I have a '78 F150 and I'm installing a lift on it. The stock upper shock mounts were, as almost all of them seem to be, rusted out. Thankfully I had a set of replacements I had been saving for a few years. I wire brushed them and gave them a coat of gloss black, but then when I went to put them on I realized the shocks I got second hand were for a '78 F250, so they used eyes on the upper mount point instead of a bolt like the 1/2 ton.

Time for first rant... WHY??? Why not just make the upper shock mounts the same? What is to be gained by going with the vertical bolt for the 1/2 ton and the eye style for the 3/4? Senseless!

So, I'm like, grumble grumble, I guess I have a set of 3/4 ton ones somewhere, so I find them, pound the old rivets in them out, wire brush them, paint them, and go to install them so I can keep the shocks.
They are a 3 bolt pattern, same as the 1/2 ton holes in my frame.

Second rant building up now... Though both shock mounts use 3 bolt patterns that appear to be identical, they are DIFFERENT! Again, WHY????? If I want to keep these 3/4 ton ones, I will have to drill out the holes on my frame, which i don't think is an option because the way the hole line up, I'd be drilling into the side of one of the holes, and i can't do that.

So it looks like i'll probably end up keeping my 1/2 ton ones and ordering new shocks. more money, and for what? What did ford gain by doing things this way?

For a minute I was scheming trying to think of ways to keep the 3/4 ton ones, because the eye to eye shocks are more common, but then I thought about it more, and I realized: 1) single shear upper shock mount is super weak anyway, honestly, the 1/2 ton bolt style is probably stronger, which BEGS the question why they went to a single shear eye for the heavier trucks, and 2) a shock isn't the kind of part you have to replace when youre out wheeling. Who cares if the eye type is more common?


So, in conclusion, thanks a lot, ford. If anyone needs a set of 6" shocks (I think they are skyjacker) in reasonable condition or the upper mounting brackets (cleaned up and with a fresh coat of gloss black paint) just let me know.

 

I always thought this sort of thing was done to "idiot proof" the assembly at the factory. This would assure that 1/2 ton shocks weren't put on a 3/4 frame. Just a theory I have for what it's worth. (Take it considering what you paid for it.)

 

Things like this was done for the sole reason of frustrating future owners, 30-40 years down the road. And by cracky, they got it right.......











Sounds as plausible as any other "excuse".

 

I think you have the wrong mounts. The 2nd set I added to my '79 f250 I burned off a '78 1/2 ton frame with the factory rivits. Maybe your 1/2 ton mounts came from a later year truck ?

 

I don't know what year the F250 mounts I have came off of, but the guy that I got them from a few years ago had almost exclusively the 78/79 trucks and thats what he said they were off of. The 1/2 ton mounts I have mount right in the holes my 1/2 ton mounts came out of. There is a 79 F250 at the junkyard, if I have time I might go later this week just to compare to see if youre right, I'd like to snag another rear spring hanger before they scrap it anyway.

 

I just looked it up, looks like the 78 79 F250's use the same mounts as the 1/2 tons. The ones I tried to use must have been off a 77 or earlier, which use shocks with eyes on both ends.

 

Weird - they went back to eyed mounts in the 80's and stayed with them at least until the late 90's if not longer.

Personally I'd ditch the stud mount stuff, but that's just me.

 

I concur.
I have no idea why they went from the eye mount to stud mount around 69-70, and then went back from stud to eye mount about 10-12 years later.
One can only venture to guess that the eye mount must be a better design, and they learned "the hard way". I assume the stud mount is a tad cheaper, at the assembly line stage.

I believe the eye mount is better. The rear axle moves fore/aft as it travels up/down. Eye mount allows the shock to "pivot" as needed, while the stud mount forces the rubber bushings to give, in order to account for the shock angle to change even slightly.

 

"Eye" was going to say that my 77 Lowboy F250 has the upper stud-mount shock absorbers, and if you have an F250 mount that has the eye-style mount, you should figure out where it came from.

My F250 also only has TWO bolt holes that hold the shock tower to the frame - I didn't know any of them came stock with three bolt holes!

The only advantage of the stud/pillow mounted shock is that it allows the shock absorber to move in more directions - the eye mounts allow them to rotate a little bit, but only in one direction. Otherwise, the bushings bind like the stud mounted ones. I may try to make a set of upper shock mounts that convert to the eye-style, just so I can find longer shocks when I do my lift, though I would probably keep the stock mounting location/style.

-Brad

 

well if you want these 3 hole ones you can have them for like $20 to help cover the freight and my swearing. lol. They are in really good shape. I ordered $90 worth of new trailmaster shocks so i don't think I'll be using them. You can have the shocks too but they will prolly cost a bit extra they are on the heavy side.

 

Im not quite sure what you guys are talking about, do you mean the shock itself has an eye on each end or the mount itself has an eye??

Edit: I see what you mean, I was looking at the fronts only, I see the stud on the top of the rear shock.

 

how did you come out on shock mount issue ? i bought a set from a salvage yard , very nice cond , but the bolt holes didnt line up on these either. they swear they are from a 79 4x 150 . dont think so. the pattern is smaller than mine by about 1/4 to 3/8 and i would have to drill the frame. im curious what these are off of . any ideas ?

 

I realize this thread is 9 months old, but it needs clarifying.

D8TZ-18169-A (replaced D0TZ-18169-A) .. Bracket-Rear Shock Absorber-Upper / Obsolete

Applications: 1970/79 F100/150 - 1970/79 F250 2WD - 1974/79 F350 Super Cab.

POECS PARTS in Erie PA has 2 = 888-864-9305.

GREEN SALES CO. in Cincinnati OH has 10 = 800-543-4959.

VINTAGE PARTS INC. in Beaver Dam WI has 376 = 877-846-8243.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
D3TZ-18169-B (replaced C7TZ-18169-A) .. Bracket-Rear Shock Absorber-Upper / Obsolete

Applications: 1967/79 F250 4WD - 1967/79 F350 except 1974/79 Super Cab.

CORWIN FORD SALES in Mannington WV has 1 = 304-986-4477.

MCLEAN FORD in Millerton NY has 1 = 518-789-4477.

MCMAHON FORD in Norwalk CT has 1 = 203-838-4806 x 402.

 

like they say , whats old is new again ...

thanks for the info