how to stop lower shock mount from rotating?

I bought the speedway 4"drop superbell axle and perches, batwings etc.. for my 28 Tudor. I see where there is a potential for the lower shock mount to rotate on the perch bolt once assembled and being used for its intended purpose. There is a small Keyway milled in the shock mount, but no corresponding keyway in the perch bolt or the batwing to stop the shock mount from rotating. What have you guys done about this? anything?
Sock it down tight and forget about it?
suggestions from those who have delt with this..?

and yes Tman I did a search
and i am very sorry if i mis- spelled anything

sarcasm...--its whats for dinner!

 

Ive used the ones with the keys built in years ago but all my recent projects didnt have em.. I just tighten the piss outta the perch bolt and all is well.
Dave

 

thats what fleetside66 and i were just discussing,he felt that should work too,i guess it will work. just looked like they made a provision for something to stop it from rotating but didnt follow thru on the corresponding part.

 

I've seen one car where the lower shock mount spun out of line.
Probably due to lack of nut torque.

I wouldn't worry about it unless it does spin out of line.

If it did, a drill and tap and small set screw in the threaded area of the perch would take care of the problem.

Or . . . get some Deuce Factory perch bolts and lower shock mount.
The perch bolt has a key way groove and the lower shock mount has a cast-in key.

 

Along these same lines, use a Nylock nut and be sure the nylon contacts the threads all the way.
My pal didn't notice his perch bolt nuts were tall and the perch bolt was short and he lost a nut 65 miles from home.

A pair of Vise-Grips were used to get home, the threads cleaned up and a jam nut with Nylock ring did the job.

Jam nuts are about half as thick as a regular nut.

 

I have the same parts. I just tightened the nut good and I've never had a problem with them rotating.

 

C9 the Ny-Loc is a good idea, Mine come that way, definetly will be used.
guess i can try it out, and see if it develops problems. Than take them apart individually and deal with it if they do rotate.

is there a torque Spec. for this assembly?

 

Probably, but you could use the torque spec for that size thread.
Might want to be careful if your pieces are stainless since stainless is weaker than non-stainless.

Just give em a crank that seems reasonable and tight enough.

Use some Never-Seize on the threads if they are stainless.
Especially on the shock mount stud & nut.
The Nylock still locks ok, but if you assemble it bare, stainless to stainless will 'gall', lock together and you'll twist the stud right off if you want to remove the shock or whatever.

Did that trick and it was a bitch to get the oddly shaped shock mount set up in the lathe for drilling & tapping....

 

C9 ..Gotcha!..anti-seize is a good frind of mine..use it alot on these old cars..saved my ass alot of times. And so true about the Stainless to Stanless issue. Hard lesson learned about 20 years ago..a bit more hard headded back than, and also in a hurry. Older and hopefully much wiser now..but still in a hurry

 

I have a different perspective on this situation. This being that the alignment of the shock absorber upper bracket and the lower mount are not square or parallel with each other. Camber gain effects this as well. This miss alignment puts undo strain on the shock absorber and creates a point where the tension tries to zero. Since most upper brackets are adequately welded or bolted on the frame the next weakest joint is the lower shock junction. Since this is just a pinch joint the lower shock mount stress causes the mount to rotate to a point of lesser strain. It was thought that keying would eliminate this tendency but in some cases misalignment then caused shock shaft failure.

The deal is that if you have your lower shocks mounts spinning , check the relationship to the upper shock bracket. To check for this condition, remove the shock absorbers and take a carpenter square and check the alignment of the flat faces of the upper and lower mounting stud as the suspension travels.

 

I have run into this problem on my model A. What I did was grind the top of the bottom shock mount to conform with the radious of the axel. It doesn't take much. Good luck

 

I've always wondered, couldn't you weld the lower shock mount to the bottom of the wishbone?

 

nobux..I dont think i would want to do that. just in order to keep the assembly removable, with out having to cut it off...but maybe a small tack just to keep the rotation to stop..? nice little TIG. spot?

 

You can take a chisel and make a few marks in the top of the lower shock mount, don't get crazy, a couple will do. These will grip the bottom of the perch boss in the wish bone and keep it from moving.

You should check your shock alignment as mentioned earlier.

 

I wrapped my perch bolts with tape then marked where i wanted a notch and used a dremmel tool to cut them. used a small woodruff key to lock them together, as mentioned above some are already keyed and notched, unfortunatly I bought mine before I realized the need DOH! One day if I ever get it on the road I'll see how effective it is

 

A small fwiw - I made a shock install jig from 3/4" square tubing and 1" bushings drilled for the shock mounts.

It was set up square prior to welding and checked square afterward.

They duplicate the shock, but aren't adjustable as to length.

Makes for a square shock install.

Set the shock mounts up after the axle & 4-bars, bones etc. are in and the caster is where you want it.

 

Excuse me ,but what is C9 ? and where do you get it?

 

It's a nickname derived from my real name.

 

as i go C9 i may have questions for you..sounds to me that you have been there done that, and the get r done attitude i can deal with

 

On mine after the angles set i drilled and taped in stalled a allen set screw on the back side it worked for me .

 

another good idea, if that little bastard will just not listen to the athority of the torque wrench

 

Just curious if any of you have a picture of what you are talking about.

 

Thorkle Rod..Not here but i do at home..if it dont get posted by someone else I try to add it tonight when my sorry ass gets close to falling into bed..gonna be a long day for this guy.

 

Stainless is Deuce Factory.



Plain is SuperBell



DF mount has key & keyway.

SB mount does not.

Note as well the DF mount is longer horizontally than is the SB.

Could be a help in some cases.

 

Jay (aka C9) We discussed this problem a while back.
My bolt - perch - had the key way; but the shock mount didn't.

Using the aforementioned methods of making sure the two were in proper alignment; I carefully marked where the shock mount and the key way met.
Using a "KEY WAY BROACH" set - a good friend has a well equipped machine shop - we then CUT a key way in the shock mount.
(as I recall, we made a fixture to hold the shock mount in position)

You detailed a method of using a lathe cutting tool - the end the width of the key way - and using the cross slide of the lathe; taking multiple "passes" through the inside of the shock mount to "carve" a key way.

Still got the details of how you did it??

 

Thanks C9..for the pictures

 

Yeah C9 is a great info. resource. However I have a question on the pics he sent and that is what are the two SS lines that run forward to the spreader bar? Thanks, you do great work.

 

I think he hides his head light wires in there..or if your talking about that other picture might be brake lines..but the one above definetly looks like a clever way to hide the electric wires to the lights

 

Your shock mounts are already slotted, why don't you have the keyways cut into the perches and use the woodruff keys like originally intended? Might cost you all of $20 at the machine shop. Save you $20 worth of wonder and worry.

 

guess thats an option alchemy..always a good possiblity. just was putting it out there to see what others may have done, or if it was found to even be an issue..i do sometimes have the habit of over thinking things, just was wondering if this might be one of those times