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Rear bottom shock bolt needed - what years / Ford models interchangeable

EB4X

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Joined
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City, State
Orange county, Ca
Year, Model & Trim Level
95 Explorer 4X 4.0 ohv
Hey gang,
So had to sawzall rear bottom bolt off (beyond lubricants / propane torch loosening).... It has circled F and 10.9 on head (10.9 / metric strength rating ?) ....anyway so diameter is basically 12mm (just shy of 1/2") and all I can find in a Grade-8 at local specialty and Home Depot was 1/2" which is two hairs too large in diameter to fit into shock hole. So going to try close-by Ford only parts (parts pulled off vehicles already)....so my question is....is this lower rear bolt the SAME size on all second gens?...and was it used on other Fords from same era ? ...if so which ones?

20211207_190926.jpg
 



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Maybe available at your local parts store, if you want to consider it…

(If it’s even the correct one)

 


















Maybe available at your local parts store, if you want to consider it…

(If it’s even the correct one)

Thanks TP but when I run my 95 Explorer specs for this part at Autozone's website it comes up uncompatible ....maybe 4X setup/ bolt diamter a bit different ...?
 






I used a shock bolt from my '93 Ranger when I lost one on my '99 Mounty. I wouldn't doubt if they are the same on all Ford trucks and full size cars through the 90's.
 






I got hold of the correct ones (of course they were out of the exact length - the ONLY ones out of stock out of their entire large metric shelf of 10.9 bolts but just long enough to pull off) ...but now going on to upper bolts the first bolt there quickly began SPINNING freely.... being a rusty PLOW bolt (flat heads) and the rusty female sleeve of course "let loose" of "teeth" so all slippage there.... good times.....good times... tried wedging / prying down with large flathead to give resistance to bolt head but no luck. Very tight minimal access on top to grind heads off while lying on the ground... time to throw some money at a shop with a lift....😑
 






For anyone interested (who happens to have a 95 with original shocks in back! :laugh: ..........So I went by mechanic (which I hate to do because I do 90% of my own work) and he didn't want to mess with it knowing I was having problems with it...
So I thought of a MacGuyver approach being there was no way to work in a grinder (even a small dremel wouldn't work due to curvature of cross member etc...) .... So wire brushed flat heads and surrounding area clean... applied a large dab of JB Weld at each one to temp lock down each bolt..
Worked like a charm! Held good enough to break all nuts loose and remove and then one good direct smack with hammer on bottom of bolt broke loose/ thrust JB Weld glob/bolt combo out the top!


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Look what I just found...​

Bolt​

1995-2005 Ford N804641-S301​

Replaced By- N804641-S439



Nut​

1994-2007 Ford N806496-S301​

Replaced By- N806496-S441


I needed to cut mine off on my 2000 XLS: 125K on original shocks. No write up in the shop manual for '97 through 2000, but 96 listed a partial part number and a search found these. Minimum order is four each. They look like what came off. I measured thread length to be 75 mm and they are indeed M12 x 1.75 pitch.

I put on a pair of the GABRIEL Load Carrier 43171. They were $20 less than the Monroe Load Adjusting shocks and the springs were painted red. Fantastic! They ride like a dream. Fixed my SAS and perhaps lifted an inch above factory height. I forgot to measure or take before and after pictures... Duh!!

Also installed Motorcraft rear sway bar bushings and also swapped out the link ends on the rear bar with MEVOTECH Supreme MK80139. FYI - same nut holds the link-end to the sway bar.

Actually, I did just the Link-ends first because I realized I would need to cut the bolts off and wanted to have them on hand first. Was was very surprised at the difference installing Link-ends only made. Very much reduced body roll in cornering was more than expected. Links were original and didn't look good but still did not expect to notice a significant difference.

Very welcome surprise!

.
 












I wonder if the reason that some people find 1/2" bolts are too large a diameter, is their shock eye, bushing sleeve has rusted.

I never tried to use a 1/2" on the original factory shocks, but on aftermarket shocks, have replaced those bolts at least twice and used 1/2" diameter from the hardware store. One of the times was replacing the spring seats that the shock lower end bolts to, so using new Motorcraft spring seats, 1/2" bolts fit in them as well as the original factory spring seats.

Regardless, the diagram I have shows them as part # 50-0298 (bolt) and 40-0819 (torque lock nut). A different diagram shows them as N804641-S301 bolt and N806496-S301 nut. They are 10.9 M12x1.75x70
 






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