Yet ANOTHER problem

[NeXtras]

Today i put my truck up on the lift at work, was gunna rotate the tires.. looked on the passenger side and i noticed my shock was broken.. snapped at the top.. fell and was leaning against the axel.... well, went to take the bottom off.. snapped the stud F--K! this aint gunna be fun..

so right now, im driving on one shock.. bad? guys at work said it will be fine for now.. kinda bouncy.. but it seems ok..

another question relating to the pic.. see the bushing with the sleeve.. is that part if the shock? or is that the stud? i cant tell... i got a shock from nappa, but it wouldnt slide over that, and was the wrong one to boot..

-sigh- y me?

 

[john112deere]

Uh...bushing? The stud is "shouldered" (or whatever they call it) so that the diameter where the shock sits is bigger than the diameter that's got the thread on it. It's a single piece of metal, though- no bushing. At least, that's how it was on my Ranger. The shock has a rubber bushing in it, though?

I busted one of those studs, too (other side, though). Wasn't a bad fix, really- cut the thing off with an angle grinder, drilled it out to 5/8" (which was the size of the stud on my truck) and bolted it with a Grade-8 bolt. Took less than an afternoon, and most of that time was spent running around collecting things I needed to make it work.

*FWIW- I slid the new shock onto the broken stud, and then tied it to the A-arm with nylon cord so I could drive it to work/the parts store. Worked fine for what I had to do.

 

[89frankenford]

thats a really easy fix. did the same thing on my truck and a few other fords at the shop. you just have to drill the stud out and put a grade 8 bolt in its place. i beleive that washer/bushing you are looking at is a spacer between the frame and the shock to avoid noise and rubbing

 

[NeXtras]

ok cool... there seems to be enough thread left that the guy i work with things he can make it work.. i have the quad shock set-up, so i can still drive it for the moment

 

[Brian_B]

How in the world are you guys breaking them? Overloading the truck or is there some other reason?

I have (in my limited experience) never seen one broke (except off roading).

 

[john112deere]

I snapped mine trying to take the nut off. It was rusted fast, I wasn't thinking, so I kept applying force until it snapped.

Used a torch on the other side and it came off easy.

 

[Brian_B]

Ahh...I guess that would be a problem up that direction. They get surface rust around here, but I have never seen on frozen onto the stud.

 

[smokey]

Brain come here for a year or two and you will know about rust.
Or you could get some calcium cholide and just spray it on your truck every day for 5 months straight and you will get to have fun and learn tricks of removing rusted on fasteners.

 

[Brian_B]

Oh gee thanks. I need some calcium chloride to spray on my 56...so I can chase the rust around from one rusted out place to another.

As far as coming out there for a few years...I would like nothing better. If I could...I would. I have a lot of friends in that part of the country.

Then again...you already knew that.

How long have we known each other Randy? 8 or 9 years now? Not really sure.

 

[O'Rattlecan]

I had a bolt totally frozen onto my shock once. It didn't break, but it was 100% frozen. The heat did the trick. Lots and LOTS of heat.

Ryan

 

[smokey]

Sparky the Blue tipped wrench is your best friend in the rust belt.

 

[89frankenford]

yeah its a very common problem up here on these trucks. the shock studs just break off.

 

[NeXtras]

i knew i could get my answer here..

the only thing thst worries me is drivin with one shock on that side.. should it be alright?

 

[john112deere]

IIRC, some of those trucks had single shocks, so I'd think you'd be OK.

My truck only has single shocks, and I needed it to get to work the next day, then out to get tools/parts to fix it.

There shouldn't be any lateral load on the shock, so if you have the new shock and enough stud left for the shock to slide onto, bolt it in on top, and use cord/wire/zip ties to secure it at the bottom and that should work for a few days if you'd be more comfortable that way. Back in HS, a buddy drove for almost all of senior year with the LF shock secured in his SAAB with a coat hanger because of a broken stud.

 

[Mr. Stroker]

The undercarriages of these trucks rust way to fast.

 

[NeXtras]

The undercarriages of these trucks rust way to fast.

try having a new england truck, then compare LOL... my frame is in good shape, had one shackle replaced cause a leaf broke too.. other than that its solid.. steering box is leaking like a siv and the waterpump is starting to leak

 

[Lost]

I never had problem with front (quad) shocks. But have bought trucks with the bottom mount shock about wore through.

Just remove old broken shock will be fine till fix. If was not such a pain you could just replace braket its mounted on. I have several here but would do the Grade 8 bolt myself.

 

[NeXtras]

got it fixed.. had enough thread to get three turns out of the nut then tac welded it into place