SwayAway on stock trucks

[tkr]

I see a lot of you guys are running SwayAway shocks on your Toyotas and I'm assuming you are driving them on the street as well as off-road. My question is how they
handle on the street. I have a full size Chevy and have tried just about every "stock type" shock but can't find any that don't blow the first time I pre-run. But since 70% of my
driving is still done on the street, I've been reluctant to try the SwayAways. I've heard people say that cornering will be terrible, but wonder if that's just due to incorrect valving.
Any advice?


Matt Nelson
Team Kwik Racing

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[rdc]

i have them on my 98 tacoma 4x4 and love them, they handle much better on and off the street. my turning radius has improved as well as my cornering. ive got them cranked up about 4.5" between the threads and run 32" tires. There is only one regret i have from them, that is i wish it was a long travel system. but i couldnt afford it. they are really easy to install too. my friend and i did it (both 17) in about 2 hrs.
But if anyone knows what kind of set up i can go with, long travel, for relatively cheap or what i can do with what i have now, please let me know and help me out. hope everything i said helped.

later,
steve

[tkr]

Speaking of long travel kits...has ANYONE come up with one for a 93 full size 4X4Chevy yet? I've been told that the problem is the axles and cv's, but why can't you just use 935's and longer axles?
Thanks for the shock info


Matt Nelson
Team Kwik Racing

[Donahoe]

The problem with Most guys who run sway-a-ways is they run them off the shelf with no custom valving.I get guys in my shop all the time bitching and whining about sway-a-way shocks when all it take is a little re-valve and its perfect. When we sell a sway-a-way shock we do the first re-valve for free so the customer can drive the truck out of the box and give me feedback on witch way he wants to go...Then we keep a data sheet on file for whatever we did to that customers shock for future changes. It works out great. We can also do any factory warrentees out of here as well..The nice thing about sway-a-ways is they are the biggest bang for your buck compared to any other race shock. All Billet parts..GREAT OIL .... High Flow piston... REAL Resivior lines....

NEVER LIFT!!!!!

[tkr]

Thanks Kreg, I agree totally. We run all SwayAway coilovers and bypasses on the race car. We've always had good luck with them. Just didn't know how they do on the street.
Still no long travel for IFS 4X4 Chevy's?

Matt Nelson
Team Kwik Racing

[Bob_Sheaves]

Hi Matt,

...and I thought that I was the only one that wanted something unavailable....LOL! I am sure that if enough interest was shown (maybe 15-20 confirmed orders) that one of the shops would offer such a package. There are a couple of other issues with the Chevy IFS, but basically, it can be done. Any of you fab shops want to know how to do this???? Also Matt, are you willing to pay somewhere around $3500-$5000.00 to do this? The wider front end will also need flared fenders and to do the job "right" the rear springs and shocks replaced. If any of you guys that own a fab shop want to attempt this, I' ve got a vehicle I will loan you and can give you the info to make the conversion.....

Best wishes,

Bob Sheaves
(1994 Chev 2dr Tahoe 6.5 Diesel Turbo 4x4)

[Donahoe]

At that price you might sell 3 if your lucky.. Got to do it cheep and fast.

NEVER LIFT!!!!!

[Bob_Sheaves]

Hi Kreg,

It's been my experience that there are 2 main approaches to doing a job...."quick and cheep" and "properly and expensive". Rancho, Superlift, and others all go for the Q&C method, IMHO. Very rarely is the job done properly because of the cost. "Cheep" leads to "issues" (read that as liability lawsuits). Your work (from what I have seen) is a good example of how to do things properly and safely. Do you remember the lawsuits back in the late 70's with lift kit manufacturers over the "cheep" springs used and how many companies went under because of it?

Considering the cost of labor and materials I'd guess the cost of doing such a high travel kit for a Chevy would be as follows:

1. $1500.00 - $2000.00 Materials (tubing, plate,shop materials like GMAW wire, 75/25 gas, grease, shims for alignment, and various components like Cone's ball joints and custom urethane molded suspension bushings to control NVH, springs, SAW's, etc....)

2. $2000.00 Labor for a shop like yours to do the job (40 hours at $50.00/hour)

3. $750.00 Outside paint shop labor to paint the 'glass front and rear fenders and fit them to the truck (more like $1500.00 on my Tahoe)

The point of my post (maybe too subtlely expressed) is that the Chevy IFS is a tough design to modify, and while possible, is not "cheep" to do.

Best as always,

Bob Sheaves

BTW- the offer stands to anyone wanting to do this job on a commercial basis....LOL!

[gary]

i've got sways on my truck, so here is my 2 cents. half of the fun/interest of this sport of ours is tuning, no?? i've had my shocks apart more than a few times now, and i think i'm learning something from messing with the valving. i went to mr. donahoe a few months ago, when i first got them, and he was kind enough to go through a rebuild with me, hands on, step by step (thanks again, by the way). since then i've made them better, made them worse, but most importantly, is that i've learned some things along the way. i think too many people in this sport think that you can bolt on shocks, off the shelf, and you've got yourself a trophy truck. i'm not saying this about the original poster- it's not meant for you, but some people don't realize what they're working with here. completely tunable, rebuildable, mess-with-able shocks, that are probably gonna require a little work on your part to perfect. isn't that supposed to be part of the deal, when you're building your vehicle????? tuning? didn't you all mess with off road RC cars when you were younger??? maybe that's where i got my ideas from...

[Donahoe]

Oh I totally Agree with you the problem is finding someone to pay That kind of price for what is in reality JUST ANOTHER LIFT KIT... There are only a few that will appreciate the work and high dollar parts you put into the kit.. TRAVEL IS A WEST COST OFF_ROAD RACING THING. Talk travel to a guy in Mississippi... He'll ask" well can i geet dem big ol tiires on er??" and on top of that you cant make it too trick or the thing will ride way better the the overall truck limitations (i.e. a-arm piviot brackets. Motor mounts. ect.) Stick a 16 year old kid in a 18" travel kit on stock piviot points and see what he drags out of the desert.. The Hard part is making a kit at a competitive price and still making it to OUR standards.. Build it and they will come. Only problem??? Cost. In the long run its a hell of alot cheeper to run a New RCD kit ... YOu get a little more wheel travel Great shock and a nice ride whit all the piviots in happy spots. Just my opinion .....I could be wrong....

NEVER LIFT!!!!!