rear suspension bracket

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Jul 30, 2005 | 04:23 PM

slash31938

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From: charlotte, nc

rear suspension bracket

my 1980 F-250 has a broken rear drivers side shock mount, right where it mounts to the frame. the frame is alright, but the bracket is broken clean off and the end of the spring is hanging out near the gas tank. does anyone know where i could get a new one, how hard it would be to find one at the pull a part, how hard it would be to take it off(my frame is pretty grubby), and how much it would cost for someone to weld it on, or to make a new one. it looks to be a older break, and i have been driving it for a good month or two, i bought it in april, and it never gave me a problem. how sever is this?

Jul 30, 2005 | 11:04 PM

rhodie

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From: RI

I think you can still buy the bracket at Ford, and it was something like $15. It's not that severe. I drove around for a bit with a broken shock. The handling will probably improve a little when you fix it. You can grind off the rivet heads and punch out the rivets to get the old one off.

Jul 31, 2005 | 11:17 AM

Lee Lichterman

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Joined: May 2004

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From: Edwards Air Force Base

Is it the shock bracket or the leaf spring bracket? You said shock then say the spring is hanging so I am confused.

I replaced my leaf spring brackets when I was swapping from 2WD to 4x4 and they were $32 from the Ford dealer if I recall correctly.

Grinding the rivots is a real pain but if only doing one shouldn't be that bad. Grind till you get a good flat spot, then drill it out. If you have one, I found a saw worked even faster and threw less sparks. I have a big reciprical power saw and just slapped in a hacksaw blade and it went through like butter.

Replace the rivots when you put in the new one with a high quality Grade 8 Bolt. I found 7/16 was a perfect fit. Make sure you stick some good red thread lock on them too so they don't vibrate loose over time. There wasn't anything to get in the way so I got bolts that were a bit long and then used lock washers on both sides plus the thread lock just to make sure.

Good Luck,

Lee

Jul 31, 2005 | 11:38 AM

86302

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I found a pair on ebay. The were not too bad to replace. I air chiseled the rivit heads off, then punched them out.

Aug 1, 2005 | 08:15 AM

slash31938

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From: charlotte, nc

thanks guys. Lee, its the shock mount, not the leafs, sory for the confusion. I saw them in LMC truck for about 16$ a piece, i think that will be the best route. so i will be probally be using the sawzall method, throwing sparks with a grinder just scares me right there next to the gas tank. do i just bolt the new support into the same holes as the old one?