Broken shock mount

[joshone]

My rear drivers side shock mounting bracket just broke in half. I was told not to weld it. So I am about to just drill two holes into the frame and bolt a steel plate on. Then bolt the shock to the plate. Has anyone out there done something like this before?
What should I do?

 

[goldwing2000]

Curious... who told you not to weld it and why?

 

[joshone]

I was told that welding the frame may weaken it.

 

[BillyL]

Mine is broken to so i have been driving around with no shock . I have no welder and don't know how to weld anyway's. So like joshone i am curious if you can drill a hole in the frame and mount the shock like it is on the passenger side?

 

[goldwing2000]

I was told that welding the frame may weaken it.

Not likely. Our truck frames are not heat-treated.

 

[Greg72]

I was told that welding the frame may weaken it.

Completely false.

You might want to take a quick look at your setup to make sure that you have adequate shock travel for your suspension travel (Do you "wheel" this truck?) Often times, the mounts will break because the shock has either "topped out" or "bottomed out" and transfers all of that stress to the mounts themselves..... often times, this will blow out the seals on the shocks too....so if you're having problems with shocks going bad, this might be another clue.

 

[joshone]

Really? So, just to be absolutely clear, it's ok to weld to blazer frames as opposed to certain other frames? I just want to be sure before I screw something up. Also, my truck is not lifted, so I don't know why I would have too much shock travel. And yes I do "Wheel" it. There are some insane sand dunes, dirt trails, and back country mud spots on Kauai. And I like to drive too fast on them. Thank you for all the help.

 

[dyeager535]

It's not a bad idea to weld the shock "stud" to the bracket either. Those studs don't stay tight very well (probably because the stock mount/frame isn't rigid enough) and if the stud loosens, the shock can hammer the mount.

GM knew this was a problem, later on they pressed the shock mounting studs into the mounts.