I broke the shock mount! Now what?

[ajevenson]

I was replacing the shocks yesterday and the bottom shock mount on the radius arm twisted off when I was trying to remove it. I have removed all other required bolts to pull off the radius arm except the 1 1/8 bolt that attaches the arm to the front axle and the 1 1/16 nut that holds the back end of the arm to the frame.

Any suggestions on how to remove these bolts that are rusted on? (they are torqued down to 250 ft/lb and 190ft/lb) I have sprayed them with rust penetrating oil and dont have access to an impact gun.:frustrate

 

[Maniak]

This isn't that un-common. We broke one of ours a while ago. It cost me $15 to get it welded back on. I've heard of other peole buying lower shock mounts that are kinda bolt on.. (go in the hole of your broken one)..

We welded our back on about 80k miles ago.. and its still there.

~Mark

 

[ajevenson]

Is there enough strength left on the stud that a person could weld a threaded bolt on top, or is it better to weld on some style of mounting bracket? I still have about 1 1/2 inch's of the stud sticking out from the frame. There is no thread on it so no way to keep the shock on the stud. Maybe cut off the rest of the stud and weld on entirely new piece? Thanks for your help.

 

[Triton46]

I would drill out the old bolt and put a new one with washer through the hole.

 

[irtySanchez]

I did the same thing on the pass. side. It pulled the whole stud out of the arm. I ended up replacing the whole Radius Arm. That was a tough job. If you can fix the stud, do so.......

 

[BigDave]

Put the radius arm back together!!!

I did the exact same thing this past summer. What you need to do is go to the section of your autoparts store that has the Help! products. (You will know them when you see them, red packaging that says Help!.) One of them is a shock mount replacement.

Use a hacksaw to cut off the broken stud from the radius arm, or a cutting wheel on an angle grinder. Then borrow an angle grinder (or buy one) and with a grinding wheel grind the leftover nub down so that it is flush with the rest of the radius arm. Make sure to mark the arm in such a way that you will be able to tell where the new mount should be.

Once it is flush, get the old drill out and drill a hole for the new mount and bolt it up. You won't need the rubber bushings that come with the kit.

When I snapped my shock mount (torqued it off really), I about pooped my pants thinking I would have to replace the entire radius arm. Luckily, I had a buddy to show me the light and by the end of the day all was well.

Good luck, if you have any questions let me know.

Dave