M101CDN Shock Mounts Bent - Repaired and New Bump Stop Solution

[CycloSteve]

To those who have gone SOA and not changed the lower mount location, you may want to take a look at your upper mounts. My trailer was SOA by the PO, and the lower sock mounts were placed on the top of the stack. At some point the trailer was overloaded (not by me), and the shocks fully compressed, and then some. The lower mounts are a bit bent, but the upper ones are definitely in need of help. Neither looks as it should. Discovered after removing my spare and looking up.

Will be relocating the lower mounts either to the axle or moving the plate below the spring-stack, so that the shocks can be functional, adding proper bump-stops, and fixing the upper mounts. Anyone have suggestions for fixing the upper mounts, beyond just heating and a BFH?

The only bright spot in my day was getting the new wheels on the rig...they just look right, and the trailer is perfectly level behind my 80. Super Swamper SX 33 9.5 17's on FJC Steelies. No difference in how it towed compared to the old BFG AT's.

 

[Dell]

would be my guess the shocks are too short for SOA set up.

With an insecurity of flopping it...
I'd hafta' decline dragging a SOA on any serious trail.

 

[CycloSteve]

Removed the upper pins, bolted a sacrificial bolt and nut in place and knocked them back straight with a BFH. Figure that the number of taps with the BFH were likely the same number of hits the shocks had when bottoming out. The metal, though quite thick, is pretty malleable. No cracks in the metal, nor welds. Straightened out the lower pins too, but seriously contemplating having a set of RuffStuff tabs welded directly to the axle, instead of placing the plates between the spring-stack and axle as others have done.

Sacrificial bolt

Much better

 

[CycloSteve]

Through adversity comes inspiration.

Since I did not want a repeat of the previous carnage, I went OCD on my repairs. After straightening the shock mounts, I opted to get a set of new u-bolt plates for above the springs moving the OEM plates below the springs (Skillet-style), and a set of longer u-bolts (6.5"). A new set of Napa shocks were also in order, as the originals were toast. With the new plates, I then worked with a buddy of mine to come up with a solution for the bump-stops. Instead of getting extended bump stops, our idea was to add a riser to the top of the u-bolt plate to make up the space where the axle was with the SUA.

This solution was pretty simple. Cut a 2.5" long section of 2.5" .25 square tubing for the riser, and a 4" piece of 3" .25 plate for the upper platform. The riser was welded at a 45 degree angle to the base and upper platform, as to have plenty of clearance for the u-bolt nuts. It took about two hours of work to put these together, but well worth having functional bump stops. Now the travel will be limited back to the OEM amount, while still having the SOA setup. If these fail, I will have bigger issues to worry about.

Will post up a few more pics tomorrow when everything is buttoned-up.

 

[CycloSteve]

Took the trailer out for an nice shake-down run today. Re-torqued the u-bolts, and it is good to go. Now she is ready for trips.

 

[Dell]

bump stops looks swell...
definitely the right idea converting to soa

tho' I don't think compression was your original problem
nor the cause of the bent shock mounts.

from what I see in your pictures...
the shock eye mounts were bent inwards not outwards.
This leads me to believe it was caused by extension restriction.

possibly those blue shocks are longer then the originals...
but they still look a bit too short IMO

 

[CycloSteve]

They were definitely compression-bent, as the shocks were too long for the position of the pins when the plates were above the axle. The pins were bent away from each other, not towards each other - which would have been the case if the shocks were too short. The new geometry is very close to factory now, and the shocks are effectively the same as factory. The bump stops will prevent any further compression bending of the pins, and I would be surprised if I was ever able to induce enough droop to cause the pins to be bent.