After I installed the lower rear shock mounts on my 69 and torqued them down, something didn't look right. The part where the shock attaches seemed to be angled down, and significantly more so on the driver's side.
These pics are looking toward the rear of the car





The passenger side seems like it would work but the driver side looked bad. What angle should these be at? Parallel to the ground?

I removed the driver's side trailing arm and removed (what fun) the shock mount from the forks




There is a flat side of the mount that is located by a flat spot on the forts. Sliding in the mount on the forks before the splined part, I could see that there is a bit of a play, with these being the two extremes





Even at the best position, it doesn't seem to be completely as high as it should be.
As I look closely the mount, there is the flat area on the shaft that goes to the forks. If I look at it from the end, the shock mount angles down from that flat section. Is this the way it should be? I ask just in the off case I got a bum part. The flat side is by my thumb on the picture below



So before I put everything back together, school me on what angle this shock mount should be at

Thanks so much
Glenn in San Diego

 

My first thought was they should be parallel to the ground , but then I actually went out and had a look at my standard rear end 77 and both slightly angle down a touch , one more than the other as well ,not as big of a difference as yours though.

I cant recall there being any play when they went back together as well.

does the "D" hole look true (a nice straight edge ?)

 

It is flat but loose enough to let it move as much as it is.

 

Glenn,
There are lefts and rights for the shock supports.
Do you have a pair and are they on the proper side?
Regards,
Alan

Perhaps you can see how even the 'angle' is for each support.

 

Thanks for the pics Alan
i made need one more

I read some other threads about this and another guy was having the same problem 17 years ago. LOL

It appears that when you tighten down the mount on the drivers side, the torque angles the mount down toward the ground if there is any slop in the D opening. The same is true for the passenger side making the mount move up away from the ground.

So what I need is a picture from the back of the car looking forward to see what angle from horizontal both mounts should be at. It seems that
they are angled down slightly because the top of the shock mount is slightly inboard.

Glenn

 

Hi Glenn,
Might these help?
Regards,
Alan

 

Indeed they do!!
Thank you

I just went looking at the mounting fork D hole and you can see where
the one edge has been worn just enough to allow the slop in the mount






So now the question becomes will it hold if I hold it in the right position when I am tightening it up?

 

Based on the with of the flat, as long as the shock mount does not slip all the way in and remain sloppy I would say - yes it will work with no issues. Remember there is a metal tube inside the strut rod bushing that helps lock the assembly together and prevent the rubber bushing from getting squashed.

I use a torque wrench and seat the mount. I then recheck the torque after hitting it with a rubber mallet to make sure it's seated.

If you lift the drum / disk assembly up the shock will go on easier.

 

Thanks to all for the help
I ended up torquing the shock mount while holding it in the best position.
Since it was a new mount the splines seem to be holding good and I mounted everything back. Viola! Looks good to me

 

I had the same issue. My D's were a little worn. I did the final torque with some large channel locks (and a nut to protect the threads) to hold the mounts in position.
After final assembly, I stopped by the welder and have him put 2 little tacks on each side.
IF it ever has to come apart - a wheel can cut them easily then grind off the nubs.
A little wire brush and tough up paint and the tacks pretty much vanished.
-W

 

Funny how the factory original mounts on my 69 are at the same angle, and the aftermarket not !! I have 3 set of mounts coming from different vendors and all the same, passenger side mounts are at a different angle that the other side !! I ended up re welding and re machining the pads. You can see when fitting your shocks, that the bushing is binding on one side and not the other . Again perfect quality control !!