What are Shock Extenders and why are they used?

So... you installed either a taller coil spring set or coil spring spacers to the front or rear of your vehicle to lift it. You take a step back to look at your handy-work on your awesome ride and it's looking great. Now it's time to take her out for a little test drive. You hop in, start her up, put her in gear and drive out the driveway. You go over the little hump where the driveway meets the road and as the car jounces you hear a "clunk". You think, "What the heck was that?". That, my friend, is the shock over extending and topping out. Any lift that is larger than 2" can extend the shock to the end of it's travel, hit it's limit and possibly damage the shock. This is where the McBay Performance shock extenders come in to help.

Once installed, shock extenders help keep the shock at it's proper travel starting point and keep the shock from topping out. It's also much less expensive and a lot easier than having to find longer shocks. Also, your vehicle will keep the same ride instead of guessing with a different longer shock setup.

McBay Performance front and rear shock extenders are designed to fit perfectly at the end of most shocks. There are 2 different styles that we carry.

1. Rear "T" End Style Shock Extender
They call this a "T" end, well, because of the "T" style mounting bracket at the top of the shock (see photo above). This style extender fits most rear shocks on 1960's through 1990's GM rear wheel drive cars ranging from the 60's Chevy Nova II to the 90's Buick Roadmaster. These shock extenders come in 2" (SE-200) and 3" (SE-300) long sets and are a perfect addition to our 2" or 3" rear coil spring spacer lift kits. Our rear shock extenders are made with super strong 6061-T6 billet aluminum and anodized for a long life. They also come with new Grade 5 hardware and everything is 100% Made in USA.

SE-200

SE-300

    
2. Stud End Shock Extender
These shock extenders are designed to add 2" to the front shocks (and sometimes rear) by simply screwing them on to the stud-end at the top of the shock. They fit 3/8" studs and come in coarse (13-6521) and fine thread (13-6501) versions to fit most any 3/8" stud end style shock on the market. A perfect choice to go with our front coil spring spacer lift kits for domestic cars and trucks.

13-6501

 

13-6521

After the proper extenders are installed the "clunk" will go away and you can now enjoy your great looking ride without any worries of destroying your shocks. Stop by www.McBayPerformance.com to find the set for your vehicle or simply call us at 1-877-337-4177.

Front Coil Spring Spacer Lift Explanation

So... you purchased a new McBay Performance front coil spring spacer lift kit for your 2WD truck or car. It's a solid cast aluminum horse-shoe shaped part and it's only about an inch thick. Your looking at them wondering, "Is this gonna raise my vehicle 2-1/2 to 3 inches?" The answer for most vehicles is YES. (There are exceptions and we will get to that a little later.)

First, a little front suspension education. Your vehicle has what is called a (SLA) short-long control arm (a-arm) or is also known as an unequal length double wishbone front suspension. The upper control arm is shorter than the lower control arm. This design creates an unequal ratio and is not 1:1 when adding length to the coil spring. On average, the lift amount is 2-1/2 to 3 times greater than the thickness of the spacer. Example: Adding a 1 inch thick spacer will lift the vehicle 2.5 to 3 inches.

Most spacers mount underneath the coil spring (some are on top, but only a few) and follow the same coiled design as the end of the spring. Once in place, into the control arm, the spring tension is so great that the spacer will never move from its spot until it (if ever) gets removed.

Exceptions to the lift amount rule: When the vehicle has a straight axle with coil springs it becomes close to a 1:1 ratio. Trucks with a Diesel, extended or crew-cabs will not get as much lift as a single-cab with a 6-cylinder. Same goes for cars with a big-block vs. a 6-cylinder.

So there you have it. Now you know why the spacer thickness has nothing to do with the amount of lift. Please feel free to stop by the McBay Performance web store to get your lift.