#223FHawk

I changed my shocks in two stages bilstein hd's, I did the back first and it was simple. Drove the car for a couple of day and the rear was fine. Rented sprigcomp. from the zone and cahnged the front. Test drove the car and when going over bump the front end souded like it was about to fall out?? I am a novice at working on cars but I follow directions well and can't affor to take it to the shop for over $60 and hr.. Are the upper control arms suppose to be level with the strut mount when installing? Everything is tight and torqued to specs.

The shock top nut is screwed down with about 5 threads showing, hard to torque this nut without the shaft turning. Has new tie rods inner/outter. Would the sway bar ends cause a loud thunk? I haven't replaced the bushings there yet but they look more than 50%. What the crap is going on?

Blackpanther99

iTrader: (8)

Are they adjustable shocks?

ritchie1791

get a hex key to turn the nut. if you notice the top of the shock has a hex key fitting. its so you don't turn it. Turning it may cause the shock to fail on you or not work properly.

#223FHawk

They are not adjustable.

#223FHawk

by doing this , which I did its hard to torque. I just played by touch when I tightened this nut. Thanks though

bulletz28

iTrader: (6)

That nut need be tightened more.

metalmilitia606

iTrader: (8)

Yep. Make sure you compress the springs as much as you can when you tighten to get the nut tight. If it's not tight it will clunk like yours does.

sscamaroburn02

iTrader: (14)

hard to explain but make sure the spring is compressed enough so the upper mount sit directly on top and there is no gap in between. When there is no gap then tighten that nut on top. I would bet this is why you are hearing a clunk sound.

#223FHawk

Thanks for the input, One last question before I venture off and try to repair the issue. How far down would that top nut be approximately before its right? I have the torque specs of 54 ft lb for a M14 thread or 83 ft lb for a M 16 thread. I think it's 14 but once I take it back apart I will verify then. Right now there is about 5 threads exposed, I know when I removed the old shocks there wasn't this much that potruded from the top of the nut. What a pain this has become.

sscamaroburn02

iTrader: (14)

I didn't even torque mine to spec. I just got it down as tight as possible by hand and made sure that there wasn't a gap like i mentioned earlier. Almost 2.5 years and everything is still tight on the suspension.

VinR1

iTrader: (17)

Dumb question, did you remember the dogbone/spacer piece that goes inside the upper mount?

pjb

iTrader: (2)

sounds like you didn't compress the springs when you tightened the top nut. It's a common mistake for people who don't know better. Plenty of install threads on here that detail that step. You have to take it apart and do it right this time. You can't expect to get enough torque on the top nut to compress the spring for you.

#223FHawk

I just said f....it and am redoing the whole shabang, just ordered the energy suspension bushing kit, just in case, new boot covers, and the bearing spacer for the shock mount, just installed new inner/outer tie rods. The Bilstein instructions have the torque specs but not complete directions of how to install for dummies. I'm parking the car till after the New Year and will take it on afterwards, I'll let you know what I learned, especially what not to do..

pjb

iTrader: (2)

you cannot try to torque the top nut without the springs being compressed. Take it apart, put spring compresser on springs, tighten the top nut all the way down, put it back together. you will be done, with no clunking noise.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Many people don't follow the best instructions in the world.... This is a very common mistake, and for those that work on cars (and they assume that these things are installed by folks that do that all the time) you'd think this would not be a problem--but it often is because even a lot of "professionals" don't use their heads or pay attention. If you got caught by it, at least there is a good reason...

pjb is right on, take it out, compress the spring so the shock mount sits all the way down on the shock itself, tighten the nut and then put it in the car. You are going to run around in circles with this other stuff...and urethane isn't smart in the front lower control arm.. you'll make a whole new issue and that has nothing to do with this one.