I sure hope they are replacing it, and not fixing it, with all that rust under there.

 

they looked at it and told me itd be at least 3 grand to fix the shock tower. and they said, if i did it myself, it wont last as long as if they did it! lol i am done with repair shops. so im ordering both driver and passenger side, and new shocks, with rush shipping... if i have to do this work in the pouring rain in the middle of the night to get it done, it wont stop me! every day is costing $50..

 

3 grand to grind 6 rivets and bolt a new shock tower on? Wow I would never take anything to that shop.

 

they probably just didnt want to fix it.

also after i drove it back home i noticed they only hand tightened the lug nuts!!!

drivers side




pass side





frame needs reinforcement

 

couldnt get the shock bolt out. so i cut it.

the spring is still tight... i cant get it out from underneath the shock tower. the bolt holding the coil into the axle is so rusted out that theres no way itll come out. what do i do? is it possible to do this without removing the coil from the axle?

also how can i get the axle to drop lower? the spring is still very tight

 

I'm assuming you removed the top coil retainer bolt?

The truck jacked up enough so the axle can hang freely?

Only way to get that spring out without cutting/torching it out is to remove that lower retaining nut also.

 

If you can't remove the lower spring retaining nut, you have no choice but to cut just to get the spring off of the axle.

Make sure you don't have the axle jacked up, place the jack under the frame instead and lift it up that way.

 

Yes, forgot to mention the above.

Had to cut my old springs off to put the new ones on back before I made it 4x4. The lower nut is hard to access with the axle/coil spring still in the truck.

 

i REALLY wrenched on that nut, 2 foot breaker bar with a 3 foot cheater on it, would not move.

then i figured out how to get the axle to drop lower. i removed the radius arm nut. the axle dropped all the way to the ground!



then i had enough room to grind away at the rivets. some came out right away, some took longer. but i got them all off



new coil mount bolted in place. good as new!

 

sweet.... this might be the end of it..?



little patch for now but i think as soon as i can get a new ride this will be parted out...

 

yes.
I've gone through your thread, and I've seen where you did some patch work on the rear of the chassis, but just by looking at the amount of pitting on the chassis, even though it's been coated w/ paint or something else, it's time to accept the fact that the chassis is DONE, it looks like the hull of the Titanic. Now looking at the pics of the front of the chassis, it's clear that the rust has won this battle, save your self from any more hard work, it's time to send this truck to the scrapper. Make a list of the parts that you can save then shop around for another truck, maybe you'll find one that needs some of the parts that you have.

 

yeah as soon as i can buy another ride this truck will be parted out/scrapped. too bad ive only had it for about 6 months. i didnt know what i was getting into when i bought it. its my first truck, first vehicle.. learned to drive stick on it, had some good times, ive been commuting 50 miles a day. i also have done a lot of work to it, and learned A LOT. looking at another truck tomorrow