Just a thought but surely the crack and the broken shock linkage are connected? The crack would weaken one side resulting in the linkage twisting, and thus failure.Thinking about it is the shock worn on one side?
No, I don’t think it is, and no, the shock is original and shows no signs of wear.
It’s a minute, hairline crack, and it’s impossible open/close it by flexing it in any way. Hence why it’s not got any bigger in 5 years of hard use.
If there was any movement in it whatsoever, it would show visible flexing and the crack would grow.
The link wouldn’t be under any twist or sideways load, it broke due to 8 years of constant pounding from the shock!
The mounting is still perfectly square – look how much weld is left unaffected and how thick that alu plate is!