Please elaborate on how these are working out for you. Everyday, around town ride? Any better transfer/traction in drag mode? I have often though how the adjustables would work with the Hotchkis springs. My shocks are dead too and this is something I may want to invest in rather than a new set of regular shocks.

 

This Thread Sucks Without Pics

 

You nasty bastard! Why do you wanna know what my **** looks like??

Yeah, it looks like that. They are "Ford" shocks too. hehehe


Sportside5.3, I didn't have to do anything at all. I simply removed the stock unit which was so dead that after I compressd it I set it on the ground and about 30sec later I heard a noise and the damn thing had started to rebound again. That's a dead shock. Hahaha The new one slipped right into position and bolted up. It is kinda neat in that the valve sits facing the engine bay and there is actually enough room to get your fingers up under the spring perch so you can turn the **** without having to remove the shock. On a lowered truck you'll likely need a jack though to get under the truck. I don't know the stock spring rates or what the measurments were on stock springs. I have a stock spring sitting in the side yard that i can measure for full extend height but I'm not sure if that's what you were asking.


BigKid, I set them on 4 which should be on the loose side and it doesn't really feel loose at all. Maybe it's because i was riding around on blown shocks and so at this point anything will feel tight. I'm going to install the reas this morning and put them at a meadium setting and then go driving around town a bit and see what it feels like. I'll adjust the fronts a couple ways and if it feels like a big differenece with the settings maybe I will take some videos of the truck trying to launch on various settings so you can see the weight transfer. Problem is I don't have my Caltracs on yet (they are shipping my new bars by Fri.) so I'll probbly just spin the tires if I actually try and launch.

 

I have a question. How will the QA1 front shocks help during a launch?

 

I've tried to attach the pics and writeup from one of our former friends over at ls1tech...

but it's not working for me....

anyways, here's what he had to say about the install:

OK before you run out and get QA1 billet 12 point adjustable shocks I discovered some minor problems with the install.

I bought stocker stars for the rear of my truck for full adjustability.
1) the eyelet sleeves they include in the kit need to be honed out to (9/16 or 14mm) to fit stock shock bolts.
and the F*ckers only included 1 in the kit. You obviously need 2 per shock. I guess you could dig out the sleeve on your stock shocks but I just went to Ace hardware and bought some.
2) you need to come up with 3/8,thick space to equal the same width as the eyelet on the stock shocks. The qa1's are a lot narrower. I used 1/8 thick Stainless washers on either side.
3) the way the shocks are designed you need to grind a little bit of the lower shock mount on our axle so the shock "body" doesn't rub. I guess you don't have to but the thought of the billet shock body rubbing on the axle bracket doesn't sit well with me.

Other than that it's looking good. They'll be finished tomorrow with pics.
If any are interested I have the p# and price were I got them.
I have 4" Hotchkis, if your any lower you'll need shorter shocks than the ones I found.
specs;
p# HAL-TC1539P
Thunder Racing sells them and you can get them from QA1 direct for a lot more than retail stores. I choose summit because I had credit there, but I'm sure Thunder would give you a good deal.

Compressed- 15"
Extended-24"
driving height should be good for 18"-What my Bilstiens rode at.

o= setting very soft
12th setting = M1 Tank.

Again, you need to buy at the hardware store, 8-9/16 heavy washers(approx 1/8 thick) to go on either side of shock eyelets. Also the kit only includes 1 (1/2") sleeve per shock and 2 5/8 sleeves.

you have the option of getting 2 more 1/2 sleeves from Qa1 direct and drilling them all out for your 14mm bolts(9/16 same thing) or utilizing the 5/8 sleeves and upgrading the 4 shock bolts to (grade 8) 5/8 bolts. If you go the 5/8 route you'll need to drill out the factory shock brackets and also buy 8-5/8 heavy washers instead of 9/16.

I choose to get 2 more 1/2" spacers and use my drill press to drill them out to 9/16(14mm) and retain my factory shock bolts.
Get them, there awesome.
At zero it feels like a old Cadillac (to Me) Real soft.
At 5-6 it feels they way I like. Good overall ride
At 10 there stiff but still not as harsh as the Bilstiens, basically the "autocross" setting.
I didn't turn them to the full 12 because it seemed kinda pointless.
Overall, Truck is a lot better for cruising now.

I got the part # for the additional sleeves you need if your keeping the stock bolts. P#9033-101

I don't think two people can agree on ride but my truck is real light in the *** and I'm happy I now have adjustability.
Now I know why Airide Technologies uses these shocks.

You can see were I grinded down the shock mount on either side, they look like they touch but they don't. You can also see the washers on either side to equal the Stock Gap.

 

Good write up! I was about to go completely reorganize my original post now that I know what the hell I am doing but no need now. LOL

The shock body didn't look that close in person but in my pic it does indeed look a lil close for comfort. I'll just take shock back out and hit it with a die grinder when I get over to my buddy's house.

 

I just looked at QA1's product catalog and the list the TC1661P as haveing a T-bar lower mount with a Eyelet top. Did you just pull the t-bar out and replace it with a sleeve? It also lists the 1661 as haveing a length of 13.5 comp/21.0 ext which is a good bit shorter than the 1539 Creed used. Did you measure a 4" drop shock or did Creed use a regular shock?

 

Good pics,
My write up is getting pretty old now and outdated it's about time someone else used these shocks.

I used the Bistien shocks, Hotchkis sold me years ago with my 2-4 kit for measuirng purposes.
I belive the rear were for a lowered truck,

I love the ride in the back,

I went with IAS up front for now and just qa1s in the rear.

seems to riding driving great.

On the Drag strip with the mid 13 second runs the truck is really stable, No lurching or swaying what so ever, Its just planted and goes.

I guess my links in the sig don't work anymore.

 

BigKid,

The shock I used for the rear did originally come with a T-bar. We swapped it out for an eyelet right off the bat. I totally forgot about it because I was at the shop for so long. Joel just looked up a bunch of part numbers after taking a measurement of my rear shock the way the truck was sitting. He felt this would give me the best performance by not being to close to bottoming out nor overextending.

I know they are not a sponsor so I was hesitant to even put their name up there but since this is kind of a custom thing it will be hard for sponsors who have never done this before to figure it out and when having to mail stuff back and forth that could get ugly quick! Joel kjnows what parts are needed now and they sell online so that's why I put their info in.

I just measured the rear drivers side shock and it measures 17.5" from the middle of each bolt. If I measure from the top bolt to the start of the shock body it is extended 5.25" out. This gives me 3.5" of possible compression on that side.. I measured the passanger side and I have 4.5" of possible travel. I'm only at 1/4 tank of gas too so with a full tank I'm guessing I'd have less travel on the drivers side?

For comparison sake. The stock shock is 24" fully extended and 15.5" fully compressed.

 

F8L, what kinda deal did you get on them front shocks? Best I can find is about $150... Need a set.