Broken shock mount

[Digger]

Has anyone had this happen I'm 3000 miles into my 2016 power wagon and my front driver side lower shock mount broke right of the front axle housing right where it was welded ??? The only mods I have is a 1" leveling kit ... Carli adjustable track bar and a dor steering box brace

[TwinStick]

Not sure why this would happen. Bad weld maybe ? This is the first time i have heard this.

[adeluca73]

Were you bombing open trails/washouts? Must have been voids in the welds. Unless the spacer shock extender was over torqued & increased shear stress transfer to the mount face. You'd have to look at the Von Meiss stress concentrations near the filet, which is OBE since it already broke. Definitely a warranty item, let the dealer deal with it.

[Low_Sky]

Put it back to stock if you can, to save yourself the headaches of arguing over whether or not your lift caused the failure.


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[Bill2014]

Put it back to stock if you can, to save yourself the headaches of arguing over whether or not your lift caused the failure.


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I was thinking the same thing

[Digger]

Put it back to stock if you can, to save yourself the headaches of arguing over whether or not your lift caused the failure.


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I was thinking the same thing

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[Digger]

Put it back to stock if you can, to save yourself the headaches of arguing over whether or not your lift caused the failure.


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I was thinking the same thing

Ok I put everything in its factory upright position except the dor steering box brace will that be an issue??


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[Digger]

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[Digger]

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[adeluca73]

Thanks for the pics. That's a shear failure for sure. Without doing an NDI inspection using ultrasonic waves or a SEM, it's hard to tell if was voids in the weld (air bubbles or material slag) or VonMeiss stresses in excess of S_ut, need to know if you've been bombing through the bumps first.

[Reloaderguy]

That's pretty clear the entire shock mount wasn't welded to the axle.

[Bill2014]

I wonder if the shock could have played a role in the failure? Perhaps it jammed...

[FirerescuePW]

Did you install shock extensions of any kind with the leveling kit?

I'm wondering if you topped out the shock travel. However, it would be more likely that bottoming qould force it off the axle tube, I think.

[coder]

You'll most likely be getting a new axle. It might be a good idea to take off the after market parts before you take it in.

[RustyPW]

You'll most likely be getting a new axle. It might be a good idea to take off the after market parts before you take it in.

Agree. If they warranty it. Most likely it will be a complete axle. So everything back to stock. Don't let them know what you have changed. And it looks like the bracket wasn't welded completely to the axle housing.

[olyelr]

Did you install shock extensions of any kind with the leveling kit?

I'm wondering if you topped out the shock travel. However, it would be more likely that bottoming qould force it off the axle tube, I think.

^^^^^^^ this right here.

Did you install shock extensions with the kit?

[Digger]

No I have not been " bombing " though anything ... And yes there was the extension installed with the leveling kit

[Digger]

It actually broke loose going down the highway at 75 haven't even been off road in a couple of weeks ... Had just picked it up from her first oil change

[Reloaderguy]

There appears to be rust in the weld.

[Digger]

There appears to be rust in the weld.

Yes sir there is .. Do I need to take off the dor steering box brace before I take it in ?

[adeluca73]

There appears to be rust in the weld.

Yes sir there is .. Do I need to take off the dor steering box brace before I take it in ?

That brace has nothing to do with the shock, I'd leave mine on. Don't think there was actual rust in the weld, that's just minor surface oxidation, nothing structural, but the weld looks bad or incomplete at least. You'll get an entire new axle out of this I'd imagine.

[azracer]

Take off the shock extensions off ASAP as they are meant for use on a standard 2500. Never ever put them back on! They are why you broke the mounts. If you ever upgrade shocks in the future be sure to have a competent welder finish the welding all the way to the top of the shock mount. Enough said!

[olyelr]

If you used shock extensions and didnt drop the bumpstops, it is possible your shock bottomed out before you hit the bumpstops...esentially pushing/ripping your mount off the axle.

[PWRider]

It does look like shock was bottoming out. First it sheared at the top part. Most likely hitting shock internally. You can see granular structure -stress shear. It was still hanging on by a bit at the bottom. That flexed for a bit and then departed. Smooth metal - sings of fatigue shear. It's not shear through welds actual metal bracket is broken.

[Retired BLM Rig]

How is the bracket on the other side, is it failing also? Does it have more welded surface contact by comparison or does it look the same?