Rust near my rear shackle mount, what do you think?

[poconos_power]

So, another post asking about tackling my 1970 duster. As I finally evaluate it on the lift, I have a few small spots in the quarters to patch, but overall rust is not a problem with this car. However as I was putting together my plan to swap the rear end last night, I noticed a bit of rust that I wanted to ask about. I'm swapping out the 7-1/4in for an 8-3/4 a-body rear, no modifications to move the leaf springs inboard, maybe in the future, for now just the hotchkis geometry corrected leafs going in. I noticed some rust forming just behind where the rear shackle on the driver side mounts. I was looking for some opinions on taking care of this. How much does rust here compromise the rear leaf springs?

 

[El Viento]

So, another post asking about tackling my 1970 duster. As I finally evaluate it on the lift, I have a few small spots in the quarters to patch, but overall rust is not a problem with this car. However as I was putting together my plan to swap the rear end last night, I noticed a bit of rust that I wanted to ask about. I'm swapping out the 7-1/4in for an 8-3/4 a-body rear, no modifications to move the leaf springs inboard, maybe in the future, for now just the hotchkis geometry corrected leafs going in. I noticed some rust forming just behind where the rear shackle on the driver side mounts. I was looking for some opinions on taking care of this. How much does rust here compromise the rear leaf sprin

 

[El Viento]

Good day Poconos ! ! ! While I'm no expert, I do have a body of a 65 Dart whose undercarriage was in a similar condition when my old man Doc Wayne got a chance to look at, and one of the many of things he noticed was that area of rust around the Leafs mounting points....he mentioned it'd be better to get that taken care of over not doing it, so I'd have to go on that page and say have it welded/replaced/shored up as it's an accident waiting to happen otherwise if you don't....an with that area of metal failing, it would be a pretty epic fail on or off the road, wherever it may happen.....

I'd like to see others response on this but I've come to learn that ANY spot that might be compromised by rust is an area that should be totally replaced...hope this helps somewhat...m

 

[doug 371]

Is that some trailer hitch garbage welded on there?

 

[poconos_power]

Is that some trailer hitch garbage welded on there?

The part in the foreground is a hanger from the previous dual exhaust for the slant 6 that was in there.

 

[poconos_power]

Good day Poconos ! ! ! While I'm no expert, I do have a body of a 65 Dart whose undercarriage was in a similar condition when my old man Doc Wayne got a chance to look at, and one of the many of things he noticed was that area of rust around the Leafs mounting points....he mentioned it'd be better to get that taken care of over not doing it, so I'd have to go on that page and say have it welded/replaced/shored up as it's an accident waiting to happen otherwise if you don't....an with that area of metal failing, it would be a pretty epic fail on or off the road, wherever it may happen.....

I'd like to see others response on this but I've come to learn that ANY spot that might be compromised by rust is an area that should be totally replaced...hope this helps somewhat...m

I wonder if this is something In can get an easy replacement for. I'm not really a metal fabricator, but it looks like a box with a thick piece of steel on it.

 

[poconos_power]

Is that some trailer hitch garbage welded on there?

Hmm, now you have me wondering if it was someone poor attempt to strengthen the frame. Trying to find photos of the same spot to confirm what it is supposed to look like.

 

[Lefty71]

Is that some trailer hitch garbage welded on there?

Hmm, now you have me wondering if it

Or they cut that boat hitch out and threw it away.

 

[Syleng1]

I wonder if this is something In can get an easy replacement for. I'm not really a metal fabricator, but it looks like a box with a thick piece of steel on it.

Not really a fabricator…. Not yet! Honestly you read the room correctly.
It’s a box with a reinforcement on it. That’s all it is. Break it down into smaller bites and fix it. It needs to be repaired and even if you do not fix it yourself, knowing what you need before taking it to some one who can will save you money on unnecessary additional repairs. What will happen is the part will (actually it already has) started to flex the metal a little and it will eventually break and to the point your spring is loose. It may go thru the trunk floor doing more damage or if you get hit from behind and it will not absorb the impact as well and do more damage than just the impact would had.

Do some more “search” about rust, or rot. There is a lot of info on here already. You got this!
Syleng1

 

[RogerRamRod]

AMD makes a replacement box, though it still needs to be welded in and all. By the time I figured that out, I could have probably "re-built" what I had.
Or you could put sliders in.

 

[poconos_power]

So I found some picture online of what that mounting box is supposed to look like, very helpful as I had no point of reference to go on otherwise. As expected, it was just a slab-o-steel someone had welded on, not even that well, and it seems all it did was trap moisture and rust things out.

Cut it off and now I have a clear idea of my next move. I'm less worried about hitting this as a new a guy new to welding since it's not an exterior panel.

I guess someone was trying to reinforce it or something? It's ben mentioned it was possibly left over from some trailer hitch setup, who knows. Any other guesses why this would have been there?