07-13-2021, 03:59 PM
Had an occasional mild from end vibration at 65 mph along with an occasional soft knock from the left front end for a few weeks. Checked the tires, had them rebalanced and rotated, jacked up the front end and checked everything for play or noise. Found nothing. The testing included a visual inspection of the shock mounts inside the engine compartment as well as pulling and pushing firmly on the top of the shock absorber shaft.
Out this weekend on what turned out to be very bad bush roads with multiple 4+ foot deep washouts from a recent severe thunderstorm. Had to fill holes, move rocks and build up the washouts several times to be able to get across the dongas/arroyos/gulleys. The front end began to squeak going over bumps then suddenly became much noisier with a heavy clunking sound. Turned out the rubber part of the front shock mount had sheared. The central part was still firmly sandwiched between the two washers below the still tight nut but had torn completely free of the outer part. I guess this had been in progress and was what had been causing the two issues above.
The terrain was dry desert with nothing but small mesquite bushes and some occasional clumps of grass so no wood or anything solid growing to use. Eventually jammed a small piece of scrap wood I found on my floor on top of the shock, lashed it in place with a strap and limped on as carefully as I could. Luckily the next section of road wasn't nearly as bad and we made it out and back to the little town ok. Saturday afternoon on a 110 degree summer day in Truth or Consequences New Mexico is not the time or place to expect much of anything....
Nothing but a hardware store and a couple of car parts chain stores was open. I had thought of several possible solutions but couldn't find anything that had the right shape and hole spacing. One of the counter guys at Autozone went way out of his way to help and after a few dead-ends, his suggestion of using a steering wheel puller worked. With some longer bolts and extra nuts and washers I was able to bolt the frame to two of the bolt holes above the shock and use the pullers central bolt to lock the top of the shock in place. I put a 19mm socket on top of the nut to protect the threads on the shock and locked everything down. It worked so well that even the alignment was good enough to give no pull on the highway home the next day.
So two questions: is this something anyone else has seen? These where about a year old, replaced when I installed my lift kit. And can anyone recommend a brand that might be beefier than the run of the mill?
Her are a couple of photos to illustrate the failure, the first field expedient attempt to stabilize the shock and the solution with the steering wheel puller.
Out this weekend on what turned out to be very bad bush roads with multiple 4+ foot deep washouts from a recent severe thunderstorm. Had to fill holes, move rocks and build up the washouts several times to be able to get across the dongas/arroyos/gulleys. The front end began to squeak going over bumps then suddenly became much noisier with a heavy clunking sound. Turned out the rubber part of the front shock mount had sheared. The central part was still firmly sandwiched between the two washers below the still tight nut but had torn completely free of the outer part. I guess this had been in progress and was what had been causing the two issues above.
The terrain was dry desert with nothing but small mesquite bushes and some occasional clumps of grass so no wood or anything solid growing to use. Eventually jammed a small piece of scrap wood I found on my floor on top of the shock, lashed it in place with a strap and limped on as carefully as I could. Luckily the next section of road wasn't nearly as bad and we made it out and back to the little town ok. Saturday afternoon on a 110 degree summer day in Truth or Consequences New Mexico is not the time or place to expect much of anything....
Nothing but a hardware store and a couple of car parts chain stores was open. I had thought of several possible solutions but couldn't find anything that had the right shape and hole spacing. One of the counter guys at Autozone went way out of his way to help and after a few dead-ends, his suggestion of using a steering wheel puller worked. With some longer bolts and extra nuts and washers I was able to bolt the frame to two of the bolt holes above the shock and use the pullers central bolt to lock the top of the shock in place. I put a 19mm socket on top of the nut to protect the threads on the shock and locked everything down. It worked so well that even the alignment was good enough to give no pull on the highway home the next day.
So two questions: is this something anyone else has seen? These where about a year old, replaced when I installed my lift kit. And can anyone recommend a brand that might be beefier than the run of the mill?
Her are a couple of photos to illustrate the failure, the first field expedient attempt to stabilize the shock and the solution with the steering wheel puller.