UPDATED: Replacing Rear Shocks: Reducing the rear end bounce.

[i8iridium]

I'm probably going to tackle this project today, and I think that a quality stepper bit might work well in this situation.

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[mkhuffman]

I'm probably going to tackle this project today, and I think that a quality stepper bit might work well in this situation.

Good luck and report back your results! I am planning to do my car this weekend.

 

[azerik]

I'm probably going to tackle this project today, and I think that a quality stepper bit might work well in this situation.

Figure that steel is a little over 1/4 inch thick. Might want need to attack it from both sides, but yes a a stepped bit would be easiest. Heck Harbor Freight has those too as they're not cheap from hardware stores.

 

[i8iridium]

Figure that steel is a little over 1/4 inch thick. Might want need to attack it from both sides, but yes a a stepped bit would be easiest. Heck Harbor Freight has those too as they're not cheap from hardware stores.

Yup, you're right, the stepper bit wasn't a total solution. I did use it to get it sized up to the drill bit and then use the drill bit the rest of the way. It helped me keep it centered better. For others, Use a good lube or you'll eat up your bits.

 

[azerik]

I drilled mine on a 2x4 on my bench so when the bit goes through it wouldn’t drill a hole in my butcher block. However, when my normal drill bit grabbed a hole of the mount the mount wacked my hand/fingers. 3 times. And they were done ?

 

[HuntingPudel]

I drilled mine on a 2x4 on my bench so when the bit goes through it wouldn’t drill a hole in my butcher block. However, when my normal drill bit grabbed a hole of the mount the mount wacked my hand/fingers. 3 times. And they were done ?

Erik, two words: Bench vise. ??

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

Erik, two words: Bench vise. ??

My thoughts exactly!

 

[RMoore]

Erik, two words: Bench vise. ??

Or drill press if you have one and if it’s doable given the geometry. You can then control the bit speed more easily. And agree good to use some sort of oil as lubrication when drilling steel.

 

[i8iridium]

Well, it went great. Took it on a short drive and it seems less bouncy. I didn't really notice any difference in road noise over bumps, but we'll see after tomorrows commute to work. Thanks for all the trial and testing to figure this out!

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

Well, it went great. Took it on a short drive and it seems less bouncy. I didn't really notice any difference in road noise over bumps, but we'll see after tomorrows commute to work. Thanks for all the trial and testing to figure this out!

Pat, that's great to hear. I think you are the first GT to test, so that's encouraging news!

 

[markboris]

Well, it went great. Took it on a short drive and it seems less bouncy. I didn't really notice any difference in road noise over bumps, but we'll see after tomorrows commute to work. Thanks for all the trial and testing to figure this out!

Pat, this is good news and you are the first member to run them that weren't the testers. Besides the less bounce, do you notice the rear stays more flat (handles better)? They shouldn't induce any noise at all. Not any more than OEM shocks. The lower rubber mount is the same as in the OEM shocks and we are using the upper mount of the OEM shocks.

Your car is a GT and the GT has stiffer shocks than non-GT MME's so you already have a bit less bounce than the other cars. The difference won't be as much but there is still a difference.

 

[markboris]

Erik, two words: Bench vise. ??

Agree, I use my vise for all the drilling and many projects.

About the drill bits, I have always had DeWalt and sometimes Milwaukee. I normally am only drilling through wood. I ate up quite a few drill bits on this project and never thought there would be a huge difference between good bits and really good bits. These DeWalt 30 piece sets were around $35 at Lowes. After going through a few bits, I bought a CLE-Line 12 piece $65 drill set and it drills those holes in the upper mount like butter. They never seem to be getting dull either. I guess you get what you pay for. ?

 

[kkmoon]

I have all the parts on order for this. Hope to get to it next week sometime. I have a 22 GT. I also have the Steeda rear sway bar sitting in my garage waiting to be installed. I was kind of thinking I would tackle both at the same time.

Questions for the experts:
Is there any good reason not to install both the shocks and sway bar at the same time?
What setting should I start out on for the sway bar? I have the stock GT wheels and tires and plan on staying that way for the time being.

Thanks for the advice and all of your work on this!

 

[markboris]

I have all the parts on order for this. Hope to get to it next week sometime. I have a 22 GT. I also have the Steeda rear sway bar sitting in my garage waiting to be installed. I was kind of thinking I would tackle both at the same time.

Questions for the experts:
Is there any good reason not to install both the shocks and sway bar at the same time?
What setting should I start out on for the sway bar? I have the stock GT wheels and tires and plan on staying that way for the time being.

Thanks for the advice and all of your work on this!

I think you should do both at the same time since you are under there. The sway bar will take you longer but just get it all done at one time. As far as the sway bar setting goes it is basically up to you and how you drive. If you take corners very hard with the stock tires you might want to run the end or middle setting. If you ever change out your tires for wider or stickier ones, then the stiffest setting would be good. There are a lot of people here (Mike and John to name a couple) that have the OEM tires and run at the stiffest setting. They don't usually push the car too hard (except maybe Mike ?) and like the very flat handling that the stiffest setting gives. It is easy to change once you it set up so I recommend going to the stiffest setting and if it is too much for your tires and driving, go back to the middle setting.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I have all the parts on order for this. Hope to get to it next week sometime. I have a 22 GT. I also have the Steeda rear sway bar sitting in my garage waiting to be installed. I was kind of thinking I would tackle both at the same time.

Questions for the experts:
Is there any good reason not to install both the shocks and sway bar at the same time?
What setting should I start out on for the sway bar? I have the stock GT wheels and tires and plan on staying that way for the time being.

Thanks for the advice and all of your work on this!

No good reason to not install everything at the same time. ?‍?

The answer for the setting for the bar is “it depends.” Are you installing the front Steeda bar as well? If not, set it at the softest setting. Even at the softest setting the bar is stiffer than the stock bar. This might lead to a car being tail-happy (loose, oversteering characteristics) at or near its limit. It probably will handle better (i.e. make better sector times) with both stock bars in place than it would with a mismatch (given same tires front and rear). For a car like the Mach-E, I would choose a front bar to set the car’s roll characteristics and use a rear bar to tune the over/understeer characteristics. ??

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