I bought a set of used adjustable billet shocks and springs. They were presented to me as Aldens. They came with Hall springs. They look just like the billet shocks that Hall pictured in a handout that I have so I assume that they are Aldens marketed by Hall.
Anyway, a couple of things surprise me. There are no "centering bushings" to keep the springs centered on the endplates. There are none pictured on the Hall handout either. Do these things just stay centered by themselves!? Or am I missing something?
Second, do these things mount "upside down" compared to regular shocks? I expected the adjuster and the main valve body to be at the bottom with the actuating shaft to the top. But there is nothing to secure the top spring plate, and reducing collar to the shock mount. If I mount them this way, everytime I jack up a wheel, the top collars are going to fall out of position and have to be held in alignment until the weight is on the suspension again. If I have two wheels off the ground, this is going to be impossible for one person to do.
If I mount the shocks in the "upside down" position, with the adjuster and valve body on top, then gravity will be my friend and the spring, spring plate and collar will all maintain position until the suspension is lowered again.
I guess there is nothing wrong with this, but I've never seen shocks mounted with the valve body up and the actuating center shaft down.
Just want to get it right before I proceed with the other 3 wheels!!
Thanks, Mooso.
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