Shock bolt hole and Spindle Bolt

[pwilliam]

Was in the process of replacing my A arms this weekend and ran into two issues. One was that there was no bottom bushing on the shock and the bottom washer was above the shock tower. The hole that the shock bolt goes through also seems rather large. Does anyone know what the correct size is supposed to be or have a photo of this hole? I am pretty sure there is something wrong as the washer barely looked like it covered it. I assume the hole should be smaller than the bushings, so that they could not go through the hole. If that is the case I think I am in trouble, the hole certainly seems larger than the bushing but i'll have to wait until this weekend to confirm. Any suggestions as to how I should proceed if this is the case?

Second issue, which prevented me from replacing my A arms, is that I could not get the upper bolt that holds the steering knuckle to the spindle to budge. I removed the nut easily but the bolt would not slide out. The lower bolt that goes through the knuckle and spindle came out very easily. I even threaded the nut back on the upper bolt and vigorously pounded the bolt but it would not move. I did not have any issues with this when I replaced my passenger side A arms, so I am wondering what could be the issue. The only thing I could thing of was that the coil was applying enough pressure to pinch the bolt in the knuckle and spindle. I spent an hour trying to get the thing out but no luck and as i was losing daylight i had to reassemble everything and head back home, as I was using a buddy's parking space to do the work. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Pete

[DanD]

The hole the shock spindle goes through is pretty big, but not huge. Your shock should have two big washers and two rubber donuts, one of each for each side of the hole. Sometimes a shock can pound the top of the shock tower right out. When it does, the hole is big enough to push the entire shock through.

Check to make sure both sides are the same, and post us up some pictures of your inner towers and shocks if you can. We like pictures, and they can be helpful at getting to the root of the problem.

[spider2081]

A common failure is the top of the shock tower fails over time. The shock washers and bushings then are able to pass through the hole that breaks free from the tower. When you take the nuts off the top of the shock and inspect the parts you might find a round piece of metal that was the top of the tower sandwiched between the bushings. It was the shocks top attachment point. The piece can be welded back in place and reinforced from the top of the car.

[4uall]

Not sure if this will help

Drivers side upper coil mount (pic taken from below)


Rear (Be sure to stuff a rag in the pit of despair)

[spiderdan]

A common failure

Agree, happened to my 68 shortly after I bought it.
My mechanic welded a big honkin' washer over the hole and re-installed the shock.
That was 12 years/70k miles ago...still holding.

[pwilliam]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. The hole is definitely bigger than what Jay pictured. I'll be sure to place a rag into the pit of despair before I drive it to my mechanic's shop!!!

In regards to the bolt that runs through the spindle and steering knuckle, is it likely that because the coil wasnt compressed when I tried to remove it, I had trouble getting it out? Not sure if anyone has had this issue before. I'm also wondering if I should wait to just have my mechanic replace the A arms since he will likely have to disassemble all that stuff to weld in the shock tower?