Broken front shocks, WTF?

[Ritsui]

Today I broke another front shock (2nd in a month) doing what I consider "medium" wheeling. The shocks are Monroe Reflex, maybe 20K miles old. Both shocks broke at the bottom where the shaft welds to the bottom mount. Both broke on the trail with the front swaybar disconnected. I'm guessing I have probably come down a bit too hard after putting the wheel in question in the air, but I still wouldn't expect the shocks to just break.

On the plus side, Monroe guarantees them for life so I can just keep replacing them, but I'd rather not have to replace them at all.

Anyone else going through Reflex shocks like this or is it just me?

 

[Burns]

iv never broke a shock

 

[Doubt Incarnate]

where did you get them? the net? advance, autozone? some places offer "discount" prices and it seems the part you get for that price came from the bin of "inspection failures".

 

[Boomer12]

Well that sucks! :thumbdwn:

Will you be good to go for Sat.?

 

[Ritsui]

where did you get them? the net? advance, autozone? some places offer "discount" prices and it seems the part you get for that price came from the bin of "inspection failures".

I got them at a local shop which has been around for a decade and is not known for BS... but you have a point. I got them during one of those "buy three get one free" deals. Who knows what they do with their returns. Maybe a quick fix then throw them back on the market?

With any luck the replacements will hold up a bit better.

Will you be good to go for Sat.?

Absolutely. The shock should be replaced tomorrow. Of course, I will also stop this mid-week wheeling stuff to be safe .

 

[BigDave!!!]

sounds to me like they would be breaking because the wheel is coming off the ground, since they are limiting your downtravel. I pulled a bilstein Oem replacement shock out of my lower arm from having the wheel off the ground once, before i had limit straps.

i really doubt its breaking because of you coming down too hard on it

 

[94whitesport]

yeah what he said...

 

[Ritsui]

Hmmm. I've seen it said a dozen times: you don't need lift shocks for 2" lift, but I'd have to say breaking two of them seems to be enough reason to look for a bit more shock extension.

I guess I'll jack it up and measure wheel travel with and without shocks attached. Like they say, every truck is different and I might just a have a bit more downward travel then average.

In the meantime, limit straps sound like a good idea. Thanks Dave

 

[BigDave!!!]

well in essence you dont need longer shocks for the 2" of TT because its just moving your ride height to 2" lower on the cycle of the suspension

the problem i think you might have is that the added spring rate is pulling harder on those shocks than they normally would be stock, and those shocks were probably not manufactured correctly to withstand the vehicle's wheels off the ground(especially with the TT)

also, you will probably get another 1-2" of wheel travel with the shocks disco'd, the next thing to be limiting your wheel travel will be the upper arm.

BTW i have a brand new pair of 9.5" mastercraft limit straps still in the box if you are in fact going to be wanting some limit straps so PM me if you want em and ill give them to you for half of what I paid

 

[Ritsui]

Quick update:

I unbolted the front shocks at the top, jacked the front of the truck up and pulled the wheels off. With the sway bar still connected and shocks fully extended, there's definitely more than an inch between the shock bushings and upper shock mounts. With the sway bar off, it's probably more like three inches . There's no doubt that the front shocks are taking the brunt of downward force everytime I put a wheel in the air with the front sway bar disconnected, so I'm playing with adding extra 1" poly bushings below the regular rubber bushings to see if that will extend the shock travel a bit closer to the full wheel travel. Maybe that will keep the shock from absorbing quite as much force.

The good: I'll get about another inch of (downward) front travel on each side .

The bad: The rest of the suspension will now be taking more of the force which the shocks were taking, so those limit straps might be needed (I might already have something which will work).

Bonus: While I had the wheels off, I pulled off the bump stops and shaved about 1/2" off each of them to add just a bit to the upper travel. Now to get out on a reasonably difficult trail and see what, if anything, breaks this time .