How To Replace Shock Towers On a Vintage Mustang

When replacing shock towers, replace worn front suspension components as well. Get off to a good start with Grab-A-Track suspension parts from Mustangs Plus.

Shock tower replacement begins with the safe removal of front suspension components. Use a coil spring compressor and never position yourself in the coil spring's path during removal. A compressed coil spring contains approximately 400-600 pounds of force if the spring compressor fails. Exercise extreme caution during removal and installation.

Remove all suspension components and tie them out of your way.

After you have removed all the crud and thick undercoating, center-punch all the spot welds in preparation for drilling and cutting.

We're using Eastwood's Spot Weld Cutter, which does the job quite well. Cut all visible spot welds; some aren't always easy to see. You will find the invisible ones when it's time to remove the tower.

Because the shock tower assembly also includes the center apron, be careful about where you cut spot welds. The shock tower and center apron must be separated from the forward and rearward inner fender aprons. Remove the fender if you're concerned about fender and paint damage.

It's going to seem like there are hundreds of spot welds. Begin inside the fenderwell, then move inside the engine bay.

It is your choice whether or not you reuse the front subframe. If you're going to keep it, you will need to cut these spot welds.

Carefully separate the tower and aprons. Do not get in a hurry and distort the aprons. When you force seams, you can distort (stretch) the metal, making installation quite challenging.

With all spot welds cut, the tower is ready for removal.

The inner fender aprons are dollied into shape in preparation for the new shock towers.

Our Dynacorn shock tower assembly gets a fit check before welding begins.

Weld-through primer is applied to bare metal surfaces for corrosion prevention. This is a conductive coating that enables you to weld, yet it seals the metal.

Shock tower preparation includes boring holes for rosette welding. Although we already have spot-weld holes in the inner fender aprons, we'll need rosette-weld holes in areas where the original shock tower was spot-welded to the framerail. Eastwood's Spot Weld Cutter will get the job done. You can also use a 3/8-inch drill bit.

Shock tower installation is as successful as your seams and welds. Our Dynacorn shock tower is clamped everywhere to ensure a solid bond. Use bolts where clamps won't work. Regardless of what you use for temporary clamping, always make sure no light can be seen at your seams.