Need advise on Top shock mount

kzz1king wrote: Would it help if the small tubes were tied together with some flat in the middle? They are welded right at the sides of the shock. I had thought of capping the top of the mount and using a larger tube but only head heavy wall stuff handy.

Here is the bracket ma kaw used.

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Are any of your concerns saftey related or handling concerns. Thanks
Wayne

The original mount is the type of thing you need to reproduce. Get rid of the small tubes and use your heavy gauge in the manner i stated earlier.

My concerns are safety related, there is a heck of a lot of force on that mount and in it's current form it is a serious accident waiting to happen and i would not go near it like that.

You could weld those vertical braces along the side of those pieces the shock is bolted through from top/bottem and they wont go anyplace,this id entirely dependant on your welding skills of course.
If your not sure about yourself or your welder tack it all together and have a shop finish welding it,Im not a fan of flux core mig welding myself

What I have closely mimics the donor mount except it is heavier stock. I don't understand the comments about the gusset not being tied to anything. I could easily add more gusseting to the bottoms and extend them out wider. The gussets on the side are wider. It is not capped on top so I will do that.

Wireman, there is quite abit to weld those tubes too like you stated. Not sure if I will have it welded or do it myself. It is stick welding (arc).

Let me be clear that I am not arguing as I appreciate and asked for the feedback. Just not totally understanding. Thanks
Wayne

Make mount like the original using square channel with large triangular gussets. Use one 1" piece of frame tubing from the top of the new mount up to the back bone of the frame.

I thought I was the only stick welder left in the world! :laugh:
When I see flux splatter anymore I automatically think somebodys using that flux core mig stuff. :laugh:
Anyway what kind of rod are you using?Id grind them down really good and get some good root passes in there,make sure you skip to differant areas so you keep things straight and dont warp anything.
one you get it in there straight and let her cool down really good go back and do your top passes.
Again if you feel better having somebody else finish welding it dont feel bad,you dont want anything breaking going down the road.

If you were to continue with your approach (not recommended and over complicated) your two side gussets need to rest on top of the shock mount plates to transfer the shock loading through to your two small tubes.
At the present the gussets are attached to the side of the shock plates and the whole assembly is in sheer.
The majority of any shock transference is not being dissapated through the smaller tubes and if a weld were to fail the side gussets would stay in their position and the shock plates would move upwards.
You need the vertical brace to be directly above the shock mount.
You do not need any extra gussets anywhere else and they dont need to be any thicker than 1/8th inch (3mm).

Kidkawie wrote: Make mount like the original using square channel with large triangular gussets. Use one 1" piece of frame tubing from the top of the new mount up to the back bone of the frame.

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YES!

That paint drawing looks spot on to me as well, all welds in compression, nothing really in sheer

The way that it is the smaller tubes arent pressing on the welds they are levering against them. It isnt that the welds arent strong enough, vibration, leverage and flying down a winding road over the speed limit are what will make that a less than perfect set-up

Now I am understanding. I basically thought I was doing what you are saying. The concern is the side plates could shear off as the load is not directly over the shock. I am going to cap the top of my mount and remove the smaller pipes (or leave) and add the larger tube from top of shock to behind back frame. Thanks
Wayne

Theres a lot more surface area welded the other way,but what ever makes everybody happy
He could always strip down the frame and ship to me to weld,then I could gaurantee it wouldnt break! :laugh:

kzz1king wrote: Now I am understanding. I basically thought I was doing what you are saying. The concern is the side plates could shear off as the load is not directly over the shock. I am going to cap the top of my mount and remove the smaller pipes (or leave) and add the larger tube from top of shock to behind back frame. Thanks
Wayne

Those side gussets add more side/side stability being in the center of the mounting plates than they would being on top or bottem edge of the plates the shock is mounted to,in the center they tie the whole plate together instead of just top or bottem.
If you want to move them to the top Id also do the same thing on bottem
Good 7018 welds on those pieces would be stronger than the material the frame is made from,you can also get an ac version of that rod if youre using an ac welder

I am leaving the gussets where they are. Just going to cap the top of the mount to add another tube in. I think I will leave the small ones if it doesn't look to funky with the larger one in the middle.
Wayne