I seem to remember years back reading that people would drill holes in the shocktower of the mavs to gain access to the lube nipples underneith no? I can't seem to find this info in a search. My mav is stripped to the literal shell, and being prepped for a build back up. My shocktowers have a couple of gangly holes in them, and it's not pretty. Should I have the shop weld and patch em up? I seem to remember hearing of a 90 degree nipple or something, if I patch up all these holes, can I be assured to have access to these nipples? I want it to look right, but functionality is always first for me.
Jeremy when I installed the 90* nipples on mine I was able to get 3 of them installed with adequate clearance. For some reason there was not enough clearance on the aft passenger side. Good luck. Also do you have any recent progress pics?
Several of mine are the same way. I don't understand why someone had to hog out such big holes just to get to one little grease fitting. I plan to fix mine and only leave a hole just large enough to get the end of a grease gun through.
Someone BURNED huge holes in my shock towers with a cutting torch! What barbarians! Luckily mine is stripped to the shell too, and so I'm in the process of cleaning up this mess. Actually, I will probably cut holes in the towers again, only this time I plan to use a hole cutting bit, Then I will fill the holes with vinyl body plugs when I'm not trying to acess the lube nipples. John B
I have always been amazed at the number of Fords that have holes blown in with a cutting torch. Who is this mad man running around out there and why is he allowed to have a torch ... I used the 90 degree fittings on several cars without a problem. It helps if you can put them in when the upper is out of the car. If you can't get one in cause it is too close on one side, it sounds like the control arm bushing shaft was not centered correctly. Common error when people take them apart to install new ones. It can be a little tricky to get them on centered right. New kits come with a 90 degree: I like the longer ones - they can be installed in a few minutes without removing the control arm. Mustang parts places have the kit - about $15 - I bought mine from John's Mustangs:
thanks for all the tips, I'm going to have the towers welded up. It looks as if someone went in there and just ripped the shock tower a hole with a pair of vice grips or whatever, it looks nasty. I forgot to take progress pics yesterday, but I'll be back within a week or two with new pics. The new pics this time may include beginning stages of coating/paint, we'll see.
The guy that had my Maverick drilled I'm guessing a couple pretty 3/8" holes in a carefully marked and precise pattern, then preceeded to take a pair of adjustable pliars and rip the ever living Sh** out of them. In multiple directions. So, when i'm going to fix my body again, i'm welding it up and installing the 90 degree's.... They look so horrible, why do the people have to do it to us? although, I have to admit, since they're there, i have been known to lube the car using them... so they were handy for me, just a horrid eyesore
they beat on mine with an air chisle, I would have preferred the hot wrench, the missed a few times and ran a series of hole in the inner fender
It's because they were in a hurry and used a torch. There's not much room in there (if you have a V-8) to cut nice neat little holes. This was done to My Maverick back in the '80s. The original upper A-arm bushings do not have grease fittings, but most are replaced with aftermarket ones, in which the grease fitings will not fit without modifying the spring towers...
By the way, sorry I didn't answer your question. My opinion is that you should repair it if you can, and put some small, neatly cut access holes in there for the grease fittings. I have a plan for cleaning mine up...
Most I have seen were done with a torch. Very ugly. When they are done right, you cannot tell how ugly because they install a rubber plug. Most plugs were probably lost the first time some grease monkey pulled them out to lube. I have an idea... Some of my heavier equiptment that use multiple grease fittings are available with a grease manifold option. My stuff doesn't have the option, but it looks like a great idea. The various grease fittings around the 'vehicle' are all plumbed by hose to a central location. The hose has threads on each end that are the same size/thread as a grease zerk, and the hose is a reinforced rubber hose just like a grease gun would have. The manifold is just that... An aluminum block or tubing with one hole drilled and tapped for each grease zerk that it feeds. Then each tube is routed to and screwed into the manifold. Then there is one zerk on the manifold that you grease. The grease fills the manifold and travels to all the grease points, no matter how close or far. The manifold is mounted in a discreet, yet very easily accessed location. Unlike most grease zerks... Why could you not plumb the inaccessable zerks in question to a tee, via hose, then have the tee bulkhead through a tiny hole in the top of the tower, for example. Then the zerk, along with a nice neat little rubber zerk cover, will be right there... where you choose. This would not work for components that have a broad range of travel, ie: tie rods, but for mostly stationary stuff like arms and even ball joints, it is a cool idea. I suppose you have to see pics of the stuff. It is super simple and looks easy to custom fab for about any application. Would be much like plumbing brake lines. As a matter of fact... some of the systems I have seen are just like brake systems. All hard lines from the manifold to whatever point they reach where they MUST be flexible. Keeping the amount of hose needed to a minimum. Seems to me that the arms in question could be done with small brake line. The point where the zerks mount don't move, do they??? The zerks feed a stationary point of the joint, right? Just a thought. Dave Edit: Jeremy, you have the holes, so use them. Clean them up a little with a grinder, then get a rubber plug for each to clean up appearance. If they all don't use the same size plug, trim them all up to the same size as the largest one so they will use the same size plug.
Dave, RE: Grease Manifold When under pressure, grease will act like a fluid and will follow the path of least resistance (as you know). If the grease is allowed to escape ("overflow") on Joint A, then joints B, C, D, etc., would not receive any grease as there is no force to push the grease to those fittings. The manifold would have to have in-line valves, one going to each joint - that one could close off in order "push" the grease to the other joints. If these are "sealed" joints (ie, there is no "overflow") then my theory goes out the window and I waisted mine and your's time.
My car has torched holes in it, I was too lazy to fix it so I decided that the jaggedy torched holes add a little bit of a rustic, character to it.
I have ugly holes in mine, too. I plan on welding in some washers with the center holes just the right size for a grease gun fitting, then get some of those plastic hole plugs to pop in the holes.
