I purchased new Gabriel rear shocks yesterday for my 56 Buick Special, I began the process of removing the existing shocks, however when I started to losen the nuts on the upper part of the shock I noticed that the bracket was broken. My question is this, is the bracket actually welded to the frame, or is it as easy as just removing the two bolts which mount it to the frame as well. If I can get the bracket off, is it safe to just weld it back together, or should it be replaced all together. My car is already bagged but the rear shocks are worn out so the back end bounces all over the place. How important is this, should I replace the shocks before I drive any long distances, my wife and I are going to Paso next weekend and I just want to make sure it is safe to drive if I am unable to get them installed before then.Thanks for your help. Mike
What's the other, unbroken mount like? If it's welded to the frame, then the busted one will be, too. A competent welder should be able to repair the broken mount. I would replace the shocks if at all possible. You definately CAN'T drive it any kind of distance with no shocks at all. The back end will be all over the road--but more importantly, the tires won't have any kind of uniform contact on the road. I've seen cars drive with no or broken shocks--the wheel bounces up and down a whole lot--it's actually amazing to see. Should be a pretty easy fix. -brad
Yes, you should repair your shocks before driving. With that much movement you could easily loose control at high speeds besides the extra tire wear involved. Yes, you can weld the bracket in place. But be sure the bracket abd frame hasn't stressed or cracked in this area. There's a reason your shock brkt broke ya know....... If i had to guess, I'd say its because there's issues with your bags or the rear axle movement due to the bags installation. By rights, this problem is the most important otherwise your just throwing a bandaid at it. PJ
Okay, I got pretty frustrated when I saw that the one was broken so I just put it back together, it was getting late and I still needed to be able to drive the car. I did not even look at the other bracket to see if it was welded, I should have just done that to begin with. Thanks for your help, Mike
I just found out that the owner before me knew that something was not right with the bracket. I had the bags done when I first got the car, before I knew anything about the shocks and bracket not being right.
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