K5 Blazer Drivers Side Rear Upper Shock Mount Removal

[Bohemian]

82 K5 Blazer, factory axles, springs and shocks at the moment.

So in the process of gas tank r&r I noticed the drivers side rear upper shock mount was fubar & had been previously repaired and badly done at that, fugly welds that only partially penetrated the frame in a few spots and barely if at all penetrated the mount, looks like someone stick welded a mess...

Thankfully no evidence of frame cracks and or frame repairs in that area.

So I air hammered the heads of the rivets of the mount, then had to use a sawzall, cutoff wheel, die grinder, 4-1/2" grinder, flap discs, and grinding wheels to get the poorly welded, (big pile of weld doing nothing) to the frame shock mount off... not fun.

My current problem is the rivets with the heads off on the top side won't budge and there's not enough wailing room to use a small sledge hammer or any other hammer for that matter to knock them out.

I don't have room for any air hammer attachments either, at least the ones I have or any I currently know of; there's just not enough room between the frame rail and bottom of bed, and the angle is to flat to get something on it from the side.

So if anyone has any ideas how to get those rivets the rest of the way out without taking the body off I'd appreciate it.

Also, on a related side note has anyone ever run across any of these mounts that only had 4 of the 6 rivets holding the mount down from the factory?

That was the case with mine, I checked real close and it never had the rear most two rivets or those holes drilled in the frame from the factory; no welded up holes either, they just were never there from the get go and that's one of the places the mount broke.

thanks in advance

 

[dyeager535]

Probably a long shot, but grab the parts manual here: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showpost.php?p=5621043&postcount=1 And get the GM part number. You can try it at various online GM parts sellers, but ebay is a good resource for NOS stuff, and plain old google search sometimes as well.

IMO the problem with these mounts is that the shock stud works loose. I know they changed them (maybe late 80's) to a knurled shoulder on the shock stud, but previous, and replacement I'm sure, are all just threads with a nut. Once there is any movement, the shock just hammers the crap out of the mount. Mine had wallowed out the hole a bit, but hadn't broken free of the frame, so it was welded to the frame, and then the shock stud was welded to the mount. No thread deforming nut use after that, but I haven't had the nut loosen up in ~20 years. Amazingly, the cheapy parts store shocks have lasted that long as well. And I've been jonesing for some Bilsteins lol.

Why is it the things we wouldn't mind failing, don't?

 

[Bohemian]

82 K5 Blazer, factory axles, springs and shocks at the moment.

So in the process of gas tank r&r I noticed the drivers side rear upper shock mount was fubar & had been previously repaired and badly done at that, fugly welds that only partially penetrated the frame in a few spots and barely if at all penetrated the mount, looks like someone stick welded a mess...

Thankfully no evidence of frame cracks and or frame repairs in that area.

So I air hammered the heads of the rivets of the mount, then had to use a sawzall, cutoff wheel, die grinder, 4-1/2" grinder, flap discs, and grinding wheels to get the poorly welded, (big pile of weld doing nothing) to the frame shock mount off... not fun.

My current problem is the rivets with the heads off on the top side won't budge and there's not enough wailing room to use a small sledge hammer or any other hammer for that matter to knock them out.

I don't have room for any air hammer attachments either, at least the ones I have or any I currently know of; there's just not enough room between the frame rail and bottom of bed, and the angle is to flat to get something on it from the side.

So if anyone has any ideas how to get those rivets the rest of the way out without taking the body off I'd appreciate it.

Also, on a related side note has anyone ever run across any of these mounts that only had 4 of the 6 rivets holding the mount down from the factory?

That was the case with mine, I checked real close and it never had the rear most two rivets or those holes drilled in the frame from the factory; no welded up holes either, they just were never there from the get go and that's one of the places the mount broke.

thanks in advance

So my solution was additionally knocking the heads off the rivets from the bottom with a mayhew rivet, bolt buster/cutter air hammer bit and a 18" long mayhew 1/8" taper punch air hammer bit.

Really hard angles to work in with a air hammer.

 

[rampage]

Had I’ve seen this thread when you first posted it I would’ve suggested using the compressed air duster in a spray can. It can come out at -60*F and shrink metal. The spray nozzle would’ve been perfect for directing it onto the end of the rivet you cut off.

 

[Bohemian]

Had I’ve seen this thread when you first posted it I would’ve suggested using the compressed air duster in a spray can. It can come out at -60*F and shrink metal. The spray nozzle would’ve been perfect for directing it onto the end of the rivet you cut off.

great idea! I'll keep that in mind the next time I have some problematic rivets there's a few more elsewhere on the truck I might be looking to remove at somepoint.

 

[ChinaJoe2]

Works....

 

[ChinaJoe2]

1) shaved rivet flush
2) removed broken brkt exposing rivets stuck in frame
3) using right angle attachment drill to 7/16 consuming rivet 2pls (u might use gm brkt+sr bshing)..
4) Inserted a drill liner into stock gm bracket replacement .403 holes for piloting hole position
5) Using 2 7/16 bolts threaded gm brkt to frame to allow piloting of holes thru rivet bodies
6) Pilot missing gm brkt to frame aft holes 2 places
7) Remove gm bracket and step drill holes to 7/16 (removing rivet along the way) of an inch debur holes, clean
8) Reinstall brackets with freerunning nuts to setup for ORD strap frame drill
9) Pilot ORD strap using SR bushing (used tape to get to ord 7/16 id holes)
10) Drill holes to 7/16 dia
11) Remove debur, paint, reinstall locking hardware, shock.
10) post

 

[ChinaJoe2]

GRD hex side of dill to minimize drill stack up.