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I am in the midst of replacing my oem belstein front shocks. I noticed there was a rubber shoulder that goes through the hole in the frame that the shock bushings clamp down on when tightened. These shoulders are shot! Does anyone sell replacements? I purchased Ridetech shocks and attempted to install them without the shoulder in the frame, they just don’t seem right! Does anyone have any experience with this? Do you need these shoulders for just oem shocks or for any shock that gets installed in the car?
Your right!!! I figured that out today. Does anyone have a set of upper and lower shock bushings I could buy off them? Or a decent pair of shocks?! I have 400 dollar Ridetech shocks that don’t fit and I just want to put back on the belsteins with new bushings!
Hello Corvette Forum - I believe that I am having similar issue to that mentioned in this thread. I have had my front passenger-side shock fail twice in this manner (see attached image). It has only been 1y and <5000 miles since I had the shock setup replaced and rebuilt, and recently it failed again. Each time it seems that the mounting bracket fails, causing the shock and bushing to bust through the upper shock mount. I am running Ride Tech HQ adjustable shocks, aside from that car and suspension are mostly stock.
Last edited by vettes-n-effect; Apr 5, 2020 at 11:50 PM.
Hello Corvette Forum - I believe that I am having similar issue to that mentioned in this thread. I have had my front passenger-side shock fail twice in this manner (see attached image). It has only been 1y and <5000 miles since I had the shock setup replaced and rebuilt, and recently it failed again. Each time it seems that the mounting bracket fails, causing the shock and bushing to bust through the control arms. I am running Ride Tech HQ adjustable shocks, aside from that car and suspension are mostly stock.
You mean they are busting through the upper shock mount, right? I'm trying to figure out how you had that shock mounted. What I'm seeing doesn't compute. Did you set them up as shown in the diagram in post #4? The stack of washers/bushings/nuts should be arranged like in the picture below, with the sheet metal shock mount sandwiched between the two bushings. Is that really how you had it?
Mr Miller - thank you so much for the quick reply back. Yes, this is exactly how the shocks were installed - and as you mentioned, the shock is breaking through the upper shock mount. You are not the first one to have asked the question, last year the folks at Ride Tech were surprised to see that the top retaining plate above the shock was ripped clean off. They were certain the shocks were installed incorrectly, and even consulted my repair shop (a highly regarded/capable outfit in Illinois) to confirm the procedure. The front shocks were set to, by most standards, a rather firm setting - and I live in Chicago, where the potholes resemble meteor craters. Nevertheless, I am perplexed to see that this particular shock has failed this way twice now in a short period of time.
Last edited by vettes-n-effect; Apr 5, 2020 at 11:53 PM.
The shock bushings supplied with new shocks are wrong for our cars. The oem bushings had one that kind of looked like a mushroom and went through the hole inot the other shock, very much like the pin top bushings I posted a link to above.
Take a look at the detail drawing above. If the bushings don't have that step to fill the hole and go into the other bushing, the bushings will be able to punch through the shock tower hole.
The shock bushings supplied with new shocks are wrong for our cars. The oem bushings had one that kind of looked like a mushroom and went through the hole inot the other shock, very much like the pin top bushings I posted a link to above.
Take a look at the detail drawing above. If the bushings don't have that step to fill the hole and go into the other bushing, the bushings will be able to punch through the shock tower hole.
To clarify, drcook is talking about the #5 bushing in the diagram in post #4. Maybe that is the issue. I'd also verify that you have the correct front shock for your year C4. The problem you're having makes me think the shock is running out of travel in compression before it should.
Last edited by MatthewMiller; Apr 6, 2020 at 08:39 AM.
1996 C4 Front Shock Mount question
