Broken shock mount, anyone have this happen?

dunk

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Truck was getting real bouncy yesterday. 5 hours on the road and felt like front passenger side shock not working. Put them on about 2000-3000 miles and a month ago. Took a peek today and ***, never seen this before. Shock does compress with resistance and so forth, feels normal not seized. I was getting ready to dig up receipts for a failed shock but I suppose now I gotta dig in my bins of bracketry, I think I have some of these. I do recall a loud metallic clunk on a left turn from a stop light last Weds PM a few mins from home and I rode my bike Thurs and Fri.

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FORDF250HDXLT

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yup.couple times now on chip truck.once with the old srw axle and just....i dunno couple months ago the same happened.it was a cheap and quick welding repair both times.
it does look a bit concerning when ya see your sock hanging down doesn't it?LOL just drive 'er easy to the welding shop (or back home to weld it if you do such things) because you can snap a leaf on the bumps if not careful without a shock.
edit; oh your up front.well no matter,same thing.
 

dunk

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No love on finding a spare. I recall I used to have a whole stack of these. Must have finally scrapped them since I've never broke one. Unfortunately my welder has been stolen twice, so being out nearly two grand of stolen welders I won't buy another unless I really need one for a major project, so not that easy.

Anyone have one of these front lower shock mounts laying around? If not I may have to check some yards, but I suspect most of these trucks have been scrapped. Finding a shop to weld is an option I suppose.
 

leojr

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Your spring perch looks like it is cracked too.

I may have one if you want to pay freight.
 

dunk

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I thought that too when I looked at the pic. Crawled back under and it's just a leaf in the pic.
 

snicklas

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I thought that too when I looked at the pic. Crawled back under and it's just a leaf in the pic.

Just to make sure we are all on the same page..... I thought the same thing as leojr:

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What looks like a crack inside the red box is what I was seeing. I see something above the area where the mount broke, but this looks like a crack to me.....

Hopefully this is what you saw is a leaf.... but, just wanted to make sure we were all looking at the same thing......
 

dunk

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Yes the spot in that box is what I thought was a crack from the pic... Bamboo leaf. Shock mount shipped today, should have it by the end of the week.
 

dunk

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So here we are a week and change later, and same problem. Another broken shock mount. This makes me suspect the shock must be broken. It was not seized when I replaced the mount last weekend. Today was only the second time driving the truck since I replaced it. I can bounce the passenger front of the truck and it moved up and down. I'm pissed.

Shocks ordered 6/22 and installed shortly thereafter. Mount broke 8/12. Replaced mount 8/23 or 8/24. Broken again (bent) 8/28 after doubtfully more than 50 miles. There are Monroe Reflex shocks. Supposedly lifetime warranty, covering only the shock and not labor or parts damaged from failure of shock. They do offer a 90 day satisfaction guarantee in which they will refund initial purchase price + $50 per axle for labor if you are not satisfied and buy some other shocks to replace these. http://www.monroe.com/en-US/support/Safe-and-Sound-Guarantee/

I'm out $46.03 for the shock mount and I need either buy another for $43.06 or pay someone to straighten and weld some reinforcement on it as it is either cracked or fatigued, so total I'm out $92.06 + an hour or two of labor. I'll contact them and see if they will replace the defective shock along with $96.02 worth of shock mounts. If not I will buy replacement shocks (recommendations anyone?) and attempt to claim the $100 refund for labor which should cover my costs for these shocks along with the money spent on the shocks plus $3.98 for a couple hours labor. I'll be sure to report back with what they say or do for me. I bought Monroe because of perceived quality from brand reputation, reviews, and my prior experience on other vehicles.

What do you guys think? Is this a bad shock causing lower mount failures?

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subway

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If the shock is moving freely are you sure it is compressing enough? If the shock is to long and is bottoming out on the mount that could be the problem to.
 

dunk

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Specs:
911055 Shock ‐‐‐‐‐ ‐‐‐‐‐ LS26 LS26 14.000" 22.500"† 8.500" ‐‐‐‐‐ None

That's 14" compressed and 22.5" extended. As installed in my stock '86 F-350 they sit at 18.75", these are replacement shocks listed for this application. There is 3" of travel before hitting bump stops. So 15.75" at full compression of suspension. Even if the rubber of the bump stop compressed .25" that's still 1.5" of travel left in the shock. Good thought, but there's no way this should be bottoming out.
 

subway

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Looking on paper that should be just fine but something is seriously wrong with that shock. Whether it is defective or even the wrong shock that is some serious force to bend steel like that. I would run without the shock until it is straightened out. I know the specs list good but if a company is using the lowest bidder sometimes specs slip.
 

IDIoit

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could be nothing other than the shock!

the way it sits, it does look waisted.

ive had great luck with rancho's, Blistens, and Afco's
 

dunk

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Thanks for the input. I was wondering if anyone would notice it doesn't look right sitting there. To me it looks bent, which it did not appear to be when initially inspecting and compressing it to install the replacement shock mount. I have sent an email to Monroe warranty department just now. Also ordered another lower shock mount. Using this thread to document the timeline of events and so forth for reference. Hoping they stand behind their products. I requested one replacement shock and $96.02 to cover my out of pocket costs, waiting on a response now.

... Upon reviewing this thread and my receipts I just realized my total cost out of pocket has been $92.06, $46.02 for each shock mount x2 = $92.06. Looked back and saw I had mixed up some numbers in my previous post. When I get a response from Monroe/Tenneco I will clarify my mistake and advise that I am requesting one replacement shock along with $92.06, which is my cost for parts only, to repair damage caused by this defective shock.
 

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