[androidtopp]

Rather than hijack another thread, thought I would start a new one to ask...what are the point of the dreaded suspension shipping blocks? It continues to come up from time to time, dealer get sloppy and people taking delivery of cars with them still installed, driving around wondering what on earth is the matter with their brand new car.

So...what does this protect against? Excess suspension travel while the car is on a truck or train, going over some bad bump or whatever? I guess it might be better to be slamming in to what look like semi-rigid plastic blocks rather than hitting the suspension travel limits.

[nearwater4me]

Originally Posted by androidtopp

So...what does this protect against? Excess suspension travel while the car is on a truck or train, going over some bad bump or whatever? I guess it might be better to be slamming in to what look like semi-rigid plastic blocks rather than hitting the suspension travel limits.

That would be my guess as well.
You won't believe how tight the cars are parked against each other inside the vessel.

[MassComp]

Originally Posted by androidtopp

So...what does this protect against? Excess suspension travel while the car is on a truck or train, going over some bad bump or whatever? I guess it might be better to be slamming in to what look like semi-rigid plastic blocks rather than hitting the suspension travel limits.

The ocean is a rough place my friend, especially in stormy conditions. The action starts around the 35 second mark....

[TJR_///M3]

If you say the car spends 10 days/240 hours on the ocean (and may be longer) of continuous input into the suspension, that would be close to 10,000 miles of road use at 40mph.
Spring rates and damper settings are obviously tuned for road usage. Inputs on a boat or train are very different in amplitude and frequency, so an ocean trip would be like 10,000 miles of input that the suspension is not optimized for…
Blocking the springs reduces spring and damper travel and also (hopefully) avoids bump stop loads.
FYI - a number of years ago an OEM had problems with springs failing on a car that comfortably passed all the durability tests. It turned out that transport by train on a certain route induced a spring resonance that caused the failure.

[Rux]

My guess is to allow maximum space allowance during transport. Double decker trailers esp have very little height clearance. Suspension travel, if unrestrained, could cause roof damage along with break step issues.

[Limegrntaln]

Definitely used to have a suspension stopping distance for shock travel. If you preload the suspension by strapping the car the shipping deck, you want a consistent tie down for every car.

By tying the cars down without suspension blocks, you would essentially pull the car down to the shipping deck, while simultaneously forcing the wheels outward, in all different directions, ruining the alignment, and then forcing the car to stay in that spot for up to a month.

Every car would need an alignment at the port. Not to mention the suspension travel the car also endured during the trip. If you've ever taken a toy car that has any kind of suspension travel, and pushed down on the roof until the bottom of the bottom of the car touched the floor, you'd see all of the wheels bow out in all different directions.

[androidtopp]

Ahh - having owned only NA built cars in the past - I didn't even think about suspension travel on a boat. Great point, and that YouTube video is pretty demonstrative, wow.

Glad my dealer had its wits about it when it came to removing them...and hopefully everyone else has the same luck. Thanks for the responses, everyone!

[LOW4LYF]

A lot of cars are transported on trains... The drivers are not super gentle with the cars as time is money. Shipping blocks are there to prevent the suspension from diving in when loaded on trains, trucks and ships.

[Needsdecaf]

Originally Posted by Quarmart

Imagine the alternative – hitting the limits of suspension travel without those blocks. It's like a buffer, safeguarding your car from potential bumps and jolts during shipping. So, next time you spot those plastic blocks, just remember they're doing their job to ensure a smooth journey for your ride.

Quite the odd first post, bumping an 18 month old thread about shipping blocks....

[harperium]

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

Quite the odd first post, bumping an 18 month old thread about shipping blocks....

there was a shipping blocks thread in the Pricing/Order section recently

[Needsdecaf]

Originally Posted by harperium

there was a shipping blocks thread in the Pricing/Order section recently

Yeah, but my point was this particular account's first post was to bump an 18 month old thread about shipping blocks with a fairly formally written, awkward post which didn't add anything to the discussion.

AKA, likely a bot.

[Game]

More clearance when unloading off a truck. Clearance is very tight even with the shipping blocks.