BJ7 Shock mounts

[suprlurkr]

Anyone out there have dimensional information to locate the front shock mount before it is welded in.

 

[vette]

Hi Suprlurkr, Somewhere I know I have the frame demensions. I believe they can be found in the Original Workshop Manual. But I don't have mine with me at the moment so I'm much good on that front right now. But, I do remember that when I repaired my shock mounts a few years ago I then decided that the demensions weren't much good because you would have to remove most of the inner fender panels, the radiator, maybe its mount, and posibly the engine as well to be able to triangulate on the shock towers. Instead of cutting off my shock mount plates, which were very solid, only the nuts had stripped out, I openned up the outside edge of each shock mount and inserted a 3/8 plate into the void. Center tapped the hole positions, pulled it out and drilled and tapped new holes. Then reinserted it and welded it into position. This obviously meant that I did not have to locate the holes because I used the original top plate for my pattern. If you have already cut your shock mount plates off, maybe if you have not ground the surface completely smooth, you can still see where the old one set.
Dave C.

 

[suprlurkr]

hey,
thanks for the response. the problem was that the top of the shock mount had been hacked off and a 5/16" piece of steel POUNDED in to make it fit! it was drilled and tapped to mount the shock but, you can't believe how fast i could go thru a left front tire. the alignment guys just shrugged. so . . . . i took her home and pulled down the suspension and ground the whole thing off. as i had the manual with the frame dimensions, i was sure i would have no problem getting the thing correctly aligned and located. boy was i wrong! the frame dimensions are just that "frame dimensions" the drawing does not address the shock mount placement. that is where i am at now. no hair left from scratching my head.
dave b

 

[Randy Forbes]

With the car jacked up reasonably level, can you use a plumb-bob to make out some points on the floor for referrence?

Then get some reference points from the LH & RH sides; locate the shock base on the LH side same as the RH.

While a bit pricey, there are now adjustable shock mounting plates on the market (primarily to adjust camber) that may prove beneficial to you in the long run, provided you can get the castor angles the same on each side.

Please post up whatever method you use, and the results, for anyone searching (this thread) for the same issue.

 

[vette]

Hi Supr, Yeh as randy said, the adjustable plates might come in handy for you.
upon further thought about that, you maybe could make adjustable plates out of 3/8th plate. put slots in it for it to be moves for and aft, and also left to right. the book gives camber angle but i'm not sure about caster. If you have one side still in tact, the alignment shop can tell what it is. Anyway mount things up with your new plates and go to an alignment shop. Have them set everything on the mark, drive it home gingerly and weld the new plates in place. You could probably make an adjustable mounting plate from one of the aftermarket replacement pieces. Either weld it up permanently after alignment or use the one aligned to get good reference and weld in other new plates.
Dave C.

 

[GregW]

Have them set everything on the mark, drive it home gingerly and weld the new plates in place.

OK, what did I miss here? Drive home without the upper suspension installed? That'd make for some exciting driving.

 

[vette]

I guess it would at that Greg. I was trying to say that maybe an alignment shop could set the suspension on the specs if you gave them a set up with alot of adjustibility. But then I wouldn't rely on the adjustment bolts to keep the alignment permanently fixed. I would weld the new adjustable plates in place for a permanent fix. Having said that, a good alignment shop also could do the welding for you, once everything was set up. If you have one side original, an alignment shop can read out what it is set at, then duplicate those specifications on the other side.
To continue on my original points about bringing is home gingerly, with out welding, (of course adjustment bolts should hold it) when you get it home you can take the shock off, center punch where the bolt holes are then, probably making marks into the spring top hat plate, then use one of the cataloge shock plates, position over your marks, and weld it in place.
Just for clarity on what I did; My nuts under my shock mount plates were either stripped or broken free of their welds when I got my car 7 years ago. I cut the side wall out of the original shock mount plates, the side facing you if you were kneeling at the wheel looking inboard. The area under the shock plate where the nuts are, is high enough that a 3/8" plate will slide right in there. The plate I cut was about 6" x 4"x 3/8th " I figured why put just nuts under there, I would just plate it and drill and tap the plate. With the plate directly under the original holes for the bolts all i had to do was to center punch the plate with a self centering punch standing straight into the original holes in the shock plate. pull the plate out of the slot, drill and tap it, side it back into the slot put the shock back on, and bolt it on. then I welded the outside edge of the plate to the spring top hat, and reinstalled the small side wall that I had cut out and welded that in place, with good welds and painted you can't tell that there is a 3/8 plate inside. And it is certainly much stronger that the original capture nuts that were under there.
I didn't have an alignment issue becuse my original shock plate was never moved. That's why I said the Suprlurker would have to get to a alignment shop first, with some adjustability, To get them to set things on spec that they could duplicate from the unmolested side.
I have driven my car for 5 summers now with no alignment or handling issues at all. And I have never taken it to an alignment shop.
Cheers, Dave.

 

[anthony7777]

suprlurkr, i have the engine and trans out of my bj7 and the engine compartment stripped, tell me how you want me to pull these measurements and i will do it for you with pictures, do you want measurements from engine mounts, fire wall, front edge of chassis? let me know.

 

[bob hughes]

The professionals use a great big chunk of metal specially fabricated to locate the mounts that are welded back in. They use the centre line of the car to locate them sideways, presumably they arrange for the levels to be correct as well, not sure how they line up front to back though. I endorse Randy's comments on the adjustables, slight negative camber improves turning in on corners.

Bob

 

[JCSH]

does anyone have a drawing or such like of these adjustable camber plates?
I'd really like to get to 1.5 degrees or thereabouts of negative on my BJ7.
I know they can be bought in UK but I've only got weedy little NZ $$ to pay with and the shipping cost will be crippling too!
On the other hand we do have heaps of engineering companies here who can help me make anything

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Kilmartin has them:

https://www.users.bigpond.com/acmefluid/kilmartin.html


I believe they're in your neck of the woods to boot.

 

[bob hughes]

JCSH

For you, you could try the offset trunnion bushes circa £21 from Dennis Welch, postage would not break the bank. To buy the plates and get them installed will by comparison - Break the Bank

Have a look on the Dennis Welch web site

Best of luck

Bob

 

[suprlurkr]

Hey 7777,
If you could get a dimension from the inner front shock bolt hole from one side to the other,and from those same holes to the rear horizontal hole that holds the steering gear and drag link in place. I believe with those dimensions I can locate and weld the mount in.

thanks in advance
dave