F41 strut rod bracket

[Joe L.]

Re: F41 strut rod bracket

All------


One more thing on this subject: some folks somehow think that the shock mount shafts for F-41/FE-7 just must be "heavy duty" and otherwise more "special" than the "lowly" standard suspension shafts. That's not the case, at all, though. So, why are the shaft sets different? Well, it's because the F-41/FE-7 rear shock tubes were a larger OD than standard suspension shocks. So, the engineers wanted to ensure a safe clearance from the trailing arm. That's why the shock mount shaft sets were different. Actually, the HD suspension shafts could have been used for both HD and standard suspension and, in later SERVICE, that's exactly what GM did.

[Michael S.]

Re: F41 strut rod bracket

Joe, morning.
The informations puts everything into context, thank you for your time on this to go into detail.
Stay safe and well.
Mike

[Tim G.]

Re: F41 strut rod bracket

Joe, would that explain why the F41 shock top is not covered like the standard shock.

[Joe L.]

Re: F41 strut rod bracket

Joe, would that explain why the F41 shock top is not covered like the standard shock.

Tim-----


Yes. The F-41/FE-7 shocks had a larger tube diameter than standard suspension. That, in turn, would force a much larger shaft shield section than standard shocks. To avoid possible chassis interference, the shield section was deleted, leaving the shaft without protection.

The early F-41 shocks did have a large "washer" at the top of the shaft which is slightly larger in OD than the tube section. Later versions of the HD shocks have a reduced diameter "washer" which is smaller than the tube section. My guess is that the reason for this was some chassis interference that may have occurred with the larger "washer".

[Tim G.]

Re: F41 strut rod bracket

Thank you, Joe. That's helpful.