Well, im the last event of last season, I got tagged in the first sprint race by a miata that tracked out into me. I'll post video of it at some point, my car went airborne, was pretty nutty.

Anyway, damage was not to bad as we can tell, but the rim looks like it hit the shock and bent its lower bracket, and JIC does not have one in stock and is having a hard time acquiring one for me (I am VERY disappointed in JICs support on this, bummes me out).

So, anyone have some ideas on where I can get a new bracket that will work? Basically its just a U bracket with a threaded stud to thread into the shock casing.

Here is what it SHOULD look like:


This is what the one that got bent up looks like:


If I can not find a place that makes a similar bracket, I will have to have one fabbed by a shop I guess.

Anyone have some sources for this part for me?

 

how hard would it be to take it off and try to rebend it back into shape? i know it will be weaker..but what if you welded on a few reinforcements just to get you by until you can get a correct replacement?

 

yeah, if you can't get JIC to do anything to supply you with another one i think the best thing to do would be to get one fabbed at a shop..

 

hmm, yeah gettin one fabbed looks like the answer.

>>how hard would it be to take it off and try to rebend it back into shape? i know it will be weaker..but what if you welded on a few reinforcements just to get you by until you can get a correct replacement?


Not sure if that is any less hassle than having a new one fabbed, but its an option :-)

 

bending not a good idea. the metal has already been stressed and it will weaken further by trying to bend.

it should be pretty easy to fab. less hassle than trying to source an existing part that may not work.

good luck

 

Yeah, without the JIC support, I think fabbing it would be the best idea. Since you still have one good shock (presumably), they can make a copy pretty easily.

 

Send me the old part so I can reuse the threaded stud AND send the other side so i can get good measurements .

 

wow that would be great!!!

PM me with where to send it and I will send both the bent one and the good one to measure from.

Thanks!!

 

BIG THANKS to Garfinkle for making the shock part I needed.

Here is a pic of the crafted shock bracket he made for me:






Do not forget to get one of his TQ Braces in your car, in my opinion it is a no brainer mod:

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthread.php?t=695752


The new shock brackets will get a test in early arpil :-)

 

super nice!

 

Not really....stay tuned...

 

the shock bracket broke at autobahn this weekend about 1 hour+ before one of my sprint races, it created an frantic situation but some key seople stepped up huge and I ended up making the race, even though i entered the race 4 laps behind.

to make a long story short, it goes like this:

- the car was making goofy noise in the rear, so we took the rear wheels off to inspect (we though it was the brakes or driveline)

- we found the shock bracket that was made to replace the bent one you see above, had also broken. the stud punched past the weld and the stud was riding on the suspension arm

- my co-driver Ben was ont he phone calling for a local welding place and found one 10 minutes away. I had to goto a race drivers meeting and Ben and Chad (another buddy of mine) worked franticaly to get the bracket off the shock, it was not easy, we had limited tools. In the end we had to leave the bracket on the shock sleeve and took the sleeves off the shocks

- the welder guy Ben found was initially not interested, untill Ben mentioned we were racing, then he was like 'come on over, I will take car of ya'

- we take both shock brackets (now I do not trust the other one either) and pull up to this guys shop about 10 minutes away from the track. We go inside and he has a huge space with 2 full custome build mud racing truck chassys. turns out this is probably one of the best custom racing fabricators in the state :-)

- within a few minutes, he took both brackets, and rewelded them (proper like) into what may have been the most artistic and beautiful welds I have ever seen. now I am not a welder, but there was a lot of talk about proper heat and weld penetration, et, et. In the end they both looked like they could support a tank.

- get back, put the car back together as they are gettin the green flag, I jump in, get belted up and go out flyin. Car felt great.

That is all i have time to post on now, I have pics and will post those later.

 

^ That deserved it's own thread, great story and glad the day wasn't lost.

If you think it's appropriate, post up the fabricator/welder's name or shop name. Who knows, maybe someone on this board lives local and is in need of some work.

 

Ben emailed me the guys info, here it is:
http://www.probstmotorsports.com/