[Scavenger]

Picked up a neat old extended springer front leg. Wanna know, should back and front leg be the same length or is one longer/shorter that the other ?

 

[jimmi]

I think they should be the same length. I could envision some binding issues if they weren't, since they wouldn't be staying parallel when actuating. Did you get the leg off of Ebay?

 

[CarlLaFong]

Depending on your rake, the front legs should be longer to allow the rockers to be parallel to the ground. If the rockers are pointing up, they won't rock and you'll have little or no suspension travel

 

[Scavenger]

Depending on your rake, the front legs should be longer to allow the rockers to be parallel to the ground. If the rockers are pointing up, they won't rock and you'll have little or no suspension travel

Thanks,,is there some kind of formula for this , to figure out what will work best ?

 

[jimmi]

Some pretty good info here on springer design: http://chopperhandbook.com/
Also, isn't Sugar Bear on here? Not sure if I'd bother him with specific questions, but he might be able to point you in the right direction.
And Carl, I mean no disrespect, but on a stock HD springer, isn't the front leg already offset lower than the primary leg, therefore leveling the rocker when the legs are the same length from the bottom of the castings to the rocker pivot point? I realize that by raking the neck a bunch, this will change the leveling of the rocker, but I think that would have to be a pretty extreme rake to effect suspension travel. I'm no expert, but I've given this a lot of thought as I'm in the midst of trying to save a terribly hacked up original 45 springer. What do you think?

 

[CarlLaFong]

I was referring to the original post about the "extended" springer. I have no idea how it was modified, but if the front legs were not lengthened the same amount as the rear, there could be a loss of suspension travel. Yeah, with a properly done springer, you'd need a stupid amount of rake to affect travel significantly. If it's a custom front end, who knows? I would just try to get the line from the rear pivot to the axle hole fairly level. Up to a point, it wouldn't matter where the front leg pivot point, on the rocker, is. You could have a triangular shaped pattern on the three rocker holes