1977 C10, drivers side shock, upper mounting bolt issue

[PugDad]

I started noticing a little thumping in the new truck.

The upper shock mounting bolt is kinda like a shoulder bolt, threaded on both sides. One side is where you mount the shock, and put the nut on.

The other side of the bolt goes through the mounting pad, and then a nut/lockwasher goes on that side.

Well, I found the nut on the other side about three threads loose, so the shock was bouncing about a bit.

I tightened it up. But, I was afraid to reef on the bolt too much for fear of breaking it.

After tightening it, I can grab the shock and, with some effort, twist/shake it back and forth, and can make it make a knocking sound on the mounting pad.

I'm thinking the hole might have gotten "wallered out" a little, but I'm not sure, cause I didn't take the whole thing apart to look at it. There was a reasonable amount of play before I tightened it, but I don't know how big the hole is relative to the size of the mounting bolt to begin with. Tight fit? Sloppy fit? Also, if it has been bouncing around in there, then maybe the bolt itself has partially worn away...that's another reason I was reluctant to put a lot of muscle in it while tightening.

I know I could just weld the bolt in place, cause it will never need to be removed. That's plan C.

Plan A is getting a brand new shoulder bolt, and installing it and reefing down on it.

Any thoughts about a Plan B? Drill out the hole, put in oversize shoulder bolt? Is that even an option? Something else completely?

Just looking for feedback before I get creative and paint myself into a corner.

[PugDad]

Ha ha...what a goof, answering my own post...I was looking at replacement shock absorbers, and it looks like they come with the replacement shoulder bolts.

So, now the new question is does anybody know if those bolts can be purchased separately?

[cableguy0]

New shocks always will come with the bolts. If your shocks have more than 30k miles on them they are due for replacement anyhow. Shocks for these trucks are cheap. Btw I wouldnt weld it in place. Those bolts do break which is why the come with new shocks.