Found my clunk coming from the rear !

[bighealeysource]

Hey all,
Had a clunking noise from the rear boot area on my BN6 and
thought it could be something loose in the trunk, bad bushings
at the front of the leaf springs. Checked everything and
everything good. Checked the shocks and nuts nice and tight
and then discovered the nuts although tight were about a 1/16
of an inch from making full contact with the shock mount. The
fellow that redid the rear end didn't use lock washers but
the locking nuts ( with nylon inserts) and as a result the unthreaded portion of the bolt would not allow it to snug up
against the shock mount. Put a lock washer on and now it's
completely tight up against the mount and no more clunking.
Figured someone else out there might have similar noises so
be sure to check those shock mounts and the nuts and bolts
to make sure every thing is tight. I just about took everything
else out or apart back there but at least I know now that
there's nothing loose !!!
Regards,
Mike

 

[dougsmarkIII]

I had read about loose rear shocks thanks to this forum. So when I install my newly detailed and painted shocks I used thread locker on the bolt threads.

Doug

 

[Michael Oritt]

Doug--

It is hard keeping steel bolts tight in blind holes tapped into aluminum. Give the bolts a check every so often and don't be surprised if find yourself tightening them up.

 

[dougsmarkIII]

Doug--

It is hard keeping steel bolts tight in blind holes tapped into aluminum. Give the bolts a check every so often and don't be surprised if find yourself tightening them up.

Will do. Thanks for the advice Michael.

Doug

 

[davidb]

Mike

That's good and timely advice on tightening up shock bolts. Several years ago I found a couple of my front shock bolts had worked themselves a bit loose. As suggested, threadlocker is the answer.

This is a good reminder however, and thanks for posting your experience. Such an easy fix, but if left unchecked could lead to nastier business.

cheers Dave

 

[dougsmarkIII]

Doug--

It is hard keeping steel bolts tight in blind holes tapped into aluminum. Give the bolts a check every so often and don't be surprised if find yourself tightening them up.

Looked at my rear shocks today while I was bleeding brakes. The mounting bolts do not thread into the shock aluminum. They go thru the shock and thread into steel nuts welded to the mounts. Now this is on a '66 BJ8, I can't say how earlier models have their rear shocks mounted. Michael's advice to check the tightness of the bolts every so often is still valid though.

Doug

 

[Rob Glasgow]

Doug, My BT7 has the same arrangement as your BJ8. No thread in the shocks. The fronts are fastened with bolts that thread into steel nuts welded on the bottom side of the mounting plate. The rear shocks are simply a bolt and nut to fasten the shock to the steel mount. I have never seen a Healey shock with integral mounting threads.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Someone could have welded nuts to the backside of the mounting plates on the rear shocks (not a bad idea, actually).

 

[Michael Oritt]

I had to do just that on the DW rear antiroll bar mount. No matter how often I tightened it the right side would always come loose. I finally just drilled them both out and through-bolted everything up, making sure the shoulder length of the bolt was just right. End of problem.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

Someone could have welded nuts to the backside of the mounting plates on the rear shocks (not a bad idea, actually).

My "clunk" that nobody could find was a loose left rear shock on my BJ8. It "clunked" so many times for so long that one of the mounting holes was worn oval shaped. Only solution was to weld a nut on the mounting plate. Problem fixed, then several years later I had a Jule frame replacement.
Patrick