So on my mothers handicap conversion van one of the rear shock brackets on the axle broke off.

Any premade repair kits?

Also replacement shock suggestions?

Or any other helpful info.

 

You would have to have a welder put it back on for you.

As for shocks - Monroe, KYB, Blistine - they are all pretty good.

 

I personally are not aware of any kits but a compedent welder should be able to produce the mount and possibly install one or reattach the current one as funair02 stated, beware of used mounts from a salvage yards if you live in the north as that are likely comprised by corrosion.

Your mother vans rear springs could use help from rear airbags which reduce the loads on shock and rear spring components by transferring some of the load to the frame. Air bag kits cost about $300 and greatly improve stability and handling. In my opinion conversion companies should include rear air bags when building 1/2 and 3/4 ton V6 handicap vans as they are carrying the additional weight of a lift or ramp and since the V6 has a lower GVWR Dodge did not go heavy on the rear springs capacity.

Best of luck.

 

the v6 has a lower gvwr? my v6 is a 2500.... hmmmmm

 

Thanks for the info guys, my father has a friend who does metal fab/welding he said he can take care of it no problem.

You'd think being an ASE L1 Master tech I'd be more equipped for such things, but working at a Honda dealer, all we really do is simple take it apart and put it back together, not a lot of make it work. Not to mention, the shop doesn't have a welder(or we might but no clue what operational condition it's in). And lastly the van barely fits on 14 out of our 34 lifts, and the 2 I'm currently in it doesn't fit.

As for the airbag suggestion, if the van got more use I'd think about it, but i want to say we got it in 99 used with like 18k miles on it and it currently has like 44k, it's mostly a grocery getter now and brings my mother to and from doctors appointments, had it converted with a ricon rear lift, third row seat removal(small folding third row installed), drivers second row seat removed for chair tie down brackets, and a pivoting drivers seat frame. No topper on it.

 

I realize I just posted a thread regarding shock mounting brackets, but I had some other questions now that I had some things sorted out and didn't want to be overlooked.

So when I punched the vin into the decoder 2B6HB21X4VK600101. It is listing it as HD suspension.

Some people suggested an airbag helper kit which isn't a bad Idea, but currently I am just looking to get this back in driving order as soon as possible. One thing that caught my eye were the spring assist shocks offered by gabriel and monroe, not only for the spring assist but the kits also included the long upper mounting bolt(which is probably going to break upon removal). In the Monroe line they specify not for HD suspension, the Gabriel Line doesn't specify.

Being that this vehicle is a 3.9l with a 8.25" rear axle, it just seems a little off that this would have an HD suspension.

So I was just wondering if anyone knew specifically what the difference is? and also if anyone has experience with the shock kits I am looking at or other shock suggestions(the gabriel LTV also caught my eye).

 

as I stated before, mine is a 5 lug, 2500 and a v6..... so they definitely did weird stuff, not really uncommon, apparently my old toyota truck was a unicorn and didn't exist, but yet I drove it everyday....

I would not go with the assist shocks, they just put more stress on the shock mounts...

if you want to fix it, then fix it, not toss a band-aid on it

 

Yea same here, 5 lug, 2500, v6.

The shock mounts I was looking at were from ruffstuff 1/4" thick steel brackets, that my fathers friend who is a metal fabricator could weld on, figure save him some time fabbing them. I haven't mig welded in years. Ruffstuff also offers 1/2-13 3" bolts/nylon nuts with the kit, now my only concern is the 1/2-13-6.75" upper bolt, but i figure a 7" from Fastenal should work, or Monroe lists their parts pack with their load leveling kit as well I could order and I did find places supposedly offering the factory bolts.

Though from some more searching it looks like the kyb gas adjusts are the suggested replacement shocks which don't specify hd or non hd.

Like i said just looking for others opinions.

 

The air bags were just a suggestion I installed them on our last three Ram Vans but we have a camper (6500lbs) and boat (8000lbs+) trailer to pull and the bags help with tongue weight, sway control and hard braking with a trailer. When driving unloaded the vans were simply better mannered ride and handling wise. A few folks on this site use air bags and I believe we all would recommend them.

That being said your mother does not need bags as I said before it was just a suggestion, regarding her suspension being HD it is not suprising but what that means regarding load and towing capacity exactly I do not have a answer.

The GVWR of my last and greatly missed B3500 Wagon was 8350lbs if my memory serves me correctly and that was with the 5.9 and 3.92 gears.

What is your mother's van GVWR and gearing?

Now regarding jimbo74 post about V6 gross vehicle weight rating compared to the V8s I assume V6 1500 and 2500 have lower GVWR ratings than 1500/2500 equipped with a 5.2 or 5.9 I could be wrong my apologies should that be the case.

Lastly jimbo74 is absolutely correct not to install those spring assisted shocks something else will break. I have seen a Ram Wagon with a leaf spring pushed up through the floor after the rusted spring shackle failed so concentrating more load on old suspension components is asking for trouble.

Anyway let me stop writing here, best of luck.

 

An actual air bag assisted system is a lot better than the assisted lift shocks.... whole different ballgame on those.... However, proper springs should be the number 1 concern.... Tossing any helepr system on a vehicle that has old, saggy, worn springs is not the way to go about it... those heleprs should only be used to augement, not bandaid poor springs