BAD-L88

Well, I installed the shocks and went with the three retainer set up.

Two things:

1. The Assembly manual calls for 120-180 lbs on the lower shock mounts. I set my torque wrench for 150 lbs. but seemed to pass a point where the bolts just felt like they were spinning. I stopped and said to myself, not another turn until I check with the C3 board. What's up, is 150 lbs correct? Should I just keep torque-ing?

2. The top nut the shock came with is called a "lockable nut, " I think. It seems to have a small plastic ring inside it towards the top of it. The only papers the shocks come with mention that it should nit be used more than once. So I figure once it tightens it starts to set grooves in the plastic and down it goes. But, it won't seem to break the plastic. It just keeps spinning and won't go any further down the rod. What am I missing here?

Thanks,
B-L88

Rowdy Rat

The torque figure that is given for the lower bolts (front shock) is in LBS IN, not lbs ft... 120-180 lbs in works out to about 10-15 lbs ft. I'm guessing that the reason that the nut feels like it is spinning is because it probably is. The retaining nuts welded to the top of the lower control arm are only spotwelded. If you put 150 lbs ft of torque to the bolts it is quite possible that those spotwelds were broken and there is nothing to prevent the nut from spinning when torque is applied.

It sounds like what you have is some type of nylon insert retainer. The nylon ring serves the purpose you mention - it is a self locking device for the nut. While the nut doesn't loosen up as you tighten it, the nylon is displaced. Repeated use of a nylon insert nut may compromise the locking feature... Which is why the instructions tell you "one and done"... :)

Regards,

BAD-L88

Thanks Stan