I found alot of female 3/8"x24 rod ends. Aurora makes them but it looks like its designed for a snowmobile steering component.

I just don't know if I feel comfortable with that small of rod end in that spot. I plan on driving the car hard and I just have a gut instinct that this isn't the right thing to do. I think I'll just get a new set of upper shock mounts and do the U.M.M for now and look into other options later on. Like a poly insert for the stock shock mount or the red end setup, but with larger hardware.

Or another option is to get a female thread adapter and weld on my own rod end that has a 1/2" bore. But then its just one more thing I have to build, but its not that bad of a project. The thing that I really don't like is that I'll have to cut off the stud on top of the shocks. So if I try this and it doesn't work I'm out my front setup.

So I just have that bouncing around in my head and I can't make up my mind

 

Update pics.

 

I've been looking for some 1/2" ID (COM-8) monoball parts so I can make my own shock mounts. The only housings I've seen are from [irl]http://www.ubmachine.com/monoballhousings.html[/irl].


48-0812
1/2" monoball housing - 1-1/4" OD x 1-1/4" long
$13.30

Snap Rings
48-5100 $0.80 ea

These housings are a bit too long, but can be easily cut down to length. It's a standardized COM-8 bearing size so you can use whatever QA1, FK or Aurora monoball you want.

Lots of places sell spacers with a 1/2" hole. You just need to get the right width to match your mounting tabs. Examples = .25", .50", .75"



I'm hoping to weld the bearing housing to the top of the koni hat and look like this.

 

Okay, new idea. Completely smooth shock towers. No bolts seen at all. Fill in all the holes and smooth out.

First, seperate the upper control arm mount from the arm itself and welding in new mounts (4 metal tabs) directly to the shock tower?

The upper arm mounts don't need to be unboltable, do they? Not that I can see.

Structurally, I think all the loads will be fine. It's mostly cornering loads pushing the upper arms in and out - toward and away from the engine. Braking pulls the front mount out and the rear one inward, a twisting movement. That part of the tower is all structurally strong so it will be fine.

Nice and simple. Similar to this pic:

 

Yeah, replace all that junk under the fender with 6 metal tabs. Neat, clean, simple.

 

I like that idea but I would do more than a simple tab. But if it was something like the pic where it wrapped down I think it would be plenty strong

I'm still debating on if I should cut up my shocks and install a rod end, but I think I'm just going to get new shock mounts and use them for a while and see how I like the setup before I make changes like that.

That would look good all smoothed out

 

Forget making new mounting tabs, just weld the upper control arm mount to the shock tower. Weld in the 5 holes plus a little around the edge for extra strength. Then I can smooth out the topside. Simple.

Then add some 3/16" tabs for the shock mount. Probably go 5/8 bearing.

 

Okay, new deal. I'm going to remove reinforcement layer 3, the upper part of 2, weld 2's perimeter, weld the seam in front of the tower and then smooth it all out. No visable bolts at all.








Once I get the pieces to make the new upper shock mount, the upper control arm bracket will be welded into place under the shock tower and all the holes welded in. Then bondo it smooth. Should look slick.

 

I really like checking out your our threads.

 

After trying for a couple of weeks, I couldn't get a custom order from UB Machine, so I ordered one of their basic monoball housings, a teflon lined bearing, snap ring and 2 - 1/2" spacers. It uses a 1/2" diameter bolt.

40 bucks with shipping.



I still need to have the housing shortened. Once that's done I can weld the housing to the koni tophat.

 

Get any farther with this setup? Or did you ditch it for the short arm setup??

I ended up getting some new upper shock mounts and cut about 3/4" off the bottom of them. Hopefully in a couple weeks I'll be driving it and tuning the suspension then I can decide if I want to redo the shock mounts, or just build a short arm like in your other post

 

I'm going for short spindle setup.

As of right now I'm not sure I'll even use the Koni SA shocks. They have that short 3.5" stroke which gives you only 6" of wheel travel. I don't like that. The new suspension will have 9"-10" of travel. With the raised engine/trans/k-member, I'll need that extra travel. I dont want to ride height to be at the upper level of travel either. It needs to be in the middle area. Then I'll be able to really lift it up high for driveways and such.

I've got a set of QA1 f-body front shocks which has 5" of stroke. I'm converting those to rodend mounts top and bottom. If they don't perform well I'll step up to a better shock.

Converting over to a short spindle is complicated as hell. I'm going to be making some new fixed lower control arms. Then using adjustable upper arms for all the adjustments. Custom brake setup. Frame reinforcements. Whew! I wouldn't recommend it unless you really have a reason to do it.