Anyone else seeing broken front shock mounts?

[nelstomlinson]

My '91 duallie plow truck and my '89 crewcab both have the front passenger side shock mount broken off. The mount is a folded up tab off the side of the top plate of the u-bolts holding the front spring. I'm using the Bilsteins Shockwarehouse recommended for the trucks.

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Anyone else seeing this break?
Are these available new, or junkyard only?

 

[Nero]

Between my old man and myself we have two crew cab 4x4 idi's and never have experienced this. We also are using plane old napa branded shocks.
Do they show sign of corrosion or anything or is it a clean break?

 

[Kdo58]

Nope, but I don't live in the rust belt or Alaska.

 

[nelstomlinson]

There's a bit of rust, but neither truck is bad. Interior Alaska doesn't have rust problems like the coast. It looks as if I'll be able to take the u-bolts off and reuse them. I'm thinking I can take the u-bolts off, get that on the bench and weld it back together, then weld a chunk of bar on top for extra.

The truck has 3/4" of toe in, the manual calls for +0.3 to -0.2. I wonder if that caused the terrible tire wear pattern and the shimmy I got the other day.

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Right now the plow truck and the crewcab are my runners, and they both have issues...

 

[DaveBen]

YES 3/4 inch toe in is too much. I remember setting my F-350 4X4 to 1/8 to 1/4 inch toe in. Death wobble can be the result.

 

[KansasIDI]

Passenger side shock mount was broken off the Dana 50 that came with my 86, obviously when I swapped to Dana 60 all was well again…

 

[Rdnck84_03]

I was told by a reputable alignment shop owner that 1/8" for bias ply and 1/16" - 1/32" toe for radial.

As for the broken shock bracket, I would guess that the shock was either too short or too long causing fatigue on the bracket. Or the shock was damaged resulting in reduced travel.

James

 

[03wr250f]

I have seen several of the shock brackets break, sometimes I think it's just age

 

[WrenchWhore]

Those Kingpin D60 fronts have a decent amount of camber built into them from the factory. Not sure why but they do. I have two and they both have a decent amount. Yep, 3/4" toe is too boo coo. I believe they want 4 degrees caster and 1/8"-1/4" toe in as others have said. As far as shock mounts go I haven't broken a lower but I have broken the two bolt front upper shock mount. Had to pull it off and weld it up. Been good ever since with the bolts tight obviously.

 

[nelstomlinson]

How do I determine whether the king pins are worn out? With ball joints I'm accustomed to jacking up a front wheel then levering up underneath it and seeing vertical movement from worn ball joints. When I do that here, I see no movement, but I'm starting to think there's significant wear.

I twisted the tie rod sleeve four revolutions, exposed four more threads on each end of it, figured it should show about 1/2" less toe in - and the measurement didn't change a bit.

 

[Nero]

With the king pins sometimes you need to take them apart to inspect. The upper king pin bushing is held down by a large spring, so it could be taking up the play you can't feel by hand.

 

[nelstomlinson]

Bronco graveyard has the kits for $200. Guess I should just get that and the tierod ends, and get'er done.

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

I twisted the tie rod sleeve four revolutions, exposed four more threads on each end of it, figured it should show about 1/2" less toe in - and the measurement didn't change a bit.

For toe-in:
1. You need your tires on something slippery, or
2. After adjustment just back the truck up 10ft and roll forward 10ft without touching the steering and measure again. At least for the D50 I have. Prolly 5 feet is fine for you. Re-measure and see where you're at.
Exposing 4 new threads on each side will give a TON of adjustment. Depending on the geometry of the steering setup you work in single turns or half-turns then just 1/6ths due to the hex, like the fuel screw on the IP.

Edit: I've never had a broken mount. Mine were ovaled in the rear pretty badly and that's one of the first projects I did with my first welder. I welded new heavy washers over the ovaled ones and it's been good to go with Bilstein shocks on all 4 corners for many years. I'd just weld the shock mount back on if possible. Just make sure to run lots of amps on that thick steel!

 

[tbowker]

I welded new heavy washers over the ovaled ones

My truck had that done to it before I got it, it seems to be doing fine.