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Hmmm blew out bushings on my 5150s Bilsteins

badmix

badmix

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Went on some very mild trails (can run in 2wd 80% of the time), Come over an obstacle and then heard this horrible noise, i was like WTF, did I just break a front axle? Im running Strange Chromoly axles in my 10bolt.

I pulled over and didnt see anything at first and then kept driving slowly, took truck out of 4wd just in case, unlocked the hubs. And then I realized the sound only came when I hit bumps, not on smooth, I then knew it was suspension related.

I popped hood and looked at top of shock and there was the bushings squished out both sides, so now the top of the shock was flopping around on the mount. I just took it easy and drove home, with a few bangs and clangs as I hit bumps.

What would cause this? What do you think broke? could soft suspension cause this, im running 5150s and Tough country springs, this combo makes my ride what I consider soft.

How will Bilstein handle this? Ill try to get pics later or tomorrow, im tired, we did some hiking as well as 4x4ing. :D
 
You must live in a really different part of Fl. from me........I don't know of any areas around here you could blow a shock driving slowly.

Sounds to me like you ran out of shock travel before you ran out of suspension travel.
If you bottom the shock out and the full weight of the vehicle comes on down, something is going to give.
If that is what happened, you are lucky if thats all it did. If so, you are going to have to probably extend the shock mounts some.

If the shock is not damaged, you can buy new bushings fairly cheap. I know that there is a conversion that uses the older Ford shock mounts but I'm not sure what it accomplishes on your truck.

My '79 Ford had those mounts, and I took them off and welded an extension to the bottom when I mounted Monro air shocks to the front.
They use two holes to mount to the frame, and I let the bottom hole become the top hole and it worked fine.

BTW, if you have a truck with coil front springs, NEVER add air shocks to the front. I went through radius arm bushings like popcorn. It was really nice to be able to modify my ride from inside the cab though.......
 
Was up in Citrus, the trail was pretty mild but these trucks are heavy too. Was just going over a log obstacle up a lil hilly area and once I got over it, the shock had blown its bushing. Not sure about the over traveling, anything is possible.

I just have the stock mounting setup. The shocks were suppose to be for 2" lift which is what I have.
 
I thought the 5150's were for 4" or larger. Maybe I'm wrong. I think the 5100's are for 2" lift. maybe you have the wrong shocks?
 
5150s have piggyback resevoir, 5100s do not, they are just straight shock. 5100/5150s have nothing to do with lift, you have to get specific length within those models. I know the fronts and backs are different based on cargo, etc.
 
Well, shoot, I was just down there at Homosassa. Wish I had known, I'd have waved.......
Looked at the Bilstein page, yours has the sideways top mount, I was thinking it was the vertical mount type.

Not 100% sure they are easily replaceable. If you see a part number on them, you can get the two lengths from page 16 of this link.

http://www.bilsteinus.com/uploads/tx_templavoila/Bil_OffRd_Cat2011_05.pdf

You can measure the distance from your bumpstop to the axle, and compare it to the amount of travel left on the shock.

If its not overtravel, then something may have damaged the rubber. About the only two things that come to mind are brake fluid and heat.

A fluid spill or blown hose in the past, or an exhaust leak that is hitting on it might cause a problem.
 
Maybe add a spacer between the frame and bushing so its held in tightly. My stock 84 is like this. Also my 75 with aftermarket shocks looks to have some sleeves on both sides of the bushing to accomplish the same results. Its been a long time since I've had it apart tho...
 
Well that looks strange.
Hard to tell from the pic, but are the bushings destroyed, or did the bolt snap? The "back" bushing looks OK, just looks like it slid out of the shock.
Like maybe the nut snapped off and let them slide out.

I mean, there should not be any room for the shock to slide in between the bushings without tearing all the way through.
See if the bolt will just pull out. I think the end snapped off.
 
push the bushings back in .either put a sleeve in thats just barely longer then the installed bushings and washer to fill space,or if it has a long sleeve.space it tight with washers. looks like it had a long sleeve and nothing to keep the shock moving side to side and pushing the bushings out
 
I've done the same thing with cheap skyjacker shocks, but the poly bushings were pretty old and dry-rotted looking by the time it happened. If the torn bushings are still soft and pliable, it would lead me to believe it was a shock length issue that put a pinch on it.
 
Looks like the bushing is a one peice design that got brittle and blew apart, I can see cracking around the outer edge of the bushing, for now, I just put a bunch of thick washers on the metal sleeve to take up the space between bushings and mounts, it shouldnt blow out now with street driving, but going to get a hold of Bilstein to see if I can get the proper bushings and then going to make a spacer so this doesnt happen again.

On the plus side, I now get to change my brake pads, lol. When the wheel was off I checked them out and they are getting a lil thin, yea more projects. lol. its like an onion
 
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Very strange. Every shock I have seen with that type mount compressed the bushings some when the mounting bolt was tightened.
Some had the steel sleeve that controlled how much, some didn't. The ones that had no sleeve you had to be careful not to compress them too much.

But all of them had a big washer that contacted the bushing on the back side with the mount pressing on it from the other.

Have you pulled the bolt out to examine the bushings to be sure they are not two piece?
If they are one piece, the replacement will have to be two, or it will take a special tool and a press to put in the new one most likely.
Many parts houses carry the two piece bushings.
 
blaznjon said:
push the bushings back in .either put a sleeve in thats just barely longer then the installed bushings and washer to fill space,or if it has a long sleeve.space it tight with washers. looks like it had a long sleeve and nothing to keep the shock moving side to side and pushing the bushings out
Click to expand...

Exactly.
You need washers holding those bushings in.
 
There is a metal sleeve that goes from frame to mount, so the sleeve is 6" long est. The metal sleeve slides thru the bushing, the bushing and width of the shock is maybe 3", I never seen any metal caps or washers on either side.

so what happened, the bushing was being pounded by off roading or probably just normal driving and because the sleeve is longer than the width of the shocks, the bushing broke into 2 pieces and just squished out both sides of the shock onto the sleeve.

When I took it part, the inside section of the bushing looked jagged, like it had been torn, so this lends me to believe it was a one piece design.

I had some thick washers that i basically put on both sides of the shock and bushings and they fit over the sleeve, so now there is no play for the shock or bushings to move on the sleeve.

Im going to make a spacer that will be as thick as the bushings and slide over the metal sleeve.
 
Another thing ive considered is longer bumpstops. Would that help? being that Im running a 2" lift and stock bumps
 
so with that setup, the one-piece bushing has no stop on either side? the bushing can effectively slide each way on the sleeve some?

sounds like it needs spacers on top of the sleeve on either side..
 
If you have the model number of your shocks, get the collapsed length off that link I sent, measure the travel you have left as it sits, and compare it to the distance between the bumpstop and what it hits.
Figure about half the length of the bumpstop for a hard hit, and see if you have enough clearance Clarence.......

If the shocks are way too long, then you are better off getting different shocks or moving the mount rather than losing a lot of travel with super long bumpstops.
 
I dont have the part # for the shocks off hand, but I called Bilstein to get the proper size shocks that I felt I needed. I never had any issues before, so dont know if it was just a bad bushing or what.

And yes, the bushing inside the shock eyelet was free to move along the sleeve, something I didnt catch during the install about 3-4 years ago.
 
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