The shock extenders are adding leverage to it. I would ditch them and use the correct length shock.
Here is his potos of the shock extenders
2002 FE9
- Thread starter N2BRK
- Start date
Here is his potos of the shock extenders
Well, there ya go.
To clarify - the extenders change the location of the shock to work better after using the lowering shackles. Shorter shocks will not correct the new shock angles. As you raise the back of the pack, the shocks (mostly the pass side) starts becoming horizontal instead of vertical, and looses effectiveness.
I suspect it still creates a leverage condition adding to the how and why it is shearing them off like that.
It absolutely creates additional leverage that the bracket wasn't designed for. I would ditch the extenders and make your mount longer if you are planning to continue running that shock geometry.
Or
Relocate the shocks to be vertical behind the rear axle.
Or
Relocate the shocks to be vertical behind the rear axle.
After looking at both failures, I don't think boxing it will prevent the failure.
If you really want the shock out that far, I think you will need a custom made set of brackets.
www.duramaxdiesels.com
If you really want the shock out that far, I think you will need a custom made set of brackets.
Snapped the shock mount!
1hr from home with no tools. I improvised the lug nut wrench and a Leatherman to get the shock off the upper mount and get home. Obviously I didn’t put the caltracs on yet. Lol I guess I’ll have to grab a new mount and cut/weld. I hope the shock is ok. It seems to have some very minor...
www.duramaxdiesels.com
1/4 bracket by its self will be more than enough, top mounts will go next. If you want to box it still, put it on the side the shock shaft will be closest to and make sure its welded to the axle. I really dont think its needed though UNLESS its the shock bottoming out, then thats going to tear the top mounts off next
I considered the possibility of bottoming out, but these are extending the shock and I've never heard of anyone with a 3" drop shackle bottoming a shock. It "should" hit the bump stop before that happens. I also considered the possibility of topping out, but when I jack the truck up, I need to collapse the shock to get into the mount.
I'll go with the 1/4" mount since I have it from the last failure (I ordered 2), and I'll reinforce/box it all. Hopefully that's all that I need to do. If not, then I'll accept the "I told you so's" lol.
I'll go with the 1/4" mount since I have it from the last failure (I ordered 2), and I'll reinforce/box it all. Hopefully that's all that I need to do. If not, then I'll accept the "I told you so's" lol.
Meh, ill bet thats all you need
Driver side is on. I decided to stop running the extensions. I looked it all over some more and they are slapping the hell out of the shock mount. The passenger side is already tweaked all to hell. So my only choices are to make new mounts that position the shock in a lowered position, or just run stock. Since this is my DD, I’m just going to stay stock.
Attachments
Wrapped up after the rain stopped yesterday. I put Jack stands under the frame and hung the rear suspension. I then removed the pass side shock lower bolt and I had like 1/4” of travel left. I tossed the lowering bracket and attached both shocks without them. There was about an inch or so of travel left in the shocks. After I was done I reinstalled with the Roadmaster’s set to minimum preload (HD spring option). I had to readjust the caltracs. The ride is actually great! Less parts and a happy result. Win.
So out back I’m running the Fox reservoirs, 3” drop shackle and pinion shims, Deaver Mini pack at lowest setting, Roadmaster RAS with HD spring, Caltracs, and Big Wig sway bar. Very decent ride and has the RAS to retain tow/haul capacity since I’m on Deavers.
So out back I’m running the Fox reservoirs, 3” drop shackle and pinion shims, Deaver Mini pack at lowest setting, Roadmaster RAS with HD spring, Caltracs, and Big Wig sway bar. Very decent ride and has the RAS to retain tow/haul capacity since I’m on Deavers.
What pinion shim angle did you use?
Yyyeeeaaahhh… weve warrantied ALOT of ttx joints because of that. The mevotech rep and i had a long discussion about it last year. Ill post up the reason for it later but basically, its a covid issue and theres still that many left out there from back then
Interesting! I just got denied by Nik Caragianis of Mevotech because I bought them from Amazon, and he says Amazon and EBay are 3rd party sellers. I linked him to the Mevotech store on Amazon and asked him if it’s a fraudulent company that needs to be shut down on Amazon. Hmm. Good to know that it’s a known problem that’s fixed.
You will get the same response if you purchase from Rock Auto too. You have to go through Rock Auto so they can go back through there supplier to get things warrantied.
So longer story
Weve had ttx joints tearing boots left and right on dodges, chevys and everything else we put them on (this was prior to napa coming out with the fleet line). Like, 6 months in and they be wasted. Went to the napa 100 year convention in vegas last year and saw mevotech there. I beelined in and met their rep who quickly introduced me to an engineer they had there for just said questions i had.
Come to find out, during covid, there were shortages of polymers. Yup, checks out, we had that issue too when i mfg caulk. Mainly a polymers for the boots to keep flexible. They redesigned the formula to exclude one all together and use a different type in place of another. Mfg went full force cause covid and now years later, they still have these junk boots out there. Boots were replaced back to og formulation in late 2023/early 2024 but obviously they aint all out of circulation yet.
Now mevotech makes the fleet balljoints for napa and they are modeled after the ttx line with a few changes like coating, color, and liner composition but the boot is thicker and correct formula to not split.
What i DONT like is that mevotech says .060 of ball joint movement is perfectly ok. Beyond that they need replaced. Eeeehhhh i dont really like that as the tracker currently has that with about 2000 dirt miles on them. Ill see how long that lasts
Weve had ttx joints tearing boots left and right on dodges, chevys and everything else we put them on (this was prior to napa coming out with the fleet line). Like, 6 months in and they be wasted. Went to the napa 100 year convention in vegas last year and saw mevotech there. I beelined in and met their rep who quickly introduced me to an engineer they had there for just said questions i had.
Come to find out, during covid, there were shortages of polymers. Yup, checks out, we had that issue too when i mfg caulk. Mainly a polymers for the boots to keep flexible. They redesigned the formula to exclude one all together and use a different type in place of another. Mfg went full force cause covid and now years later, they still have these junk boots out there. Boots were replaced back to og formulation in late 2023/early 2024 but obviously they aint all out of circulation yet.
Now mevotech makes the fleet balljoints for napa and they are modeled after the ttx line with a few changes like coating, color, and liner composition but the boot is thicker and correct formula to not split.
What i DONT like is that mevotech says .060 of ball joint movement is perfectly ok. Beyond that they need replaced. Eeeehhhh i dont really like that as the tracker currently has that with about 2000 dirt miles on them. Ill see how long that lasts