Did I tighten the top bolt too tight? There is about 3/8 to 1/2" of post above the nut. Is it going to hurt anything?

And, can anyone give me the torque specs for the rear top and bottom bolts? Thanks

By the way, I installed Bilstein 5100s and wow what a difference. No more bouncing around in the seat. She is planted now and handles rough roads nicely. Only 40k miles on her.

Tip: For the front tops, if you can get the old top bolt off, with air, etc., and the bushing and plate, then take the tower off quickly and set it aside inside the compartment, the shock will come right out without having to fanagle the tower out still attached.

Before putting the new one in, compress the shock on your work bench, take the strap off, slip the bottom bushing and plate on, compress and put the strap back on. Slide the new ones in, partially bolt the tower on, may have to compress the shock a bit but a HECK of a lot easier than from full extension, cut the strap and yank it out. Then tighten tower the rest of the way. I guess I could have tightened the tower all of the way first, but thought it would be easier to get the strap out first.

 

Nah, you're fine, you want those bushings squeezed a little bit, I think I had 1/4"-1/2" showing on mine when I installed the Bilsteins with my lift on my old truck....

 

You need the nut tightened just enough to give good compressino of the bushings, but not so tight that you remove the compliance. You should get a little bit of a bulge on the sides of the donut, more with rubber than poly. And the top and bottom donuts/bushings should look pretty much the same.

THere's no real torque spec specs for the rear shocks. They're in double shear, and not tension, to retain the shock. You could use a drift pin as long as it doesn't fall out. Make it tight enough so it doesn't come loose.

 

Just put new 5100's on my truck. OEM shocks were still good (only 30k on them) to my surprise. Thought for sure they were blown the way teh truck bounced. New shocks have improved the ride/bouncing somewhat.
I tightened the front top shock bolts until the rubber bushings just bulged past the washer(s).

 

Hey EPCO, you get the silver/blacks or the blue/yellows? Did not see a spacer in the sigs, just curious.

 

Thanks guys.

silver/blacks