roadrunner

Im in the process of replacing a bunch of parts on my suspension, and im pretty much done with the rear, except for this nut. I've tried everything i can think of, but i can't tighten the nut! I made a little bit of progress last night.. but it still doesn't look right.

Any of you guys out there that have replaced your rear shocks, how did you tighten the upper nut?
I'm installing Eibach shocks.. oddly they didnt come with any replacement bushings/washers/nuts, so I'm guessing I'm supposed to reuse the stock ones, but I'm at a loss. What can I do?

Please help, thanks!

Brandon302

Do you have weight on the shocks/struts? If not then that would help to push the shock up into the tower. If they are none adjustable you could use an impact, if they are adjustable you will want to get a special tool to hold the strut/shock shaft and stop it from spinning while you tighten the nut.

roadrunner

Actually I started all this on sunday, and have been stuck on this nut for two days now. since i couldnt leave the car partially in my neighbors parking spot, i bolted everything up and simply tighten the nut whatever i could and moved my car back over to my spot. any way point is there is weight on it, but it still spins. i used an impact gun and held the rubber around the bolt with a vice grip, but i can only go so low before the vice grip gets in the way. i tried using opened ended wrenches, 15mm for the nut and 6mm for the bolt, but all that did was end up breaking the wrench(if you read this Matt, my bad. It was one of those midget wrenches, I'll replace it for you). at this point i quit for the night cause i didnt wanna break anymore tools, especially since they're borrowed.


My problem is there is no "top of the shaft" to hold. the nut will only go barely lower than the shaft, but its still not enough space for anything I can imagine to hold the bolt while i tighten the nut. And even if i do that, it's supposed to be at 30 ft/lbs torque, idk how its possible to torque this thing. Any other advice?

Edit: Oh wait you said shaft, my bad got that confused with bolt. What is this tool you speak up? I have read on other places about holding the shaft, but there techniques seemed sketchy.. i dont want to damage the shock

devildog1679

By shaft he does mean the top part of the shaft which you should be able to get a 6mm wrench on it. If the actual nut is not threading down enough to get a wrench on the top of the shaft then you need find away to get it to thread down a bit more. An impact would have been your best bet but it sounds like that didn't work. Are there threads left b/w the nut and the washer on top of the rubber gromet? A pic of what your seeing may help.

roadrunner

**** i new i should have taken a pic. I'll get one as soon as possible. Please dont forget this thread.
best way i could describe it is you know how the shaft/bolt sticking up from the shock, is threaded up to about half an inch before it ends, then that half inch is not threaded. before the nut went about as far as for the end up the shaft to be flat with the nut. so there was nothing to grab the top of the shaft with. yesterday i used brute force, vice grips, and an impact gun to grip the rubber gromet around the shaft as much as i could then use the impact gun. i managed to get about a tiny bit more than 1/4 inch of the end of the shaft sticking out above the nut. that when i tried using the 6mm to get the top and a 15mm wrench to tighten, but the 6mm wrench broke lol. i tried griping the top with the vice grip, but that just couldnt get enough grip, just start striping the top of the bolt. i guess i can use the brute force thing again, but it just scared me cause that just doesnt seem to be the way to do things and i dont want to damage anything. anyway, ill get you guys the pic




and thanks so much for helping!

cdynaco

As for torqueing the top nut, I have always used the method "tighten the nut until the rubber bushing has compressed as wide as the top washer".
Never had one work its way lose after hundreds of thousands of miles on multiple vehicles.

roadrunner

Very nice. I read this before too, my plan is once i figure out how to actually tighten it at all, if i can't torque it with the torque wrench, i'll just do what you said above. if i only i could tighten the thing at all! in fact, right now the rubber gromet isnt even flat on the frame. its still in the air. aside from this and few other hard to torque areas, everything about this suspension is relatively easy. its always those little bastard things that get you lol

cdynaco

It seems like maybe something is binding and not allowing you to insert the shock all the way. Usually there's what - 3/4 - 1" of the stem/shaft sticking out of the bushing/washer?
Can you tell by the old shock (maybe wear marks) how much stem/shaft should be sticking out above the washer after it was torqued?
Have you looked again to see if there is something preventing you from inserting the shock all the way up into the mounting?

FWIW the Manual says to always use new bushings and nuts. Shame on eibach for not including - is it perhaps a separate order not included (which would be stupid on their part)? Should be fine though since your car is so new (unless they are "one use" throw away nuts/bolts).

Ltngdrvr

There is a tool made that holds the top of the shock shaft where the two flats spots are on it, then use a wrench to tighten the nut.

http://www.northernautoparts.com/part/ll-20400

It sounds to me like you may have cross-threaded the nut or the threads are damaged and this is keeping it from going on properly.

roadrunner

Hmm all good points to consider. I'm at work right now but as soon as i get home I'll check on all these things. Thanks for the pointers!
Meantime im going to email eibach and see what they say about new bushings.. because it is odd, most other, not all but most, shocks bring new bushings/washers..

Edit:

Ltngdrvr: yes ive seen that tool also in my searching for answers, didnt see it till today but im gonna pass by the local auto parts store and see if they have one i can borrow. Thanks!

Ltngdrvr

The zone has two tools listed if you have one of them near you.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...ocket/_/N-26a1

roadrunner

theres an autozone a few blocks away from me, but i called and apparently its only a special order tool, so i cant borrow it. dont wanna buy it either lol. guess i could buy it and return it. i'll see what i do, but thanks for the ehads up on the tool

Ltngdrvr

Don't know anyplace that would "loan" you that tool.

Bite the bullet and buy one, but don't screw the store over by using it and taking it back.

roadrunner

This as far as i could get it after some more attempts:

cdynaco

It still looks like it should stick up farther than that. Have you double checked from underneath to be sure its all the way up in the mounting position?
Can you use a jack under the diff tube to lift that side if necessary?

Is this a possibility that the nut is cross threaded?

How much stem/shaft is sticking up with the other shock?

I know its a bad time to ask but are you sure the L & R shock match? Same amount of stem/shaft out of the shock housing?
Part numbers match?

I would think a good pair of vice grips adjusted real tight on the flat part of the stem/shaft, and placed so as you tighten the vice grips twist against the body, would allow you to tighten further.
However, if the nut is threaded properly, it really should NOT be that hard to hold the stem/shaft and tighten the nut... if it is really binding hard something isn't correct in either the parts or the way you have it mounted.

Ltngdrvr

I'd pull it back off and check the threads, it really shouldn't be that difficult to tighten up.

Of course, if the threads are boogered up, you will probably be looking at having to replace the shock and nut.

And yes, a good set of locking pliers should be enough to hold the shock stud while tightening the nut, but it's always nice to have the right tool for the job.

roadrunner

Alright well I tried using a better flat vice grip my dad has. Along with the 15mm wrench. I made a whole lot of progress this time, needed both of us, and it was still kinda difficult, though more so because of the tight positions in the trunk. Anyway tell me what you guys think:

cdynaco

In some pics the threads don't look exactly sharp but that could be the pic. (These days [China fasteners] I usually run the nut down first to make sure its the correct nut.) Either way, with the bushing as wide as the washer, I'd call that good!

(I'm guessing here but perhaps the bushing should look the same on the L & R shocks so travel is equal.)

roadrunner

Probably the pics. My phone isnt the bsst. And im not the most stable at holding while taking the pic lol. As for them being equal, those pics are actually of both sides. I think the first 3 are the drivers side and the last 4 are the passengers side.

So glad to finally get it right.. Tomorrow, i complete the conquest with the front suspension

cdynaco

Glutton for punishment!


To be safe, I'd check the rears after a few thousand miles. I would have liked the bushings as wide as the washers. You're close though.