Limiting straps on R50 - one way of doing it.

[fleurys]

This one is long overdue... Here it goes...

I decided last winter to buy what was needed to eliminate the strut top-out I was experiencing almost daily. The road from my house to my work are not in good shape and I wanted to so something about it before my strut disintegrate !

I tried last saturday to take a few pictures to better illustrate how I have decided to do it. There is other ways, but I like mine for different reasons.

1) I used adjustable clevis so I can move the adjustment of the strap if I need it or if I change the setup or suspension. Since At the time of doing this I knew I was going to add a spacer later in the year, I knew It would be a piece of cake to do so. If you have a fixed setup, then you need to either re-weld or change your straps...

2) I welded a plate on the inner fender of the pathy cause I feared the metal sheet of the pathy was not going to be strong enough for the long run if I just welded a small surface mount on it... So I welded a plate, then welded the surface mount on the plate, giving more strength and area to the mount.


I bought my stuff at Pacific Custom ( http://www.pacificcustoms.com ) Great service and fast delivery, no mistakes...worth mentioning these days..
The parts I used are the following :

1) CHROME STEEL ADJUSTABLE CLEVIS FOR LIMITING STRAPS - MADE IN CHINA
Part Number: AC510050C
Price: $35.00

2)WELD ON FORGED MOUNT FOR LIMITING STRAP CLEVIS
Part Number: AC510050CV
Price: $10.00

3) BEARD 13 INCH LONG 2 PLY BLACK SUSPENSION LIMITING STRAP WITH 1/2 BOLT HOLES - MADE IN USA
Part Number: RA17113
Price: $24.00

In my setup, a 13Inch strap was limit a bit and that's why you see the adjuster all the way to the minimum. But since I will be adding a spacer this winter, It will go down 1 inch and will be perfect. Be advised that straps do stretch a bit. I would recommend a 12inch for a regular pathy lifted with ac springs but no spacers.

The bottom was made from a welded piece of steel that was bent a bit in order to have a direct line with the upper mount so that it pulls in straight line.

Here's a few pictures... If you have questions, don't hesitate. ha yes, almost forgot... gone is the bang of top out.. now I don't hear anything.

General view:




Upper mount:



Lower mount:




.

Hopefully this will help clear the many questions you guys may have about this mod.

S.

[fueler]

you did yours much nicer than mine




(just kiddding - my buddies shock actually snapped at the bottom mount, on his toyota... we stuffed the shock into the lower control arm and secured it with that ribbon cable.... finished a day of wheelin and drove 200 miles home!!)

(and then he still used the truck like that to drive to work every day for 2 weeks... so dangerous!!)

[fleurys]

yeah... I was going to say unless you did a coilover modification, this was not your truck :-) ... and, dangerous seems like a good word for this setup.. hahaha

[Finkle]

Bringing this one back from the dead, but I'm already sick of the strut top out thud and will be doing this very soon. I just need to ask my welding friend for help because I don't own a welder.

[01silvapathy]

Even with those limiting straps you are still going to hear and feel a thud when the strap fully extends. Strut top out comes with the territory, mine went away with my sfd.

[ARKQX33V6]

I see the work that you went to, it took time and effort, but can you explain why. What are you preventing and why? Struts are robust, made for banging and reverse thrust and forward thrust are metered. When thud banging occurs the metering section is gone. Help me understand, thanks

[fleurys]

Well, when the strut tops out , it's actually the internal cylinder of the strut that gets to it's maximum extension and hitting the internal bumpstop. This can be of no consequence if you hit it once in a blue moon going over a shopping mall speedbump. On my case, I was hitting this while offroading and more than once in 1 climb that was rough on the truck. Each time the strut tops out you could be causing damage to the strut (bumstop, oil seal, rod etc..)... I was afraid it would cause premature failure of my struts... So by having a strap that is welded to the side of the inner fender at about 1/2inch before topout, the struts always stays within working limits and i'm sure I prolong their life...

[ARKQX33V6]

fleurys, I find that strut life is around 60,000 miles, or 100,000 km with black top driving, the off roading is my 30' driveway.

The oil limiter for oil flow should reduce the flow before the stop b ut you felt that the banging was excessive? What shape are the strut hold downs, the fender area on top and the 2 big bolts into the side near the bottom.

Can the welded studs attached to the side hold the banging without the side becoming damaged? What about ripping of the straps?

Thanks for clearing this up!

[fleurys]

yes banging was excessive for me : offroad and on-road... With the AC springs, there is very little down travel since the unibody goes down 2-3 inch less...so you loose this in downtravel.

the shape on the bottom is a simple rectangle with a small bent angle to clear the half-shaft of any contact. The top is a simple square plate where I welded the forged mount.. for the bolt, there is nothing fancy about them..just bolts,..

Up to now, the setup has been very solid. So yes the welded mount will hold and the inner fender has held also. This is why I welded the plate to have a bigger surface for the mount instead of welding it directly. as for ripping the straps, buy them and you will see.... these could probably hold the weight of truck TWICE if not more...so no, i<m not worried for this aspect.... And frankly if you do not offroad, it's a still a 200$ or so modif that you will not need... unless you like to fly over speedbumps when you shop :-)