Yesterday i finally bit the bullet and decided to replace my rear shocks instead of letting my mechanic do it.I used gabriel 69845 T bird shocks.I burnt out the old rubber bushing and put the new one it.I used the disc off of the factory shocks on the top part to tighten down the upper bolt and squish down the bushing.The bushing that came with this didnt have a metal sleeve but the factory did.Well after assembling this i get thumps WORSE than the originals.I have tightened and retightened everything to no avail.Should i get a bushing with a metal sleeve or should this be working correctly as is?BTW,i didnt use any of the discs supplied with the shocks as i saw no place for them to go.Thanks for any help.

is there anyway you could post pic's of what you done? maybe that will help us figure it out.on the factory mount,i grounded all the rubber out and welded a washer in its place,the hole in the washer was the same size as the shoulder on the rubber mounts that comes with the new shocks,if your shock it touching any part of the metal mount it will make all kinds of noises.

blue_t,thanks for the reply.I can get a few pics when i get home.I noticed when tightening down the upper part of the shock that it got to a point when everything was turning together (the shock,bushing and all at the same time).Are you supposed get someone to hold the bottom part of the shock as you tighten the top?I have done a alot of research and havent seen that mentioned anywhere.I may just order a poly bushing or use the solid mounts i have now.

blue_t,thanks for the reply.I can get a few pics when i get home.I noticed when tightening down the upper part of the shock that it got to a point when everything was turning together (the shock,bushing and all at the same time).Are you supposed get someone to hold the bottom part of the shock as you tighten the top?I have done a alot of research and havent seen that mentioned anywhere.I may just order a poly bushing or use the solid mounts i have now.


Poly bushings should have been the ones to go with when you swapped. There is a write up if I can find it, I'll post the link here.

NoLimit95,thanks and you are right.I had seen some though who were successful with the supplied bushings and was just hoping for that.I am not at all happy with the ride i am getting from the gabriels.Its very choppy and not what i expected.Guess i should have gone with sensacraps.BTW,whats your thoughts on the solid mounts i have?Do they make the ride even worse?

If you can do this work pictured in this link, you'll have the ride you're looking for. Jamie comes up with some strange things sometimes but it works and he done a good write up of how to do it all. This should answer all of your questions.

http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showthread.php?t=60641

Thanks again NoLimit95.I will look at that when i get home since the pics dont show up here at work.:(

BTW,whats your thoughts on the solid mounts i have?Do they make the ride even worse?

I got solid mounts after I got fed up with the modified original mounts not fitting correctly. Shouldn't affect ride much, as the shock has the rubber isolators and isn't in contact with the mount at all.

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm229/martin7691/solidshockmount.jpg

93' Blue on blue,i will first admit that i must be an idiot because for the life of me i cant understand how the solids work.I thought the point of the solid mounts was to eliminate the bushing but then wouldnt you have metal to metal contact at the top where it tightens down?Then i read on that "other"site that bushings are still used with the solid mounts but the hole in the solid is very small and i cant see a bushing fitting in there.I cant find a pic of what the solid mount looks like in the trunk with everything hooked up.I am very confused on this.Maybe i am overthinking this.

I have a pic posted up there ^^^^

Obviously, you can't see it while at work - look again when you get home.

But yeah, my solid mounts have smaller holes and the bushings that came with my Sensatracs were a perfect fit into them.

I didnt even see that red X up there...LOL!The bushings that came with my gabriels were huge.Maybe i should go get the sensatracs afterall.I know doing the rear shocks for most is as easy as tying their shoes but this is the first time i have tried this and i appreciate the patience yall have shown me.;)

I just wanted to thank everyone again.I FINALLY figured out where i went wrong and now she rides good as new:D