Body crack near shock?

[jdveterano]

I am completely stumped with the rear right side of my Spider, where the shock seems to meet the body of the car, in the trunk. I have attached pictures to illustrate my concern:

This is the left side, pick taken from the trunk. This side is not the issue.


This is the right side, also taken from the trunk. This side is the problem side. When I hit bumps, or the like, I get a solid banging sound.


I have scoured two different shop manuals and fora galore. I can't seem to find anyone else with this issue. Can you lovely folks help me diagnose and suggest a fix? I think it may just require a re-weld of the body in that area, but I wanted to ask the experts first!

Thanks!

[baltobernie]

Not only a weld repair, but a thorough examination of the car's underside by a competent mechanic. He'll look for other bent/broken suspension components. Whatever somebody hit with the rear they probably hit with the front first

Any chance this car has spent time in Pennsyltuckey, where they are now stocking potholes with trout?

[jdveterano]

You know, I am genuinely not worried about the rest of the car. It really drove and handled well at all speeds. Now I could be horribly wrong, but no other noises even exist.

As for the actual spot that is damaged- am I correct in assuming that that is the body that is cracked? Or is there a piece of the suspension I can buy to have replaced. Or the most likely both

[spider2081]

This seems to be a common problem on our Spiders. I wonder if there was something different about the original stock shock design that put less stress on their mounting points then the replacements. Maybe the tower failures are caused by stiffer shocks or double action shocks.

Thoughts ???

[baltobernie]

Spiders are of unibody construction; you can see the welds on the "cap" of the shock tower in your picture.

Upon closer inspection, something is fishy with your photo, almost like a PO attempted a repair by adding an extra washer and rubber to the assembly. If memory serves, the Spider rear shock looks like this:



Maybe the bump stop on that side of the axle went missing, and a big whack drove the shock up thru the mount. In any case, a knowledgeable look underneath before attempting repair would be a good thing.

[djape1977]

welding will be necesary, but it's an area very dificult to acess.

shocks stiffer than original can cause this given enough time. also, shock absorber might be siezed solid.

[narfire]

The right side looks like it has blown through the top of the tower. The threaded bit might be banging the underside just in front of the trunk lid. See a bump growing from the outside?
How to fix.... welding a top back on might be the way to go but I would not have a clue how to weld the back side of the patch.
Going to have to get the shock out, perhaps source a tower top from a car being parted out. How they get it out
Let us know how you make out. I have not seen a rear shock tower issue yet, this is a first for me.
Chris

[81SPIDERMATT]

i agree with chris..... top of that shocktower looks blown out .... on a bump shock is hitting the trunk ....

[So Cal Mark]

that issue is common on the front, but I've never seen a rear tower fail. But, I've seen lots of seized rear shocks on cars. I suppose driving with a seized shock will break the tower. Access is the hard part of this job. I expect you'll have to remove the shock and spring and work from the bottom side to repair it

[spider2081]

I would try and get new metal in from the bottom and from the top. maybe someone has a junk car with rear towers and can cut off the tower domes for you. Then fit one up from the bottom tack weld it to the hole. Then place the other on top from the trunk and tack it in place. This would displace the load over a greater area of the tower.

[bobplyler]

I had the same thing happen to my car, but it was the left front, not the back. It was much easier to repair than that will be, but with the manifold in the way, it wasn't as easy as the right front would have been. And the shock towers are available for the front.

[jdveterano]

Is this a serious safety issue? I drove it home from when I bought it and was going to drive it to the shop to get looked at- do I have to worry about driving it?

[81SPIDERMATT]

I would take the trunk lid off .... that way you can watch it bounce all the way to the shop .... I would recommend that you make the decision on how it is to be fixed and then drive it to the shop that is going to fix it .... the spring will do its job well enough to get you there ... slow and easy no bumps or potholes (that's my disclaimer)

[azruss]

I drove my car around for a few days with no shocks at all. Not a big issue. R&T did a shock article back in the 70s. they ran a corvette and a 240 volvo thru an autocross course with and without shocks. The Corvette did fine without shocks and posted a run time nearly the same as with shocks. The Volvo was a different matter with serious control issues and a much slower time without shocks. The conclusion was the softer the suspension, the more need for shocks.

[djape1977]

yeah, sure, you don't need shocks, that's just another thing that corporations invented to rob you. same as fuel pump. why would you need it when gravity fed works just fine?