S197 Rear Shock bushing question.

[chickenstrip]

Hey all, this is my first post to TMO, I’ve been lurking for the past year or so learning a lot thanks to all the great threads posted and seeing what you all have been up to on your cars. I recently installed coilovers on my ‘14 and over some time shredded my rear upper shock bushings most likely due to me over tightening the nut. I have replacements here but i’m unsure how tight I should make the nut and wanted to see what you guys say. I keep seeing multiple sources say to tighten it until the bushing slightly bulges bigger than the washer, but this bushing is already a bit bigger as well as being a more conical kind of shape. Any second opinions are greatly appreciated and sorry if I posted incorrectly or anything like that.

 

[mwjscn]

Welcome! Ford Service Manual has a torque rating of 30 lb-ft for the top rear shock nut.

 

[chickenstrip]

Welcome! Ford Service Manual has a torque rating of 30 lb-ft for the top rear shock nut.

View attachment 84432

Very useful info, I tried using a torque wrench on it when I first installed them but then found out you have to try to stop the shock shaft from spinning. After many unsuccessful attempts at this I decided to try to use an impact gun as “lightly” as I could manage. Safe to say after a while the bushings came apart lol. This time around I found that the only way I could tighten it without an impact is with an Allen key and a wrench, so I did that. I snugged it then gave it about a little over a quarter turn but I’m not so sure that was the right way.

 

[mwjscn]

If you have the hand feel for the torque value, you're fine. If you want to get technical, you can use the allen key to hold the shaft and a torque wrench with a crows foot. Just make sure to either have the crows foot attachment at 90 degrees either direction so the length of your lever is the same as to not throw off the torque value or recalculate the correct torque value with the below calculator.

How to Use a Torque Wrench with a Crowfoot Wrench | TEKTON

Learn how to accurately use a torque wrench with a crowfoot wrench to measure torque. Use the included Torque Conversion Calculator.

www.tekton.com

 

[blacksheep-1]

Put a nut in a vice Trque it to 30lbs so you get the feel of it. Then do it for real. Truthfully, I've always run them down with a 3/8 impact until the bushing bulged a bit, and called it a day.
By allowing the shock body to spin, you can damage the shock, most shocks have a 5/16 hex on the stud so you can hold them with a wrench, and tighten the nut with a box end.

 

[chickenstrip]

If you have the hand feel for the torque value, you're fine. If you want to get technical, you can use the allen key to hold the shaft and a torque wrench with a crows foot. Just make sure to either have the crows foot attachment at 90 degrees either direction so the length of your lever is the same as to not throw off the torque value or recalculate the correct torque value with the below calculator.

How to Use a Torque Wrench with a Crowfoot Wrench | TEKTON

Learn how to accurately use a torque wrench with a crowfoot wrench to measure torque. Use the included Torque Conversion Calculator.

www.tekton.com

After finding I didn’t have any of these crows foots I went out and bought a set, torquing the nuts down was easy after that. Hopefully this time the bushings don’t shred, thanks a ton for the help!

 

[chickenstrip]

Put a nut in a vice Trque it to 30lbs so you get the feel of it. Then do it for real. Truthfully, I've always run them down with a 3/8 impact until the bushing bulged a bit, and called it a day.
By allowing the shock body to spin, you can damage the shock, most shocks have a 5/16 hex on the stud so you can hold them with a wrench, and tighten the nut with a box end.

Very interesting way to practice that, will definitely give it a try. I was seeing a lot of coilovers that had that, unfortunately mine were part of the few that didn’t lol. I tried not to use the impact but ended up doing it anyways very slowly, the shocks aren’t leaking or anything like that thankfully.

 

[EF1]

Sometimes it helps to add a second nut on top as a lock to keep them from loosening up.

 

[chickenstrip]

Sometimes it helps to add a second nut on top as a lock to keep them from loosening up.

Ah I hadn't thought of that, will definitely keep that in mind. IIRC the nut is one of those nylon insert ones so I'm not too too worried about it, Ill be keeping a close eye on it over the next week to be sure its not loosening though.

 

[Dave_W]

I'd think the old bushings getting shredded may be more likely from too little torque than not enough. If the top nut wasn't snugged down enough, the bushings could get pounded from road bumps. When you got the crows foot and torqued the nuts, did they need much more tightening from where you first had them on feel / guesstimate?

 

[chickenstrip]

I'd think the old bushings getting shredded may be more likely from too little torque than not enough. If the top nut wasn't snugged down enough, the bushings could get pounded from road bumps. When you got the crows foot and torqued the nuts, did they need much more tightening from where you first had them on feel / guesstimate?

After about a month of driving and checking them, I think I’ve come to this conclusion too. I can’t remember if they could be tightened more or not, but what I do remember is thinking 30ft/lb didn’t feel like a whole lot for this fastener. I recently checked them and found rubber around the bushing again, I just haven’t had the chance to take them off and check the bushings thoroughly. Im definitely going to try a higher torque spec, question is how high should I go?