Thunkity thunkity

[KidVermicious]

Found some dirt today and picked up a hard thunk that sounds/feels to be coming from the drivers rear when the suspension cycles. A quick scan of the bushings and a shake of the control arms didn't reveal anything that felt loose, but I confess to not doing an exhaustive search lying under the truck in the rest area parking lot.

I are not link-suspension smrt, what's the best way to track this down? Should I have the suspension loaded or unloaded while I'm shaking and prying and looking for wiggly things that aren't supposed to wiggle?

 

[3rzrunner]

Unloaded. and then push/pry the tire up and down, I recently had the same thing happen to my 3rd gen and it was the sway bar bushings that had rotted away and was hitting metal to metal. but you said you checked the bushings so...


good luck!

 

[SCRunner12]

I'd check your sway bar mounting brackets. I had this issue recently and didn't notice anything wrong till I jacked the truck up and relieved the weight off the sway bar. Turns out one of my sway bar brackets was loose and caused a clunking sound when the suspension cycled.

 

[KidVermicious]

Thanks fellas. Got it up on stands this morning, and I couldn't replicate the sound or find anything that seemed to have more play than usual.

I did find a busted bolt on one of the sway bar brackets:

but it looks to have been busted off in there for a while, and this noise just started.

I also found sway bar end links that looked fine at rest but are obviously shot when the suspension droops:

it's like that on both sides. I'm going to start there and see if that fixes anything.

 

[02SE]

Without being there to inspect it, it's hard to say definitively. However, the picture of the upper shock mount seems to show that there might have been some movement there. Check for a loose nut or broken post on the shock.

 

[KidVermicious]

I didn't do that. I will now, thanks!

That's why I start these threads. I'm riddled with ADD and forget obvious stuff. You guys keep me on point.

 

[KidVermicious]

Without being there to inspect it, it's hard to say definitively. However, the picture of the upper shock mount seems to show that there might have been some movement there. Check for a loose nut or broken post on the shock.

Nice shootin'.

What syphilitic monkey-brained moron thought that upper shock mount design was a good idea? "Hey, let's use a stud post on the rear shock instead of an eye like the rest of the world. Then lets mount it in a giant cup up against the body so it traps mud and water and rusts out that little post AND practically ensures you can't get a socket up there to repair it!" Freakin' geniuses.

 

[02SE]

It is a poor design. Part of the problem could be that whoever installed those aftermarket shocks, overtightened the nut, stretching and weakening the post.

I'm glad you found the problem.

 

[tre9er]

Nice shootin'.

What syphilitic monkey-brained moron thought that upper shock mount design was a good idea? "Hey, let's use a stud post on the rear shock instead of an eye like the rest of the world. Then lets mount it in a giant cup up against the body so it traps mud and water and rusts out that little post AND practically ensures you can't get a socket up there to repair it!" Freakin' geniuses.

You going eye-to-eye now?

 

[KidVermicious]

You going eye-to-eye now?

There's no way the wife would let me near her truck with my welder.

I am going to drill some drain holes or something in that pocket though.

 

[tre9er]

There's no way the wife would let me near her truck with my welder.

thats why you do it when she ain't home imp:

 

[thardy]

There's no way the wife would let me near her truck with my welder.

I am going to drill some drain holes or something in that pocket though.

Shock Eye To Stud Adapter Kit (690001)

 

[KidVermicious]

Shock Eye To Stud Adapter Kit (690001)

I've seen those. Makes it easier to install a set of shocks the second time around, but it doesn't solve the problem of a stud to break or a pocket that traps water and dirt and rusts out. Seems to me the right fix would be to put an eye mount on the inside or outside of the frame. That's probably what I'll do the next time I have to put shocks on a 3rd gen.

Whoever installed that shock didn't put the bushing on top, they had the nut and a washer directly against the mount. The washer was mangled, beaten flat like a pancake and torn up something fierce, which is probably what led to the slop that stressed and finally broke the stud. I've seen guys in other threads recommend installing these without the top bushing - based on this, I'm going to go ahead and recommend that you install the shock the way OME designed it and use that top bushing. If you install just the bottom bushing then you have protection on the compression cycle but the nut and washer will move away from the mount when that bushing compresses, and come back hard as the suspension cycles the other way. Enough cycles like that will beat the snot out of any hardware no matter what grade.

 

[thardy]

The problem with mounting them to the frame is you loose a ton of up travel. The shocks as they are are mounted on an angle. If you mount them up to the frame you bring them closer to the axle.

I thought about that when I moved mine. The way I mounted mine wouldn't work for you. I would either use the adapter or the stock mount. I wouldn't move the mount.

 

[tre9er]

Weld in the adapter. Boom. Weep holes as you see fit.