I hope someone has been through this before. My son has a 2000 expedition 4x4. They live on a long dirt road and drive that road at least twice a day. Very bumpy. Well the front shock mount upper rubber is completly gone and the shock rod has eaten strange looking paterns in the upper shock mount hole in the frame.
I think I'm going to have to weld something in there to make the hole round again. Anybody have a fix for this?
At first I thought maybe the frame hole was supposed to be shaped strange and the rubber may be patterned to fit the strange shape but I've never seen anything like that so it must be worn like that.
Thanks for any reply.

 

It sounds like you just answered your own question. Welding a plate with a new round hole is the way to fix it.

I would also tell your son to not keep driving it the next time something breaks. Had he parked it right away, you would've only had to replace the shock and that would've saved you a lot of unnecessary extra work. Oh the joys of parenting.

 

Thanks Alloro. You're right about parenting. That's why she (son's wife) drives that road so many times a day. Nuff said?

So I guess that shock hole is supposed to be round.

 

My shock mounting holes are teardrop shaped. Looks Factory.

I just did a air to standard conversion. Perhaps air ride holes are supposed to be teardrop shaped?

 

Thanks for the replys.
The holes in the one I'm looking at look kinda like clover leaves.

I told my son in order to make plates to weld in there we'll need new stock shock bushings to judge what size hole to make. I guess I'll see then what it's supposed to be. I hope exact placement of the hole isn't too critical.

 

The mount is not supposed to be a snug fit for the shock post. The upper bushings are supposed to isolate the shock from the mount entirely so do not make the hole too much smaller. Unless the hole is now so big that the new shock bushings can pull through, I don't think I would do anything with the mount. Replace the bushings and tighten.

 

Thanks big greenie.
The hole's pretty big now and jagged enough to destroy some used shock rubber I put in there about 2 weeks ago. So I guess it's time to fab something to put there.

 

It sounds like you might not have the upper nut on tight enough, it should not move around enough to tear anything up.

I have seen a mechanic weld in a couple good sized washers. He tacked them in on the top and bottom, and that seemed to work. The shock mount rubbers usually have a raised center section on one side, the hole needs to be that big. This keeps the shock from moving around as you describe.

 

My concern with that would be the thickness. They don't give any extra threads these days on a shock, and with new rubber bushings it might be too difficult to get that first thread caught if the new metal is thicker than the original metal. Just something to watch out for.

 

Yes. After the thoughts above I'm thinking I should cut out the damaged metal and weld a washer style patch on the top only.
Thanks for the replys.

 

Hi Guys,
I've tried replacing the upper bushing on my F150, but it appears that the threaded portion of the shock that sticks through the upper mounting does not come through the (fairly) large hole at right angles, so when I tighten up the nut, the new bushing gets squeezed out to one side, and after one drive down a bumpy road, it is now almost totally squished out to one side.
Have you any thoughts?
Thanks.

 

Not sure about the angle of the shock being 90 deg. If it's supposed to be 90 degrees or not but I do remember that the nut on top should only be tightened to the point where the rubber washer is the same diameter as the metal washer. Maybe you've got it too tight. Good luck.

 

I recently had the same issue, but from age. The Rubber bushings were squeezed through the hole, but the mounts luckily are fine, new Bilsteins should be here this week, along with new poly bushings by Energy Suspension. For me though the shocks disintegrated in my hands trying to spin the nut and had to torch out the bolts up top, quicker than a nut splitter, and it worked.

 

Thanks guys, but I have to confess to being a bit confused. One suggests tightening the nut up till it won't go any further, one suggests only till the bushing is squashed to the same diameter as the washer, and the Ford mechanic I telephoned recommended 65 ft.lbs of torque.
And none of these will help as the bushing still keeps getting squished out one side as the threaded part does not come through the fairly large hole at 90 degrees. Also, as the hole is quite a bit bigger than the threaded portion, what stops the strut from moving all over the place and displacing the bushing anyway?

 

If I remember right your top rubber washers should look a little like to ones on this page Saab performance parts auto car accessories replacement 900 9000 99 9-3 9-5 volvo
They have a lip that sits in the frame hole to center them in it.
The shock should be almost at 90 degrees to that hole. If it's not maybe you can look at the one on the other side and find out how it's supposed to look.
I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure about the nut being only tightened to the point where the rubber washer is the same diameter as the metal washer. The nut is interference fit so it won't get loose. Sometimes they come with a thin pal nut to lock them from getting loose. If there is a shoulder on the top of the rod where it acts as a stop for the washer and nut maybe in that case it should be tightened like the Ford mechanic said.
Here's a link that shows tightening the upper shock mount on a different vehicle. 1994 Custom Chevy Truck Performance Shocks Tighten Front Shock Photo 18