Which Belltech rear shocks?

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iamdub

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Let's say this is for a 4" rear drop. Belltech has two different Street Performance shocks: The longer 2412FF for a 0" - 3" drop and the shorter 2410FF for a 3" - 5" drop.

I have shock extenders and it looks like they're good for returning 3.5" of travel.

Possible combinations would be:

(A) Longer shocks with extenders and lose 1/2" of compression

(B) Longer shocks with no extenders and lose 1" of compression

(C) Shorter shocks with extenders and have 4.5" of extra compression, but possibly lose too much extension

(D) Shorter shocks with no extenders and have 1" of extra compression


Of course, I'd need to know where the shocks sit in their range of stroke at ride height. I'm thinking a 60/40 split favoring compression would be ideal because most of the time the shock is going to be getting compressed but I don't want the shock maxing out it's extension when cresting the big humps at highway speeds. Also, my thinking is that it's better to have as much shock body as possible for more oil and/or gas volume.

What do the experts say? Am I overthinking this? Yes, I plan to call Belltech to get their advice but wanted to post my thoughts here while I was thinking of it all.
 
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iamdub

iamdub

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I figured this thread would be a one-sided convo. :rolleyes:

I wanted to get the full engineering specs (body and rod dimensions, valving, etc.) to compare the shocks to each other, but the guy at Belltech (KW Automotive) could only tell me what the extended and compressed lengths were. He also said the shocks were incompatible with my Tahoe due to the Autoride and Auto-Level functions. I told him I'm deleting all of that and would like to focus on the shock info. Then he told me the Belltech 25003 struts I have for the front won't bolt up because the top mount is different. I guess I'll just have to come up with a way to make them work. :rolleyes:

Here's the info I collected for comparison:

OEM Autoride/Auto-Level shock dimensions:
Extended- 22.75"
Compressed- 15.375"
Stroke- 7.375"


Belltech 2410FF dimensions:
Extended- 20.5"
Compressed- 13"
Stroke- 7.5"


Belltech 2412FF dimensions:
Extended- 22.5"
Compressed- 14"
Stroke- 8.5"



I ordered a pair of the longer 2412FF shocks. I decided on these since they are close to the factory shock dimensions so I shouldn't have a problem installing them before the drop. With a 4" drop and the extenders that return 3.5" of travel, the original travel distance is only shortened .5". The compressed length of the BT 2412FF is 1.375" shorter than the stock shock so I'm actually GAINING travel distance with my 4" drop so bottoming out the shock should never happen.
 

HiHoeSilver

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I figured this thread would be a one-sided convo. :rolleyes:

I wanted to get the full engineering specs (body and rod dimensions, valving, etc.) to compare the shocks to each other, but the guy at Belltech (KW Automotive) could only tell me what the extended and compressed lengths were. He also said the shocks were incompatible with my Tahoe due to the Autoride and Auto-Level functions. I told him I'm deleting all of that and would like to focus on the shock info. Then he told me the Belltech 25003 struts I have for the front won't bolt up because the top mount is different. I guess I'll just have to come up with a way to make them work. :rolleyes:

Here's the info I collected for comparison:

OEM Autoride/Auto-Level shock dimensions:
Extended- 22.75"
Compressed- 15.375"
Stroke- 7.375"


Belltech 2410FF dimensions:
Extended- 20.5"
Compressed- 13"
Stroke- 7.5"


Belltech 2412FF dimensions:
Extended- 22.5"
Compressed- 14"
Stroke- 8.5"



I ordered a pair of the longer 2412FF shocks. I decided on these since they are close to the factory shock dimensions so I shouldn't have a problem installing them before the drop. With a 4" drop and the extenders that return 3.5" of travel, the original travel distance is only shortened .5". The compressed length of the BT 2412FF is 1.375" shorter than the stock shock so I'm actually GAINING travel distance with my 4" drop so bottoming out the shock should never happen.

Sounds like a good call.
 

kbuskill

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I figured this thread would be a one-sided convo. :rolleyes:

I wanted to get the full engineering specs (body and rod dimensions, valving, etc.) to compare the shocks to each other, but the guy at Belltech (KW Automotive) could only tell me what the extended and compressed lengths were. He also said the shocks were incompatible with my Tahoe due to the Autoride and Auto-Level functions. I told him I'm deleting all of that and would like to focus on the shock info. Then he told me the Belltech 25003 struts I have for the front won't bolt up because the top mount is different. I guess I'll just have to come up with a way to make them work. :rolleyes:

Here's the info I collected for comparison:

OEM Autoride/Auto-Level shock dimensions:
Extended- 22.75"
Compressed- 15.375"
Stroke- 7.375"


Belltech 2410FF dimensions:
Extended- 20.5"
Compressed- 13"
Stroke- 7.5"


Belltech 2412FF dimensions:
Extended- 22.5"
Compressed- 14"
Stroke- 8.5"



I ordered a pair of the longer 2412FF shocks. I decided on these since they are close to the factory shock dimensions so I shouldn't have a problem installing them before the drop. With a 4" drop and the extenders that return 3.5" of travel, the original travel distance is only shortened .5". The compressed length of the BT 2412FF is 1.375" shorter than the stock shock so I'm actually GAINING travel distance with my 4" drop so bottoming out the shock should never happen.

When I did the 4/6 on the Burb I wanted to keep the auto leveling feature so I went with a Monroe air shock with the following dimensions...

Monroe MA704 dimensions:
Extended- 21 1/4"
Compressed- 13 1/8"
Stroke- 8 1/8"

I based this off of the Belltech 2410FF dimensions.

Maybe irrelevant to the conversation but just thought I would throw it out there.
 

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