New rear shock mount smaller than old

[sparkyy192]

Swapping my rear Bilstein 5160s for fox 2.0 and I noticed the lower shock mounts and bushings are way smaller on the Fox.

With the old Bilsteins, the bushings are thick and the lower shock bolt compressed them when you tighten it. The new fox shock lower mounts are smaller and there’s a gap along the lower shank between the shock and the shock bolt.

Is this an issue? Should I use a spacer? I’m concerned the shock will move along that lower shank

 

[DougR]

Does the retaining bolt clamp down on a metal sleeve inside the bushing? If yes, then it should be OK.

Can you move the shock with your hand? If yes, then I think you'll have a clunking noise and I suggest comparing the part number on the shock against the Fox catalog part number. If the part number is correct, then contact Fox or the vendor and find out what they recommend.

See this post which had a similar issue: clunking noise in the rear end They resolved the clunk by installing a washer such that the retaining bolt clamps down on a metal sleeve inside the shock bushing.

 

[sparkyy192]

figured it out - there was a spacer in the package that the instructions showed was for the top of the stem - it wasn't.

Found better instructions on the Fox website which was explicit about the spacer being installed on the bottom mount.