Rear Shock Question - Gap Too Large?
 

I have had a clunk in my rear suspension and noticed I was getting a slight creak when I slowly raised the trailing arm with a floor jack. It disappeared when I disconnected the shock. I also noticed that prior to removing the shock mounting bolt and portion of shaft that protrudes into the engine compartment seemed to be raising quite a bit (1/4") to when I would slightly jack the trailing arm.

I pulled the shock out and the thing that seems odd to me is that when I assemble the rubber bushings and washers, that there is a good 1/8" gap because of the metal sleeve that fits between the upper washer and shock cover.

Is this correct? Seems as though you should the bushings should sandwich together to pinch the body, but I doubt

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1361634103.jpghttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1361634196.jpg

How old and hard are the rubber bushings?
They look flat to me.

The bottom one is definitely compressed compared to the top. However, I sent them to Bilstein last winter to be rebuilt, so they were new last year. They can't have more than a few thousand miles on them.

I just installed the same shocks last weekend and the bushings were much thicker than yours
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1361635436.jpg

If you cannot get new bushings I suspect you could cut a little bit of the tube that goes inside the bushes to compensate for the rubber compression.

Pelican Parts - Product Information: 911-333-521-00-OEM

These look a lot thicker.

How long did it take you to train that albino chimpanzee to hold the parts for you? :p

Nice contribution... :rolleyes:

Thanks Gilles, I suppose cutting the tube is a possibility. The shock has to be the source of my clunk. I re-installed the shock at the bottom, then set the washer on the top. The shock shaft prevents the washer from going down further, so this means that the top of the shaft never has a tight grip on the body. And in a tight turn when there is weight transfer and my clunk was occurring, I can see the top of the shaft bumping the shock tower.

I just ordered 4 new Porsche bushings from our host. They appear thicker in the photos than those that Bilstein sent, but pictures can be deceiving.

I thought I was getting a deal having my shocks rebuilt. However, $65 each plus shipping both ways and now $15 for correct shock mount bushings. I'm sure I have $100 invested in each shock. My recommendation to anyone is unless you are doing custom valving....buy new.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1361636687.jpg

Wow.

Does life *really* need to be so damn serious all the time? Or is it particular to this forum that some folks are humor-impaired?

Siber I can't agree with you more, I laughed my ass off
Ernie 81sc

First, don't cut the tube, it's not the problem.
Second, Any time I've had my shocks revalved Bilstein never replaces the "external" pieces like your rubber bushings, just the internals. So I suspect you got back exactly what you sent them.

You did the right thing ordering new bushings from our host. Could you have bought new shocks? Sure. Most of us use Bilsteins services when revalving shocks and at $65 each to revalve and essentially rebuild, so that's a real bargain.

I bet your new bushings cure the problem

That is good info. As I never had my Bilstein rebuilt I didn't know that.

custom valving should give different jounce & rebound than the off the shelf parts have

those look much older. than a couple years. when did the noise start? do the shock bodies show signs of rubbing?

I don't know if it applies but I just had to change the Bilstein shocks on my truck after one year because the rubber bushings comepletely turned to junk. They warrantied them but I don't have high hopes for the replacements. Everything is crap today

Not long, about the same amount of time it took him to learn to recognize a 'dick head' when he sees one. :D
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Chuck - The bottom one was compressed, but the top one is the original shape and size when I installed it. You probably don't remember, but you gave me some help on this forum last February when I asked a question about trailing arm bushings that I purchased from you. The shocks were installed as part of that project.

There wasn't excessive rubbing on the shock bodies, but since they were used it was a little hard to tell. Anyway, the noise was a "clunk" during hard cornering, not a constant rub.

Thanks for everyone's help and comment.

OK, the first comment made me LOL, but that reply is outstanding. [bows to Greg]

Ha! :D