[DeTomaso] Aldan Shock Rebuild - An Update

[Mike Thomas]

My rear shocks are at Aldan for a rebuild.  I spoke with Ferel at length
about what he found when they took them apart and inspected the remains, as
well as the rest of the shocks.  He told me that it was evident from my top
and bottom mounting bushings that I had torqued them too tight and when they
needed to move at the ends and couldn't as easily as they should have, it
put too much lateral stress on the shaft and shock body.  He said that most
of the rebuilds they do, that is the reason they have failed.

He told me an easy trick to make sure they aren't too tight, and given the
design of our A-arm mountings should work for them as well.  Just draw a
line across the bushing edges and the end of the shock.  Drop the car and
take a drive. Since the shock (and A arm) should pivot on the shaft and not
the shock on the bushings, the line across the bushings and shock should
still be contiguous: if the line is no longer straight across the three
pieces, the bolt is too tight.

The rule of thumb I was given by one of you on the list a few years back was
to take the A arm bolts to just tight, then back of a quarter-turn.  I'm
going to try that with the shocks. I've been using torque-lock nuts on all
suspension bolts for a while, so shouldn't have to change that.

Your thoughts are always welcome and encouraged.

Thanks
Mike Thomas
Yellow '74 L #6328