2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission question on urethane shock mounts...

[IdahoJim]

I put Bilsteins on my '01 3/4 4x4 about 4 years ago. I recently noticed the ride was going bad again. Looked under the hood and the Bilstein mounts are shot. I bought the urethane doughnuts, made by Energy Suspension, from AutZone. Here's my question... I think these are made to use without a steel sleeve to tighten against, so how much compression of the doughnuts do I want? Or, how much torque to apply to the shock nut? Any help greatly appreciated.

Jim

 

[Wal_mart]

they may have instructions here



Energy Suspension Parts: Ram 2500, Dodge 4WD Ram 2500 2001

 

[IdahoJim]

I couldn't find any instruction on their site. I sent an email asking the question... we'll see what I get back.

Thanks,

Jim

 

[Lumpy]

I haven't used them alot on pickup trucks, but thats all we run on the fleet of Kenworths I maintain. On the shocks,walking beam, drag links and sway bars, we just butt the bushings up togethger, no steel sleeve through them, just the bolt and a large washer on each side. Tighten them until they just start to mushroom out. I've found it helps increase the life of them if you give them a light coat of a lithium grease before installation.

 

[IdahoJim]

Thanks for the info. These bushings required a steel sleeve so they'd be a good fit over the shaft of the Bilstein shocks. What I ended up doing, (just finished), is making new steel sleeves that were 1. 57" long, and . 590" O. D. , with an 'X' drill size hole. That gave me about 1/4" of compression of the bushings, with the nut tight against the steel sleeve. I'm tickled how it turned out, and how it now rides. The whole job only took 2 1/2 hours, including making the sleeves on the lathe.

The driver-side shock bushing was completely gone, other than the bottom portion..... the shaft was free to wander in the hole in the tower. I wonder why the ride was lousy... LOL:-laf

Jim

 

[SRath]

I put Bilsteins on my '01 3/4 4x4 about 4 years ago. I recently noticed the ride was going bad again. Looked under the hood and the Bilstein mounts are shot. I bought the urethane doughnuts, made by Energy Suspension, from AutZone. Here's my question... I think these are made to use without a steel sleeve to tighten against, so how much compression of the doughnuts do I want? Or, how much torque to apply to the shock nut? Any help greatly appreciated.

Jim

The general rule of thumb when tightening nuts on bayonet-type shocks is to tighten until the diameter of the compressed bushings is equal to the diameter of the top & bottom cone washers. This goes for both rubber and polyurethane bushings.