Rear shock mounts shaking..

[1badrunner]

Hey guys,

Having a bad issue with my rear shock mounts. The top u-joints are very loose and wobbly. I would tighten the top bolt, but it seems to be welded (shown in photo below). Does anyone have any tips on how to proceed? Haven't seen anything in my searches.

 

[YotaZach85]

The nut is on the other side of what youre looking at there. That welded part is the bolt and the bolt goes through the rear crossmemeber with a nut on the top side. I would pull the nut off and put some loctite, a lock washer, and a lock nut or you're just going to have to keep tightening them up.

 

[1badrunner]

The nut is on the other side of what youre looking at there. That welded part is the bolt and the bolt goes through the rear crossmemeber with a nut on the top side. I would pull the nut off and put some loctite, a lock washer, and a lock nut or you're just going to have to keep tightening them up.

Thanks, man. That saves me some hassle.

 

[1badrunner]

Well, after attempting. And much research. This top nut is a b***h.

Now, I understand there are tons upon tons of threads regarding this. However, my situation seems a bit different.

First off, the shocks are Bilstein 5125. The top nut is 24mm. Since these were recently installed, it's no problem to loosen the nut, and I have. My problem pertains to tightening it all the way down. At a certain point, the socket on the nut (extended socket) will not stay flush on the nut itself. I fear I'm gonna strip this nut attempting to tighten.

Would taking the bottom of the shock off, grabbing the top nut with channel locks, vise-grip, etc, and then spinning the shock itself do the job?

Any tips?

I'm referring to the passenger side right now. I can only imagine how much of a pain the driver's side is going to be...

 

[TheDurk]

The stock shock set up has the actual threaded piston rod going through the mount with rubber bushings above and below and the nut is threaded on to that rod. Thus the actual torque required is relatively low and is easy to achieve with a flex-head GearWrench type ratchet. Your Billies have a ring-top and an adapter which is quite different than the original design set-up the mount was made for.

Have you tried putting a box wrench on the top nut, removing the shock from the mount adapter, and then trying to turn that with Channelocks or whatever works? Get it good and tight, then put the shock on to it? You might also consider seeing if you could get some bushings to go above and below where the mount bolt goes through the mount--then the nut would sit higher on the shaft and your socket would engage fully. Finally, you could shorten the threaded shaft if you can't get the bushings.

I've never mounted shocks that way, I'm just throwing ideas out based on what I see.

 

[1badrunner]

The stock shock set up has the actual threaded piston rod going through the mount with rubber bushings above and below and the nut is threaded on to that rod. Thus the actual torque required is relatively low and is easy to achieve with a flex-head GearWrench type ratchet. Your Billies have a ring-top and an adapter which is quite different than the original design set-up the mount was made for.

Have you tried putting a box wrench on the top nut, removing the shock from the mount adapter, and then trying to turn that with Channelocks or whatever works? Get it good and tight, then put the shock on to it? You might also consider seeing if you could get some bushings to go above and below where the mount bolt goes through the mount--then the nut would sit higher on the shaft and your socket would engage fully. Finally, you could shorten the threaded shaft if you can't get the bushings.

I've never mounted shocks that way, I'm just throwing ideas out based on what I see.

Well bushings might be hard to find, but that's definitely the best idea I've seen as a solution. What about washers (as stated above), but using one locking washer and then a few more regular washers on top of that (1-3)? That seems plausible.

I also share your idea of dismounting from the top mount and turning the mount itself. Also plausible, will try after a quick break. Phew.

 

[1badrunner]

Well, since the nut is down so far in there, a box wrench, or any type of wrench for that matter, will not sit flush enough for my comfort. I've exhausted the last bit a patience I had left for the night.

I'm either getting some washers tomorrow and attempting that way, or its going to my local shop who'll probably put some lock washers on there and some threadlock for little to no cost I'm sure.

Thanks guys.

 

[TheDurk]

Well, the flex-head GearWrench DOES work in there. It was really a delight.

 

[1badrunner]

That just proves I need to make a trip for some nicer tools. haha

How's the driver's side go? Move stuff out the way? Or there's a way to reach it?

Sorry if these are noobish questions. Gotta gain this knowledge one way or another.

 

[YotaZach85]

It makes it a lot easier to remove the spare tire and from there its pretty much just feeling around blind.

 

[steezemcqueen]

You do not need to install bushing on the top stud. in fact they were not designed to use bushing. I have the exact same shocks and i was able to tighten the upper nut with no issues. Maybe try from a different angle? Also, the nut is a nylock nut so it will seem like it is tight before you are finished tightening it