Hi guys,

I better ask for a hand. I pulled the spring / shock assembly out today to replace the worn welsh mount.

The fact it all came apart so smoothly should've warned me :-). I compressed the springs, took off the upper shock bolt. The mount was stuck.

With 4 spring compressors compressed, I could rotate the top plate of the mount by hand about 270 degrees with some difficulty. As it rotated I noticed - it was also spinning the shock rod that protrudes into the mount. I released the compressors to evaluate all that did was leave me with a skewed spring and the shock rod stuck in place!

Wait, just checked. The spring is unable to release fully. See photo of a spring next to the shock & spring I'm working on.

Ok now we seem to have an example of the welsh mount skewing so far it "locks" the shock in place leaving the spring partially compressed with friction.

I just made it safe - screwed the bolt on a few turns. Now I could sure use some help. Please God I hope I didn't bend the shock's rod and its just the off center pressure holding it all together.

What would you try? Could I apply heat or is the too dangerous. Applying heat to the mount shouldn't travel down the rod to inside shock right?

Other ideas? Nearly impossible to find a surface from underneath to hammer it out.

Thanks this one has me stumped.

John

 

Try fitting compressors in such a way as to counter the spring bias. That should even up the pressure on the mount. I have had the centre rod stick on occasion, more so with CATs suspension but that might just be coincidence.

 

Thx ill try it tomorrow in the light.

 

John, if you have a slide hammer with the hub puller on it, screw the nuts back on the studs, making sure you have some threads on the shock shaft turned down and the spring compressors on and give it a couple of whacks. The washer in the middle has a slanted entry to help assembly and yours must be worn so badly that it hammered it together. It will let go in a hurry, so, make sure the spring compressors are in a stable position.

 

Wayne, another great idea! There is hope :-)

I thought I'd seen it all with these dam mounts (ha ha)

 

Today disaster. No progress to speak of. Shock mount is 3 layers bottom aluminum meets and sits in spring contact, above that is runner like material, on top is wherethe shock rod penetrates.

Springs compressed no longer touching mount. Used a grinder to remove bottom mount piece.

Fwiw, rubbery middle just melts with grinder. More room would be nice but left in place 4 now. Not worth the fight.

Couldn't find the puller Wayne mentioned. Spent today hamming that top piece off. Moved to a point. Now stuck in place.

Notes: vicegrip holding center rod. Hands holding top mount piece. I can rotate them in different directions with great effort. Tells me not welded / corroded together.

The positive motion i mentioned was from 5 pound hammer + spare compressor bolt into rear of mount (12oclock, 4 o'clock, 8 o'clock repeat).

Hey I thought to self, compressors clear space under mount, I could support upper mount there, hammer top of rod might be more efficient? WRONG! File it away. The shock rod will mushroom a bit with the blows. At least all threads are ok.

Thoughts on hitting the stuck junction of shock rod + upper mount with a propane torch for a bit?

Cheaper faster then chasing down a new puller. After the mushroom I don't want to assume anything.

Thank you.

John

 

John, Good morning, lets get it off.
Drill out the three pop rivets so the bottom plate will drop down out of the way, get a two prong puller and screw the nut back on the shock, just enough to give the puller a stable place for the stud. Crank it down on the washer and that should do it. I am concerned that the shelf on the shock that bottoms on that washer may be in trouble. You can carefully grind a shelf back on it, but a dremmel takes a while and a 1/16 inch should clean it up, of course keep checking for a good fit.
Take not when you take it apart of the sharp edges at the top and bottom plates where they met the bushings and note how they cut into the rubber.

 

Wayne, thanks buddy. Disassembled as you suggest, now its just that gold disk left to "uncork". Today, I'll be searching for the puller you described.

Interesting finding: i spent hour or three hammering the bottom of the shock mount last night. Very small movement. Today when I drilled out the rivets and top piece dropped off, it the bottom metal piece of the mount was free'd. To my surprise there's a 3/4 inch thick doughnut shaped in between the stuck gold disk and the bottom metal piece. Iow every blow to the bottom last night was friggin cushioned by that poly rubber piece!

I'll probably post photos as fyi to all.

Whew, just when you think you've seen it all.

More later, John

 

Sorry John, but you've lost me, that's the bottom bush, the mate to the top bush and it's meant to be there. Or have l misunderstood what you say.

 

I'll take photo,no problem. Sorry I wasnt clear.

John

 

Update, progess made!!!!

I used a gear puller plus blow torch to remove gold disk.
Thanks all!

John

 

Job completed. Answers to above questions

Photo of rod top. I hammered down trying to release the mount. Bad idea rod mushroomed! Used grinder to trim. Threads unaffected all ok. Just remember soft metal!

Photo after I drilled out 3 rivets. Exposes inside. See gold disk that's what mated with shock rod. See poly donought on top and below gold disk. Below? This caused confusion in my remarks above. I spent time trying to hammer mount free by hammering the underside thinking mm by mm it would move up and off the rod. I thought there was metal (undercasing) to metal (gold disk) contact. WRONG! That big toroidal shaped rubber poly is mounted between those 2 pieces. No wonder hammering was ineffective.

Photo of corrosion on rod. This caused jam. Polished off before new mount installed.

Photo of puller to free gold disk. Had to use propane torch for help.

John

 

Urrgh! What a fight!

Glad you got there

 

John, well done.
Now check the little shelf on that shock stem when you put the new mount on. Just set it on the stud and see if it rocks, if so, clean up that to get a flat surface.
When you tighten it, make sure you get 5 or so threads showing above the nut, this is very important.

 

Wayne, thanks. Spring is released, I can't test rocking now, right? I'll go count threads. Wayne i was wondering about this, the number of threads to observe is more helpful than you can imagine. Thank you!!!

John

 

I can attest that the number of threads showing above the top shock nut is indeed very important. With just 2 threads showing, my wife's 2006 XK8 rattled as if Wayne and I had not just replaced my December 2015 Welsh shock mounts at all. With a full 5 threads showing, the noise completely vanished and the car drove like it was new again. This is with a set of Wayne's custom shock mount design inside my old Welsh bell housings. I am extremely happy with it now.. And for the first time in nearly two years, my wife drove her XK8 yesterday morning....

 

Thx Jon89. I'm ok. Took her for a ride, lots of smiles. I know its hard to separate placebo effect, but she sure does drive nicer!!!

J