Rear shock mount broken - safe to drive?

[Deleted User]

Car is a Kia Sedona.

Trying to get hold of the parts at the moment, and get my mechanic to fix but I've got to drive 200 miles to customer and not sure if I can get it fixed beforehand.

Looking at rear shock, it looks like the top bit including a rubber bit is lose and the shock is rattling around. When driving, it gets really rattly.

I guess whats happening is when I hit a bump I'm not getting the dampening I should get.

It seems to be handling OK at the moment but I dont want to drive if its unsafe....

Strider590

Had to think for a minute, but you mean the bush where it's bolts through. The problem you have is not so much one of safety, but of further damage to the vehicle.....

flang

You could load up the boot with a few sacks of sand which would stop the rear end bouncing as much.

colino

No, even if you disconnect the shocker and remove, you'd be nuts to contemplate driving a three legged horse like that 200 miles. It will be unstable in travel and even worse when braking. It needs fixed before going back on the road.

Nearly_Old

Do you know if the mount has actually broken; e.g. the rubber section has either split or become debonded from the metal section? Sometimes top mounts can become loose and just need the securing nuts tightening. I had a rattle for a few weeks before I finally traced it to a loose top mount.

[Deleted User]

Strider590 wrote: »

Had to think for a minute, but you mean the bush where it's bolts through. The problem you have is not so much one of safety, but of further damage to the vehicle.....

Yeh. It seems to sort of bolt onto a sort of A-frame thing above the wheel.

[Deleted User]

flang wrote: »

You could load up the boot with a few sacks of sand which would stop the rear end bouncing as much.

Thats not a serious suggestion, is it?

[Deleted User]

Nearly_Old wrote: »

Do you know if the mount has actually broken; e.g. the rubber section has either split or become debonded from the metal section? Sometimes top mounts can become loose and just need the securing nuts tightening. I had a rattle for a few weeks before I finally traced it to a loose top mount.

Not sure. Its still there. Theres a rubber bit and a few nuts but you can move it up and down. I 'think' its come away from the metal section because there doesnt seem to be anything holding it down now.

As opposed to the other side, where the nuts/rubber but seem to hold everything tightly.

[Deleted User]

colino wrote: »

No, even if you disconnect the shocker and remove, you'd be nuts to contemplate driving a three legged horse like that 200 miles. It will be unstable in travel and even worse when braking. It needs fixed before going back on the road.

Yeh. Not keen. No go though no pay for the day....

Joe_Horner

Fit a big washer above and below the mount to hold the damper rod solid to the bodywork until the parts turn up. It'll give a little more harshness than a rubber mount and eventually it may fracture the mount from vibration but not in a few hundred (or even few thousand) miles.

flang

[quote=[Deleted User];51757409]Thats not a serious suggestion, is it?[/QUOTE]

Why would i waste my time in posting if I wasn't serious. By adding load to the vehicle will add additional weight to the shock absorber thus reducing the rattling and wobbling.