Shock Replacement

[knightr]

Helped my son replace his original shocks yesterday with four new Monroe reflexes.

The torque spec for the rears was pretty straight forward, but the front torque spec

was confusing, with multiple numbers for different shocks.

My question is, when tightening the front upper nuts through the frame, how far should

the new rubber bushings be tightened. Should the rubber bushing be barely squezed down or

the nut torqued enough to flatten it out like a pancake.

I usually prefer to use the OEM washers & rubber bushings, but his were fairly worn & I

decided to use the new rubbers and washers that came with the new shocks, although

they look nowhere near as heavy duty & durable as the OEM ones.

The OEM top mount rubbers have a steel bushing through them, where the Monroes have

nothing but a small ridge on the rubber to align & keep them centered in the mounting hole.

Just seems like they have to be torqued enough to mash the rubbers down to keep them in the

mounting hole.

 

His is a 2005 Silverado ECSB 4x4 Z71 5.3l

[Matt_]

A general rule of thumb I go by is to tighten the nut enough so that the rubber bushing diameter increases to just a bit more than the diameter of the metal washers.

 

After driving a few hundred miles grab the shock and check to make sure it's still snug. I've never had one loosen up and i've installed countless shocks... but im a bit OCD and would always check them on returning customers just to be 100% sure (even if someone else was working on the truck).

 

If you pancake the bushings the washers will eventually cut through them and cause damage and/or they won't last as long. And yes, i have replaced bushings that became damaged due to being squeezed too tight. Usually caused be the previous tech using an air ratchet and going too far when tightening.

[dlstewart01]

http://www.eshocks.com/Mounting.asp