Ewww! Look What Happened to my Truck

[antichrist]

So, I have been hearing some pops emanating from the suspension for some time. This evening l discovered the true source. Has this happened to anyone? Known repairs upgrade options? I studied the fracture surfaces and it looks like there was an "Old" crack, fatigue "Beach Marks" and then a final "Shear lip". There was a crack in there for awhile. It might be a good thing to visually inspect and a little magnetic particle or dye penetrant your shock towers to see if there any future failures out there. I really like to take a poll on the number of these failures

 

[gregnash]

Ouch that is no good... Usually hear about that happening on guys while they are on the trail.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Bummer...

Quit jumping your 80 like it's Dukes of Hazzard-time.

Just kidding.

I have to imagine that the failure is not a common one. I personally would just remove that one (tower) find another on a donor rig and weld it in, or fab something similar.

 

[Biche]

Both are cracked on mine. I know that Toyota still have the bracket in stock. I don't know if I'll go OEM but definitely need attention.

 

[usmcruiser]

could a Ford F-250 shock tower work on the 60's as well as it does on 40's?

 

[Dynosoar]

You can weld it back up.

Dyno

 

[cruiser guy]

I have noticed its common for those to crack. I usually just weld them up

 

[ntsqd]

could a Ford F-250 shock tower work on the 60's as well as it does on 40's?

Yep.

 

[usmcruiser]

Yep.

There you go! do this!!!

 

[antichrist]

Yes! I want the option to roll my truck out of the back of a C130. Thanks for the posts!

 

[TS888]

Time for hoops.

 

[antichrist]

so the bigger shock tower begs some questions: How much more suspension travel am I really going to get? and Are those shocks adjustable?

 

[Spook50]

Yep.

Now that's nice. If my factory mounts give up the ghost for whatever reason in the future I'll do this. What exactly did you measure to get them aligned just right, or is it not overly critical with shock mounts?

 

[use2bn83]

Broken Shock Towers

Yep, broke mine on the trail this summer. I'm not a big fan of welding stuff on areas like that, but I don't have any data that says it's bad practice. Built mine in the garage over a saturday. I added about 2" of height to accommodate a longer travel/body shock and to make up for the u-bolt flip. Also, I went to a eyelet style end, there are a lot more options out there for this style--2cents

 

[ntsqd]

Now that's nice. If my factory mounts give up the ghost for whatever reason in the future I'll do this. What exactly did you measure to get them aligned just right, or is it not overly critical with shock mounts?

I centered them fore/aft on the axle at ride height. I set the height such that metal to metal bump still has about 1/4" of shock shaft showing. With those shocks that leaves about 3/8" more (as I recall, been a while) shock stroke at full droop. Note the massaging of the fender-well that needed to happen to get the mount that high. The lower mount is in the std. position used on the Mini's.

 

[antichrist]

ntsqd, given that set for the F250 tower, what shock model/size do I spec? Do those shocks adjust damping rate (it would be nice to have a firmer ride when I am loaded and rolling down the road, but loose and easy for the trail)

 

[The Machinist]

this happened to me back in November. I found out when I got down to Pismo Beach for this year's surf n turf. went to lock my hubs, looked up and saw this. I had it welded back together at a local shop, some cool people down there.

 

[ntsqd]

ntsqd, given that set for the F250 tower, what shock model/size do I spec? Do those shocks adjust damping rate (it would be nice to have a firmer ride when I am loaded and rolling down the road, but loose and easy for the trail)

I don't recall for sure, but I *think* those are 8" stroke. I'm running OME springs for the moment. The shocks are self-adjusting and you can change the damping to suit by taking them apart and changing some or all of the shims. Put in a "waffle" shim to soften the low speed even further than the way that Fox's come (IMO they're the
nicest riding of the deflective disc type shocks out there).

I had to cut the towers down quite a bit for them to work.

 

[NolanFJ60]

NTSQD,
What model are those fox racing shocks? And how would you say they compare to like say some rancho's or bilsteins? I just ordered some 5125's. I'd never heard of or seen anyone run fox on a sixty.

 

[ntsqd]

I bought them used off the rear of BCG1's very experienced pre-runner/chase truck. They're a 2" body w/ remote reservoir. I don't know that they have any particular model number or name. My first Bilstein's spoiled any chance of running Ranchos ever again. Just not interested. Fox's compared to Bilsteins, each has their strong points, but I think that Fox ride quality over small bumps (pebbles, road seams, stuff like that) is superior to the Bilsteins on my '84 Xcab. Not by a lot, but it is noticeable.