"Shocking" saga of a shock tower

[manoa matt]

If you are currently unaware, Hawaii has the 5th worst roads in the nation. Unfortunately it's the only thing I can complain about. Like any other story it begins with: "I was driving down the road and hit a big pot hole." Soon after a dreadful sound occured. Sounded like a bad ball joint, but I replaced the lowers about 18 months ago and the uppers were nice and tight. I wondered, could a pot hole cause a ball joint to fail all the sudden? I have a spare upper ball joint set that I was planning on replacing while doing an engine swap in a month or so. During that time I also planed a frame rail fix while the engine was out, as my lower two cross member bolts are starting to pull out.

I've done the ball joint procedure before, but decide to bone up before proceeding. Searching the forum I came across another potential source for the racket suggested by Mike Bouse. Maybe the lower rubber grommet on the top shock connection fell away. Pushed on the fender, and the car moved but the protruding shock threads did not. Ohh simple, I just need the lower rubber grommet which I have. Removed the top nut washer and rubber grommet to find this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigtimes_fiat/3117989120/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigtimes_fiat/3117989118/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigtimes_fiat/3117989130/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigtimes_fiat/3117989124/

Remember this is my daily driver and I NEED it. I came up with a solution that I think will work until I can do the entire shock mount replacement. I'm going to cut out a "washer" from the same thickness metal and force it up into the shock mount cone. Then weld the washer to the remaining metal at the edges of the hole. This seams to be the only thing where I can get a weld bead around without more cutting of the inner fender.

I know that when I do the full scale proper fix I'll have to remove the shock guard seen from the inner fender and remove the upper spring perch to get to the shock cone. The cone itself will be a challenge because the upper a-arm pivot bolt sleeve is in the way.

Anyone ever done a shock tower fix and have pictures of the procedure? If you got a copy of "Fiat & Abarth 124 Spider and Coupe" by John Tipler look at page 92 and you'll see what is needed to be removed and replaced for the repair. The diagram is for a coupe, but I'm sure the spider is "shockingly" similar.

[mdrburchette]

Good gracious Matt! I've never seen that kind of damage before. I always thought shock tower damage was due to rust in the housing part of the tower. Is your frame rail where the shock tower is welded onto bent? That's where I was told to look for any unibody fatigue. Thankfully, when I stripped my latest 72 those rails were in good shape but I'll be looking more closely at the section you've described. The car is upside down but here's what I'm talking about:

[pope]

Matt,
It seams that your shock tower is in good shape except for the top of the shock tower. If you square cut out some of the plate in front of it, you will have easy access to the top, that will allow you to spot weld it back in easily. The bottom already has easy access once the shock and spring are out to get a mig tip in there. I think that is an easy fix rather than replace. That washer looks like it was welded in only 4 spots, so more spot welds or a continuous bead would be better, after you cleaned up the dome.

Good Luck

[So Cal Mark]

I see this quite commonly, and it's one of the reasons I advise against super-stiff Konis on street cars

[mbouse]

Mark, are the stiff shocks OR bad roads generally the cause for this sheet metal blow out? or, both?

Matt, are your shocks freely operating, or did they freeze up? Yeowzers! that must have been some pot hole; are the pots bigger in Hawaii ??

[So Cal Mark]

I think they call the large potholes volcanoes

[manoa matt]

I got stock springs and the shocks are Monroe sensa track from NAPA, only about 18 months old. I didn't check if the shock was binding yet, but I think when I hit the bottom of the pothole the shock length reduced to its minimum, bottomed out and then punched up through the tower.

I was looking at the edges of the metal where it tore out. On one side at the edge of the tear the metal is not shiny like the other sides, so I think there was a slight tear that existed for some time. With the washer that is/was there, it would not be visible even with an inspection mirror.

It was a huge pothole, actually a string of them. We don't have freeze thaw here, so what causes the pot holes is saturation and liquification of the substrate and ground below...sinkholes. That coupled with poor workmanship, think island mentality..." U stomp it witcha foot, It be OK". We are into the rainy season here (our version of winter) and have had a few major storms. The place where the pothole was got 15 inches in one day! That much rain would be 12 and a half feet of snow. And its been raining like that almost everyday for two weeks.

A couple guys on Mirafiori have done the fix many times and have some good suggestions, fortunatly I have good metal to work with instead of rust. I just removed the shock for now and drive really carefull, good thing I only live 2.8 miles from work. Come to think of it, when I got the car it only had one front shock, but I can't remember which side. I'll keep you posted of the results, as I'm planning on fixing it tonight.

[ronarthur]

Mike has 12-1/2' of snow in his back yard now and it's only mid December. I heard rumors that he was going to get a rusted out parts car, weld sheet metal to the undercarriage and have the world's first Fiat tobaggin.

[SpiderHead]

Vicks has new shock towers in thier new catalog. temp fix to get along, but buy one of those for the permanent one eh bra?

-Ryan

[brad131a4]

If you want to pay for shipping I'm cutting up a 74 spider and the towers are in great shape. I was just going to recycle the metal so you can have them. All I'm keeping is the front clip to use for mock up of headers and turbo for my car. I can cut the inside of the towers out so they are a little less to ship. IM me if your interested.

[manoa matt]

I actually completed the fix over the last weekend. I've driven about 200 miles since then, including many rough spots and pot holes with the fix holding up quite well. I got plenty of pictures but they are on my work computer. I also have a 76 that I'm cutting up with plans to keep the shock towers and several other misc metal pieces. Its got typical body and front floor pan rust, but the structure is solid. Thanks for the offers and suggestions.

I'll post the pictures and procedure sometime in the next few days.