How tight should shocks be?

[gtzero]

Hi,

I just put on a set of new rear shocks. And according to Chilton's, the bottom should be torqued to 15 and the top should be torqued to 10.

The bottom went fine. I set my torque wrench and started to do the top. I kept going and going and never hit 10. Yet the rubber was being squashed considerably. According to the picture diagram from Koni, that is not good. So I backed off until I matched the picture.

I'm not sure if I did this correctly. I drove around the block and the passenger rear sounds like something is not tight. Something was banging around back there. And when I bounce the rear of the car, I can see the top of the shock moving around quite a lot.

But even in this state, my car's handling is night and day from what it was. It's amazing how much tighter my car feels.

Back to my issue, how tight should I tighten the top of the shock?

Thanks,

Manny

[namba209]

Manny, according to my Clymer's on all shocks the bottom bolt torque is 30 ft.lbs. of torque and the top it says to tighten the nut until there is about 1/2" between the top of the nut and the top of the rod the nut screws down on. HTH.

[gtzero]

Originally Posted by namba209 Manny, according to my Clymer's on all shocks the bottom bolt torque is 30 ft.lbs. of torque and the top it says to tighten the nut until there is about 1/2" between the top of the nut and the top of the rod the nut screws down on. HTH.

Thanks Ron,

I tightened the top of the shock this morning and all the banging was gone. I don't know if I had a 1/2" at the top but it's very quiet now. As for 30 ft-lbs at the bottom, maybe I'll split the difference and tighten it to 25.

Just as an aside, should I have greased or lubed the bottom mounting bolt? I noticed a lot of squeaking when I bounced the rear of the car.

Manny

[namba209]

When I put my shocks on Willit?, Manny, I used "NEO" grease I got some time ago, on the lower bolts. It's the same stuff you get from OGTS for the poly bushings. I figured it can't hurt.