Rusty's rear shock torque question - ratlling

BigSlim · **Joined:** Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:41 am **Posts:** 2

Just installed Rusty's complete kit on my 06. Everything went well with perhaps one exception. Not only am I not thrilled with sticking washers on each side of the upper rear shock mounts, they don't seem to torque down well. When I put a torque wrench on them set at 80 ft.-lbs., they get to a point that they don't feel as if they are tightening any more. Experience says this is either because the nut is being stripped (which is very bad since it is part of the body) or I have reached a point at which I'm crusing the spacer between the washers at a torque less than the 80 ft.-lbs. specified. I'm not thrilled with that prospect either, as it seems that would also deform the mounting space and make it difficult to replace them with a properly fitted shock.
I'd love to hear from those of you who have some experience in this area. Tighten them to 80 ft-lbs. with no fear of stripping the nut? Don't worry about tightening the mounting space? Tighten as tight as I dare and check frequently until I get tired enough of that process to replace them with a properly fitted shock?
Thanks for any and all advice as a result of your own experience.

elephantrider · **Posted:** Sun Jan 14, 2007 4:15 pm

do yourself a favor. throw the rustys shocks away and replace them with the ranchos.
85% of the rustys owners have not been able to correct the banging / rattling / loose as a goose sound that the rustys shocks make. one of mine blew and one was leaking ridiculously at 10K miles ( not counting the noises they made ) . i tried everything i could think of to fix it. i had it quieted down three or four times, only for the rattling to come back shortly after.

there are some guys on the board here that have had no issues with their rustys.

if you are already having shock gremlins, get the ranchos asap from 4wheelparts.com.
they have the cheapest price on em'.

jdumont · **Posted:** Sun Jan 14, 2007 4:51 pm

What is the part number for the Rancho shocks? I was supposed to do my rustys coil lift today but its raining and ross out. Maybe ill get them in prep for next weekends try at it....

NomadKJ · **Posted:** Sun Jan 14, 2007 5:06 pm

jdumont wrote:

What is the part number for the Rancho shocks? I was supposed to do my rustys coil lift today but its raining and ross out. Maybe ill get them in prep for next weekends try at it....

Rancho RSX Rear Shock P/N: 17004

adamkrz · **Posted:** Sun Jan 14, 2007 5:36 pm

I picked up 2 from Amazon.com for 111.00 shipped,Arrived in 3 days.Still waiting for my rusty's though.

USPLibby · **Joined:** Thu Jul 28, 2005 12:29 am **Posts:** 377

If you still have your original shocks, try to cut/dig out the original bushings and reuse them, they are the correct width. Otherwise, aftermarkets like Rancho or OME come with a heavier and wider bushing.

This is what happened to the thin Monroe bushings from Rusty's when I used the washers. As you can see they just crush in from re-torquing. :cry:

elephantrider · **Posted:** Sun Jan 14, 2007 6:19 pm

you can also file the bushing down on the ranchos. i had to get a flat file and take some metal off of each side and i still had to spread the mounting bracket open a bit to make it fit, but it sure fits tight, and makes absolutely no noise.

either way, your better off with the ranchos.

jdumont · **Posted:** Sun Jan 14, 2007 7:17 pm

So what is the actual failure mode of the rear Rustys shock? Is it the rubber bushing or the metal insert? I have access to a machine shop at work so I can make new inserts of stainless or tool steel if necessary....

LiLredLibby · **Posted:** Sun Jan 14, 2007 11:27 pm

jdumont wrote:

So what is the actual failure mode of the rear Rustys shock? Is it the rubber bushing or the metal insert? I have access to a machine shop at work so I can make new inserts of stainless or tool steel if necessary....

I think you just figured it out for yourself. In my experence with the Rustys rear shock It's a new sleeve with the correct size inside diamater that solved my problem.The upper bolt is a 10 mm and the sleeve in the top bushing is almost 12 mm. No matter how much you crush your mounting bracket that bolt is going to jump up and down in that upper bushing sleeve.Theres a post on here somewhere that someone found for proper size sleeves for sale,can't remember where?

jdumont · **Posted:** Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:28 am

Sweet, ill search around for the post... Let me know if you can find it.
All I need is a good accurate measurement on that bolt correct? Thanks a lot for the help!

Rusty's rear shock torque question - ratlling

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