Replacing my rear shocks yesterday while pretty cold out and broke the Rear lower Shock pin bolt. I'm not sure, but it appears to be all one piece which is welded to the bracket attached to the axel tube. Anyone out there experience this before? How do I fix this? Can I back out the rest of the bolt form the pin, or do I need to tap and re thread it? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Here are some pic's

 

I did the same thing on my dana 35,I havent fixed it yet but I was gonna drill a 3/8s hole and tap it and use a grade 8 bolt. Its seems that the lower shock mounts dont really bear much of a load,they really just keep the shock from falling off. Hopefully someone else will chime in... Good luck!

 

X2, thats what i've done many times with great sucess

 

Ok so after seeing I'm not the first person to have this problem (and solution) I grew some ***** and tried it. Im done with one side and starting on the other. It is a PITA to drill a STRAIGHT hole while laying on your back but seems to be working out. I ground down the broken stud to give a better surface to drill into. Used a 5/16 drill bit and drilled about 1". Then I used a 3/8x16 tap and a grade 8 bolt. Seems to be working out. Just remember to use LOTS of oil and go slow. Good luck!

 

yeah basically you need to take an angle grinder and cut off the remaining section of stud, drill a new 5/8" hole, grab either new grade 8 bolt hardware from the hardware store (or most auto parts stores have a "Help!" section that has a kit to fix this - which includes the sleeve you need as well), and re-bolt it up.

 

kit will look like this:

 

Well crap that would have been nice to know about 6 hours go! O well my fix worked out also and cost me about $5.

 

yea well...i posted that about 7 hours before so...no excuses!

 

ive had the same prob and i just cut the rest of it off and welded a ned bolt to wear the old 1 was and works out good for me so far

 

When that happened to me I cut the old bolt off and welded one and inch up and slightly to the inside. then cut a piece of .25" in a triangle and welded it on the bottom side between the shock mount and bolt. Worked great got just a little more flex out of the rear without the shocks bottoming out.

 

I am currently installing my rear shocks and just wanted to know....

What sized Nut is this lower shock mount anyway ?

I get 18mm, too big for 11/16 but unsure due to the amount of scale on the original.

I want to replace mine with grade 8 if possible. Mine are pretty beat after 13 years of New England winters.

THANKS !