A year and a half ago, I found my rear drivers side shock hanging loose. Somehow the bottom bolt loosened and fell out. Today, I heard a scraping sound and discovered that my passenger side rear shock was hanging. This time, the bottom bolt sheared off and it broken and flush with the frame.

What is going on??? The rear shocks are the shortened ones and slightly stiffer than stock, but how much stress is there on those bolts? I have never had problems like this on any other car I have owned. Have any of you???

 

Well I see you're up in NY where they love to salt the heck out of the roads, so you might be dealing with corrosion induced failures.

I'd replace the lower bolts with something cadmium plated at the very least and make sure the replacements are torqued to the proper 66 foot pounds.

However....The shocks are just there to dampen the motion of the suspension, you may be into a situation where the shocks themselves are being stressed due to over-extension, they could be limiting the suspension travel and acting as "stops" rather than dampers. That would cause a great deal of stress to be placed on the bolts as the suspension is suddenly stopped short of its full range of motion when hitting a bump.

 

Hey Lee! How come I only hear from you when something is wrong lately

I bet with our Flushing/Brooklyn/Jamaica roads those short shocks are taking a beating. (I travel them all the time-I know) See if you can get a better grade bolt, or just go back to stock. All the damping pressure must be in those shocks which travels down/up into the mounting bolts. They could be vibrating loose & when they are loose enough the end up getting sheared off...

Anyway-hows family & all?

Bellemore is coming sooner that you think!
Get that jeep ready & we need new pics!

Mike

 

Actually our rear shocks do act as stops for the rear suspension. When you have your car on a lift, the rear shocks hold the rear up and keep the springs from falling out. That was why I got shorter ones-I replaced the rear springs with the shorter, leveling ones. With the factory shocks, the springs would fall out when I jacked up the back of the car. Still, I am not driving stunt for the Dukes of Hazzord, which means I am not launching my car so the shocks should never see full extension unless the car is on a lift. And if the car were to bottom out, I assume there are bump stops to take the load off the shocks.

I do not believe the bolts corroded from salt, as I whenever I wash my car, I also get the bottom to wash away salt and dirt. But your suggestion for stronger grade bolts is a good one. The only problem is that I believe they are metric and local stores don't stock graded ones.

Does anybody know the bottom bolt size/thread and length? Then I can order them from McMaster Carr-best place to buy hardware.

http://www.mcmaster.com/?orderview=n...screws/=gblqp2

 

Sorry but I have not been spending much time on forums lately. Between home projects, doing a major clean up, working on the Jeep, and keeping up with my kids, things have been very busy for me.

Just finished some engine work on the Jeep and painted it. Ordered a new shortblock from McBetts. Looking forward to Belmore and seeing you there.

 

OE bolts are Grade 8(10.9) with integral flange, I would use red locktite on the threads when you replace them.

 

Have time to take a Jeep build pic?

 

sounds to me like the bolt loosened up and sheared because of the loosness..good bolts cant take that kind of beating...loctite therm in next time...look up what a grade 8 bolt will handle...highly doubt it failed on its on just from a shock that dampens loads...and if it were to over extend or bottom out, it would be noticable.

 

When the drivers side loosened I used blue Locktite on them. The other side was still tight so I did not redo them with Locktite-but in hindsite I guess I should have. Top was still tight, though. And like I said before, I believe there are bumpstops to prevent them from bottoming out, but I will check when I work on it and add them if needed. NYC roads are known for potholes.

And to make things worse, I removed the shock and used the car tonight to get dinner (driving slow). On the way home, I was in a confusing area and got lost. When I saw the street I wanted to go down, I headed to it and did not notice a center median and hit it. Now I have a bent left wheel, ruined tire, and possibly other front end damage. Not a good day for me and my HHR.

 

Ouch! Sorry to hear that, some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed.