business with QA-1 again.
like I said.. my opinion is that adjustable on a street truck is really not really a functional option... the front adjuster knobs are virtually unreachable the rears are easy.. but how often after they are finally dialed in will you adjust them?
Iv had my truck (wiuth the topper no less) on a road course with botht eh QA-1's & the bilstein/TVS's & the TVS's gave better lap times no matter how hard I drove or adjusted the QA-1's... same track same time of year, same engine mods.. not the same day.. but still a near A/B comparision...
in this case, like many audio set ups, tooo much adjustablility is actually dangerous to most consumers & without being able to adjust spring rates... really worth less..
Bilsteins all the way...
Until Chris Alston Chassis Works expands their Vari-a-Shock DUAL adjustable (compression AND rebound) I will stick with Bilsteins.. & then I will compare before spending $$.
Rob W
For most people I agree that adjustable shocks probably work against them more than for them. In a street vehicle a properly matched set of shocks and springs will deliver all the performance the average driver is able to handle. Too much adjustability becomes a distraction from learning how to drive your vehicle. You end up tweaking and most people end up with a worse setup than non adjustables.
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