Sway-A-Way 2.5x8" 3-Tube Bypass shocks
Published by Trails Less Traveled on May 10th, 2004
INTRODUCTION
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After months of trail-testing and hard use, we remain very impressed with the performance of the Total Chaos Fabrication long-travel front suspension kit. The only area we had a desire to improve was the balance between spring-rate and damping for on & off-road use.
The Total Chaos Tacoma/Tundra/4Runner long-travel kits are designed to accept a secondary set of shocks. The lower a-arms that come with every kit have two sets of lower shock mounts, so the only additional parts required are a pair of shocks and the optional secondary shock-hoop. We decided to add a pair of position-sensitive bypass shocks to the front-end of the truck in order to take full advantage of the travel that is available,
The final component in our Tacoma’s Total Chaos long-travel front suspension is a pair of Sway-A-Way 2.5×8” stroke, 3-tube bypass shocks. The progressive nature of a bypass shock enables the suspension to be soft enough to smooth out average, everyday bumps in the road and still be able to swallow large hits, and jumps without blowing through the travel. The final stage of a bypass shock can even be adjusted to function as an integrated hydraulic bump-stop.
One of the great features of these race-quality bypass shocks is that the bypass tubes can be adjusted externally. This allows for quick and easy shock tuning. If you have read our re-valving articles, then you’re aware that internal adjustments are time consuming to make, and any change requires complete disassembly. Since Sway-A-Way bypass shocks still use a standard internal piston (like most other Swayaway shocks), they can also be custom-valved using traditional shim-stacks to suit different applications.
We did consider installing Sway-A-Way hydraulic bump stops, like we have on the rear of the Tacoma. There just did not seem to be a way to mount them so that they can work to their full potential. Some suspension manufacturers/fabricators have mounted them at the frame-rail so that they contact the front-side of the lower A-arms. The biggest problem we see with that type of setup, is that the bump-stop compression begins too early in the travel (almost from ride-height). This is due to the mechanical advantage of the wheel & lower a-arm, and is virtually unavoidable. The hydraulic bump-stops would be used more like air shocks, which it not how they were designed to operate.
Hydraulic bump-stops could be mounted effectively above the upper a-arm, positioned to contact the spindle, but we had serious reservations about the strength of the factory spindle at the upper uni-ball mount. Assuming the spindle was gusseted appropriately, that design could be made to work well with an engine-cage providing a solid platform for mounting.
We decided that bypass shocks would be the best over-all solution for the truck. The only compromise is financial, because premium, race-quality performance does not come cheap. The 3-tube Sway-A-Way bypass shocks that we purchased from Kartek are priced at $815 (each).
Since the bypasses are capable of handling the majority of the damping duties for the light front end of our 4cyl. Tacoma, we needed to re-valve our Sway-A-Way 2.5×8” coil-over shocks to be much softer than when they were used as the primary shocks.
INSTALLATION
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The only additional parts needed to install a second set of shocks (other than the shocks), is the optional secondary shock-hoop kit that Total Chaos makes. It is cleverly designed to take advantage of the factory upper shock mount to attach and align it on the truck. Once it is bolted in-place, the lower attachment point just needs to be welded to the frame-rail. There is no cutting involved, and the inner fender-wells are left completely intact. We considered this a permanent modification, but the shock-hoops could be removed relatively easily at any time in the future.
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This is the stock upper shock mount. The Total Chaos secondary shock-hoop kit uses these three holes to properly locate and attach.
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The Total Chaos hoops should be welded to the frame-rail at the lower contact point, as indicated in this picture. Welding this attachment point is critical to provide the strength that is required to handle the forces a shock mount encounters
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This image shows the suspension mounting points on a Total Chaos lower control arm. The double-shear tabs located in the lower part of the picture are the coil-over shock mounts. The extra set of tabs located above the first set are used as the lower mount for the limiting straps, as well as the lower shock mounting point for an optional secondary shock.
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Here is the Sway-A-Way 3-tube bypass shock installed alongside the coil-over shock, mounted to the Total Chaos shock-hoop that has been welded in-place. We also used a set of Kartek weld-on reservoir mounting tabs as a solid attachment point for the remote reservoirs.
TUNING
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Once the shocks are mounted, take the truck out for testing to determine what adjustments need to be made. Turning the bypass-screw with an Allen wrench and then tightening the jam-nut with a box wrench is all it takes to make external adjustments. The tubes are clearly labeled as ‘compression’ and ‘rebound’. We are going to need to experiment with different settings (educated guesses and trial & error) in order to find out what works best. Unfortunately there are no magic settings that work for all vehicles, but it’s the incredible ability to be so finely tuned that makes bypass shocks great in the first place.
This Article was originally published on Off-Road.com May 2004
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