Upper shock bushing

[MSGia]

Good evening all. I am doing some car audio work under the hood, I was looking at my suspension and I noticed that my upper shock bushings on both sides are not squished/compressed and can freely spin. The car is on the ground. Also noticing the shock bushings has a gap with the hole in the frame. Is this normal? This is a QA1 coilover, not seperate spring and shock.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I've never seen or heard of a shock bushing that shouldn't be squished to capture the stationary mounting point.

 

[MSGia]

It was squished in the air when I installed it. I have also been trying to find the source of a small squeak, I tore apart the sway bar bushings, wiped off the red grease and replaced with silicone, but it was still happening. Could it be the shock stem rubbing the frame?

 

[Uncle Gump]

It was squished in the air when I installed it. I have also been trying to find the source of a small squeak, I tore apart the sway bar bushings, wiped off the red grease and replaced with silicone, but it was still happening. Could it be the shock stem rubbing the frame?

Here is a tip from ol gump. All suspension fasteners including shocks need to be tightened with the suspension loaded with the vehicle.

It makes perfect sense to me that your squeak is likely coming from that shock. Retighten the other side to... with suspension loaded.

 

[Curious Hound]

I agree with Gump. All final tightening/torqueing of suspension components should be with the vehicle weight resting on the ground through the suspension.

 

[MSGia]

Here is a tip from ol gump. All suspension fasteners including shocks need to be tightened with the suspension loaded with the vehicle.

It makes perfect sense to me that your squeak is likely coming from that shock. Retighten the other side to... with suspension loaded.

Damn, I forgot about that. Good thing the shock bolts can be reached from the engine bay because not much is getting under my truck .

 

[MSGia]

Here is the new question, if I torque it down loaded, will it still clunk/squeak? Here’s a picture of it with no bushing. If I torque the shock bolt down it will still be resting on the frame.

Here is a tip from ol gump. All suspension fasteners including shocks need to be tightened with the suspension loaded with the vehicle.

It makes perfect sense to me that your squeak is likely coming from that shock. Retighten the other side to... with suspension loaded.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Push the shock over until the stem is centered in the hole. Install the bushing and washer... then torque it down while centered.

 

[Uncle Gump]

It may help if you also loosen the bottom of the shock... to get it more freedom of movement.

 

[MSGia]

I changed the rebound setting on the coilover to try and push it down a hair. It will not move at all. The shock stem will rotate in place, but it won’t move forward. I have a problem now… I removed the upper shock hardware and lifted up the car with a jack, the shock stem is in the center of the hole (you can’t see it in this picture) but it is under the hole in the frame. When I lower it with the jack, it won’t go through the frame, even crooked.

 

[MSGia]

Better picture.

 

[Curious Hound]

Try slipping g a deep socket or piece of small pipe through the hole and over the shock stem to act as a guide while you lower the vehicle.

 

[MSGia]

Thanks. I lifted the front suspension a few jack pumps and I’m noticing that the shock is basically at full squish and is not rebounding up. Hope this picture shows it. If the shock moved up it would be centered.

 

[MSGia]

Got it. I ended up finding the answer on a ranger drift Facebook. I needed to replace the upper bushing with a Poly sway bar bushing. Hopefully the notch left in the frame won’t eat away at the bushing. Glad I found it after 50 miles and not 500 lol.