Ok, i need to know what i should do. I was taking off the shock to put in some new ones. on the drivers side front shock, the bolt broke off on the lower shock mount. It broke at the last thread, so theres about half a thread there. Otherwise theres plenty of the stud left for the shock to sit on. My question is, is there a way to replace this without replacing the radius arm? Went to ford, they say new radius arm 56.95$ The price isnt bad, but all the monkeying around installing it is, and with the way things are rusted on there right now, i'm afraid i'd just break more bolts. Is there a way the stud can come off, or should i just break out my friend called Mr. Angle grinder and grind it off, then weld on a new stud? or can i just drill a hole in the frame and put a grade 8 bolt there? Or will the shock be fine if i just sit it on there, and only screw it down on top? I really dont want to put on a whole new radius arm.

 

I just went through the same thing. Advance Auto (and others) sell the shock bolt replacement kit. Bolts up to the radius arm. Motormite 31001 is the name and model number. Only 6 bucks.

All the work is cutting the old one off.

And I had both of them break.

 

I never understood why the got away from the older style mount, never had a problem with them.

 

Yeah, when i tried taking off my second front shock, the other mount broke too. I asked the people at advaned auto and autozone if they make a repair kit or anything, and i got a no from both places. Oh well, i fixed it anyway, since it was only the threaded part that broke off, i just tapped a 1/4-20 hole into the stud, and put a bolt and washer on it. Problem solved!

 

The older trucks had a bracket there and a bolt when through the bracket and radius arm with the shock in between.

 

Same problem I had on my 94 Ranger on both sides. Don't panic, as these mounts are pretty much expected to snap/break over time. Just hammer/drill/grind/chisel/whatever out the old mount hole and pick up a shock mount kit for about $5 to $7 at most autoparts stores. Not really that hard of a job.

 

Kinda late for this suggestion but keep it in mind for "next time". Give PB Blaster a try on rusted nuts and bolts. I used to work on old VW's that were a pile of rust and it was one of the best rust busters out there. Just have a little patience, spray the day before a couple of times and give it a chance to work its magic. Its a great product, but it stinks really bad so make sure you have some air flow in your garage.

 

Yeah i did the right side right away, then after i broke it, i soaked the left side for the next day, then i soaked it after i was done, then again the next day like 20 min before i started.

 

Great advise. I broke the front left shock stud on my 93 Ranger 4X2 yesterday (last nut of the whole job), and panicked until I found this forum. I picked up the Motormite shock bolt kit from Pep Boys for $6. I cut the old stud off with a Craftsman 4" grinder, and drilled the hole with 6 bits of increasing size through the stud weldment until I had the 1/2" hole that I needed. I then ground the weldment until it was flush with the radius arm. The stud bolted on easily, and seems to do the job. I'm not sure if it will hold up, but I'll let you know if it doesn't. Installed Monroe Reflex Truck shocks - big difference after 100K miles on the old ones. Thanks for the info.

 

Two weeks later I got under the truck to look at my handywork. The nut and washer that were on the back of the radius arm, holding the Motormite stud in place, were gone! I thought it was strange that they did not include a lock washer. I installed a new nut and lock washer, over a larger flat washer on the back side of the radius arm. That should be end of story.