Broken shock

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Originally Posted by Tombie2

BTW - I wouldnt be "Migging" a 120psi shock absorber

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I would and have, but I guess that's irrelevant:D

I wouldn't mig it either with that pressure behind it. If you send it to Bilstein or whoever (assuming no warrenty) then they will strip it and TIG it. They will TIG, I've had my mounts cut off and replaced by Bilstein Motorsport, which is how they did it.

As already said, I'd also look into why it broke as the shock my not be suitable in length or something.

Thanks for the input.
OK the shock is not under warranty.
There are a few things to condsider:
1/ Shock eyes breaking is not that uncommon on Rangies???
2/ The diff end of the mount was welded on by me, it could be out of alignment slightly.:angel:
3/ I would have thought the eyes are laser welded from manufacture (ps thanks for TIG tip Slunnie)
4/ dont know if having shocks mounted forward and backwards ala early model Rangies has any bearing on the failure
I haven't had a real good look yet, got back from mt disappointment a bit disappointed, parked the rangie and went indoors.
Oh I have a sunroof already :D:D:D

:):D

Mig it as the other guys have said.

I know a few guys in Vic that buy brand new shocks, cut the pins off an weld in eyes - Serious. Brand new shocks, just to get the combo they want.

These guys race, and drive hard - none have broken yet (ie cliffhanger, Vic Winch)

Weld it, drive it and if you break it just change it on the track (you will have enough spares to choose from i'm sure wanye)

At the end of the day if it breaks again it breaks. You have lost nothing in trying.

Cheers
Dave.

BTW, the main reason why I broke one on the Old Boys previous 110 was the length.

As I said to you though, Bill has talked about the angle of the eye being incorrect unduly increasing the stress on the eye at max articulation.

Anyway (its only a shock :eek:)

Dave.

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Originally Posted by waxen

1/ Shock eyes breaking is not that uncommon on Rangies???
Yes that is correct. The rear upper shock mount is not good for vehicles that articulate a lot.

2/ The diff end of the mount was welded on by me, it could be out of alignment slightly.:angel:
Hmmm any inboard movement (towards the centre of the diff) would increase the sheer angle at the upper shock mount on full down travel.

3/ I would have thought the eyes are laser welded from manufacture (ps thanks for TIG tip Slunnie)
No idea how it is done, but I have MIG eyes onto shocks with no dramas. But like rovercare said, that is irrelevant.

4/ dont know if having shocks mounted forward and backwards ala early model Rangies has any bearing on the failure
Nope seems that both have a habit of breaking or bending rear shocks.

I haven't had a real good look yet, got back from mt disappointment a bit disappointed, parked the rangie and went indoors.
I know how you feel, i broke both my rear custom billys :(

Oh I have a sunroof already :D:D:D

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I would recommend reducing the angle on the upper rear shock mount by about 4 degrees, I did this with small custom spacers that were placed in between the shock mount and the chassis. I guess you could just use washers if you wanted to do it on the cheap.

Cheers
Grimace

I have broken both Koni and Bilstein on my previous Rangie. The reason I believe was the LRA mod to the top mount where they use a large nut to keep the shock in place. I believe that does not allow enough flex. never broke another when I went back to the standard washer and split pin.

Ian

IMHO a major cause of eye breaks is if the washers on the top are the wrong way around.
The top mount should have contoured washers, with a slope on one side. These should face inward to the shock, to allow the bush to move more.
I broke a Boge by not noticing that I had left an inner washer and adding another. Just the 2MM or whatever was enough.
So make sure you have the tapered washers and that they are the correct way around. I just fitted Billies the other day to my RRC and noticed that the eye was narrow and the bushes shaped so that they had plenty of sideways flex, so should be OK.
Regards Philip A

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Originally Posted by Tombie2

<snip>

BTW - I wouldnt be "Migging" a 120psi shock absorber

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and standard Billies are a bit higher pressure than that, try around 20 bar/290psi :eek:

Welding and the pressure in Bilstein would be an issue if you were contemplating welding to the body of the shockie (the part that is pressurised).

I don't know what Land Rover you are talking about, but on mine, the eye is welded to the rod, so the pressure is a red herring.

The welding used to connect to eye to the rod on my Bilstiens is not particularly good, considering the angle of rangie and disco top rear mounts, that cause bending to occur in the shockie rod.

Mine only have 2 short fillet welds (on front and rear of the eye). Because of the bending (caused by the angle of the top mount), the highest stress in the weld occurs at the worst possible place for cracks to develop.

Previous posts have mentioned several other issues that contribute to increasing the bending in the rod. These all need to addressed to avoid failure.

At a minimum, allow as much flex as possible from the rubber mounts at both the top and bottom mounts - do not over tighten on the rubber bushes and allow room for the rubber to deform (rubber is the most incompressible material known to man).