how far would be practicle? 1 or 2 inches?

Yes, it's not uncommon to prop the shock up on a spacer or nice fitting washers.

digging up an old thread,

200b insert - 402mm
240z insert - 378mm

so theres 24mm diffecence in the insert shock length, if putting 240z shocks into a unshortened 200b stryt, could a 1 inch smacer be inserted intot he bottom of the strut to accomodate the gap?

What model camry shocks?

ok, so i just got my struts back from the shop today.
they have been shortened by 55mm using toyota camry rear shockers.
sits perfectomundo now.

ok cool, if i get time this week ill check out the 300zx and 240z gear and see what i can come up with.
thanks again fellows.

whitesedan believes the 300zx shocks are shorter than the 240z ... i never got a body measurment on them tho ?
i'd say stick with the 200b struts, cut em down with a shorter insert and also lower the the spring seat down to match the tube.

thanks boofhead and phunk.
you will have to excuse my lack of knowledge on the subject. suspension is fairly new to me and id prefer give it a go myself. anyone can throw extortionate amounts of cash at a suspension shop and get someone to do it for them, but youll never know how to do it for next time.
this is just about the last major thing i need sorted.
oh and its not going to be on the floor, ive seen lower 1200's than what i want
to me it just seems if i go 240z shocks it will only allow me to cut it down a measly 20mm or so, which would give me a total of about 45-50mm before it hits the bump stops
would i be best searching for a shock shorter than a 240z??
im aware it may be a bit of a handful on uneven surfaces, but its a weekend car only.

Quote:

coilovers wont cure this problem ... ?? cut your strut down, lower the spring seat the same amount and this is how much lower the ride height will be with the same springs ... put in lower springs and it'll sit lower ... put in rediculously low springs and you'll run out of travel and be back where you started in relation to hitting bump stops. but it'll be lloooower ...
you can put in coilovers and wind them all the way down and if the springs and strut body aren't matched you'll still have bottoming out issues ...
i think you need to be realistic in what you're hoping to achieve in ride height ... if you want it on the ground you'll be up for a bit of work and then the rest of the suspesion geometry will go out the window and the car will bump steer all over the place, probably become unpredictable with tramlining in road grooves and on the roads camber, and running big width/dia front wheels it'll become a handful on anything other than a dead flat road/racetrack.

Personally I think you are going about it all wrong. You are running big offset wheels and flares and you want it low so the flares dont look silly.
So straight from the start you will have less room for compression before the tyre will hit the flare.
I cant work out how you will have any problem with the shock bottoming out. I think you need to be looking at stiffer suspension and installing bumpstops so you can limit compression travel. Otherwise you will always be smashing flares.

I think you need to sit down and think about what you want out of your ute. Most people go for looks first when it comes to suspension. Work out what you want as first priority and then make the suspension functional around that. No point having struts with all the travel in the world but wheels that will hit flares and guards.