QA1 shock broke on first day back!

[dkar26]

So on the day I pick up my car (after being gone for two months for suspension, brake, wheel/tire and rear end upgrades) I see a leak coming from the driver's side rear wheel. The shock cracked! I haven't even driven it two miles when I test drove it when I picked it up.
Now I gotta trailer it on a two hour trip back to the shop to get it replaced.
What a kick in the nuts https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2018/07/frown-1.gif

Has anybody else has issues with qa1? OR IS THIS AN INSTALLATION ISSUE?

[dontlifttoshift]

It is hard to tell, but it looks like the shock body is hitting the bracket at the bottom. Based on where the crack is, it seems that is the problem.

[rocketrod]

It is hard to tell, but it looks like the shock body is hitting the bracket at the bottom. Based on where the crack is, it seems that is the problem.
^^^What he said. I don't know what was included in the rear suspension work you had done, but whoever installed the rear shocks should have cycled the rear suspension through it's full range of motion, compressed/extended to check for issues like this.

[krom]

x3 looks like the spring adjuster nuts are hitting the shock mount.

[ragz]

Looks like, when pinion angle was being set, the diff is rotated to far up causing shock and bracket contact, just my opinion.

[dkar26]

update: they're going to change the location of the shock bracket. he didn't like the angle that the kit had the rear shock mounted. And yes...he should've spotted it the first time

[79T/Aman]

YUP the shock body is against it's mount acting like a giant pry bar, who built that?

[dkar26]

The mount and shock were both Qa1 parts. The mounts were both refabricated and are working well at the moment. See pic

[79T/Aman]

The mount and shock were both Qa1 parts. The mounts were both refabricated and are working well at the moment. See pic

I'm not understanding what you are saying! we know the shocks are QA1, you say the mounts are QA1, then you say the mounts are fabricated ??
picture on the left has clearance to the shock body, picture on the right does NOT have clearance and the pic on the right has the bracket that broke the shock.

[dkar26]

Sorry. “Fabricated” meant it was cut (as you see in pic) to allow better clearance

[79T/Aman]

so you trimmed the original bracket to give clearance to the shock body and it's all good now.

[rocketrod]

You have a little bit of clearance, but that looks more like a band aid fix. I guess you will have to see how much travel/movement there is with the suspension to see if it makes contact. Are they sure they didn't weld the brackets on wrong and/or the pinion angle is off?

[dkar26]

You have a little bit of clearance, but that looks more like a band aid fix. I guess you will have to see how much travel/movement there is with the suspension to see if it makes contact. Are they sure they didn't weld the brackets on wrong and/or the pinion angle is off?

Who knows? Hopefully not.
So far so good at this point.

I wish there was a good hot rod shop nearer to me.

[chevelletiger]

I'm not understanding what you are saying! we know the shocks are QA1, you say the mounts are QA1, then you say the mounts are fabricated ??
picture on the left has clearance to the shock body, picture on the right does NOT have clearance and the pic on the right has the bracket that broke the shock.

In post
#8 he said 'refabricated '

Op, when I made my rear coil over brackets,I had the frame on jack stands, removed the springs and mounted the shocks,and cycled the suspension from ride height,to compression,then to
Ext,also rotated the axle extreme left and right fyi.
Everything cleared.

[chevelletiger]

Who knows? Hopefully not.
So far so good at this point.

I wish there was a good hot rod shop nearer to me.

What state are you in,and what car is this?

[chevelletiger]

Who knows? Hopefully not.
So far so good at this point.

I wish there was a good hot rod shop nearer to me.

What state are you in?

[RobNoLimit]

Glad it is fixed. BUT, information is king. It would help the rest of the P.T. community if more info was given. What mount kit, and from where, What shop did the install, (not knocking them, they trusted the parts to be correct, and fixed the problem, Also, I hope that there was no cost to you) Actually, this proves that the shop has some level of integrity and stands behind there work. What kind of car is this? and, where are you located? I do not encourage any 'bashing' but this info could help you, and others to avoid the same issue.

[dkar26]

Northwest Indiana just south of Chicago.

[dkar26]

it was a QA1 Stage 3 kit for a 70 Chevelle. From what i understood from speaking to the QA1 sales rep, the kits are not as "bolt-on" for Ford 9" rear ends, which is what I had
To their credit, the shop did do the necessary repairs without any added cost to me (other than I had to drive another two hours round trip)

[dkar26]

They are called Studio Hot Rods in Richmond, IL. They have a ton of five star reviews.
They've gotten a lot busier in the recent past and i'm thinking some of their Quality control has fallen off a bit because of their busy-ness.

[dontlifttoshift]

Here is the thing about on line reviews, you don't know where they came from.

Not saying they are paying for them but that the reviewer may not be knowledgeable enough to offer a real opinion. Imagine a movie review from a person who just saw his first movie. This isn't specific to that shop, it applies to every shop and product that exists.

****edit*** Went and read the goggle reviews.....out of 25 there are only 2 that spoke of actually having work done there. One of them was a Camaro that was painted in a week.......

[QA1_Bill]

Hey Dkar26, I just came across your post and remembered the pictures when I saw them in the post. I'm glad to hear you got it taken care of, but wanted to make sure to clear up any misconception. This shock did break due to the base contacting the shock mount. Our Level 3 Handling Kit is made to be a bolt-on kit for a car using the original axle. Unfortunately, since there is no standard size/shape of the lower mounting brackets that get welded onto different Ford 9" housings, we cannot make a bracket that fits them all. In some cases, it does require modification to the lower shock mount that we send with the kit. We have no control over how that bracket is modified, and clearance through the travel range does need to be checked with the pinion angle set when doing this.

I have been to Studio Hot Rods a couple times. They do nice work and have a knowledgeable staff. Unfortunately, sometimes hot rodding requires things be done a second time.

Glad to hear that everything has been worked out.

[79T/Aman]

the owner of SHR owned Cartrige World, sold it then built a hot rod shop.

[F-Body International]

They are called Studio Hot Rods in Richmond, IL. They have a ton of five star reviews.
They've gotten a lot busier in the recent past and i'm thinking some of their Quality control has fallen off a bit because of their busy-ness.


I know someone who worked there when it first opened. Just like any other shop...QC is dependent upon who is working there (not the shop name). It’s an interesting looking place when I drive by it though. Someone definitely had a lot of money made the investment to start a big shop.

[dkar26]

Thank you for the reply. I would hope that they would've caught that when it was first installed. They said they drove it around for several days to test it out but I'm not so sure. As of today, it's doing fine tho

[79T/Aman]

I've dealt with two different guys there that did know how to deal with custom parts, one guy argued with me about the rotation direction on my own brake kits!!!!!!!!! The other didn't understand that because the inner and outer tie rods butted against each other he could not get any toe in setting...about grinding a bit off the end of the tie rods!!