shock pin/bolt resting on axle case!?

[manic]

The damper/springs were put on by a mech in the UK last year and I didnt spot it till it got over here (see image). Its the same on both sides of the front axle.

Is it a serious issue that the bolt appears to touch the axle casing? Theres no adjustment to be made right - so how can it be that these terrafirma 'shock pins' are too long when they are made for defenders? Any ideas?

[Jock The Rock]

Not sure it's too bad

If you're concerned you could undo the nut, pull the shock out of the bottom mount, pull all the rubbers off and put a nice thick washer or two in between the very bottom of the shocky and the large metal washer that fits on top of the top rubber

Hope thats makes sense

This will effectively shorten the bolt on the bottom of the shocky

[manic]

yeah i suppose spacer washers would do it - thanks.

If you have bushes seperating the damper from direct hard contact with the chassis and axle, having the pin rest on the axle has gotta be a bad thing.

Anyone else have pins resting v.close to resting on the axle?

Its a terrafirma +2 shock and +2 spring... Front and rear shocks are the same right, they cant be the wrong way round.

The rover has a slight lean to the drivers side so maybe I'll have a go at moving the springs around to see if I can get it sitting a bit better and at the same time put on some extra washers under the shocks to get those pins off the casing.

[justinc]

EVERY time I fit Terrafirma shocks they are able to be overtightened to that amount. They have a long thread which doesn't automatically mean you SHOULD tighten it up all the way. I would back off the nut a bit.

JC

[centy]

is there a rubber under those springs?
yes it looks to be overtightened.
you want to compress the rubbers a little but not a lot.
they are meant to allow the shock to rock a bit as the axle twists.
nolothane would be a perfect example, if they are overtightened they split and spit out the side.

[steveG]

Is there a general rule of thumb as to how much to tighten them?

I finally fitted my DeCarbon shocks on the weekend and tightened them until the nuts bottomed out then backed off a bit. Thinking now that maybe that's not right.

Steve

[justinc]

Is there a general rule of thumb as to how much to tighten them?

I finally fitted my DeCarbon shocks on the weekend and tightened them until the nuts bottomed out then backed off a bit. Thinking now that maybe that's not right.

Steve

No with DeCarbons they can be tightened up as the shoulder on the pin is lower than the Terrafirma ones.
You can at least use the second locknut on the DeCarbons to set the 'crush' on the bushes. Great shocks aren't they Steve!?


JC

[manic]

yeah I did think that the bushes looked slim...

i'll try loosening the nut to clear it off the axle housing.. I just hope that it will remain tight enough after having been wound up like it is for so long, perhaps some locktite to be sure.

[steveG]

No with DeCarbons they can be tightened up as the shoulder on the pin is lower than the Terrafirma ones.
You can at least use the second locknut on the DeCarbons to set the 'crush' on the bushes. Great shocks aren't they Steve!?


JC

Thanks Justin.
I've only done about 200km's on them so far, and all on the highway so haven't really had a chance to test them much. The couple of speed humps (they're just inverted washouts aren't they ) and driveways that I've thrown them over felt pretty good though....
Hopping out of the County and straight into my daughter's Triton tonight made me realise just how nice the County is.
I actually found the DeCarbons to be a bit of a bugger to fit. They're so gassed up that I couldn't compress them into place by hand like I could with the OME's that came off. Ended up using the plastic packing straps to hold them compressed while I got them in place then cut the straps off.

Steve

[justinc]

Thanks Justin.
I've only done about 200km's on them so far, and all on the highway so haven't really had a chance to test them much. The couple of speed humps (they're just inverted washouts aren't they ) and driveways that I've thrown them over felt pretty good though....
Hopping out of the County and straight into my daughter's Triton tonight made me realise just how nice the County is.
I actually found the DeCarbons to be a bit of a bugger to fit. They're so gassed up that I couldn't compress them into place by hand like I could with the OME's that came off. Ended up using the plastic packing straps to hold them compressed while I got them in place then cut the straps off.

Steve

Thats probably because the OME shocks had no gas left in them...

Yes they are a bit of a struggle without the suspension on full droop.

I have also found they get a little 'softer' in compression damping after about 10,000km and stay like that forever more. I have a set on the front of my 110 that I transferred over from the Rangie and are now almost 8 years old. Still good, no loss of gas pressure and no leaks. They've seen some pretty average parts of Australia too with a 4BD1 over the top of them I only replaced the rears on the 110 because I went from +2" back to standard length, the +2" DeCarbons are now under a 120 Isuzu ute, they also have almost 8 years up and are still managing to control 2.8 Tons worth of camper body and 120 ute OK. As I said, excellent quality shocks IME.

JC