Front upper shock mount damage?

I recently installed Bilstein 5100s all around. Went to re-check tightness on all the bolts today and noticed something weird.

On the front upper shock mount there are three studs. On the passenger side they are all fairly easy to get to with a socket/rachet. On the driver's side the inner-most stud/nut is much tighter in under the body at that point.

Seems odd that they would be different side-to-side, but if I remember correctly that whole thing is welded onto the frame pretty solidly... it seems like it would take quite a hit to bend the driver's side up? Or are they just not symmetrical side-to-side?

 

It's normal. That one needs a box end wrench to get to.

 

Well that's a relief. Thanks for indulging my paranoia!

...do they make torque box wrenches? How is one supposed to set the proper torque (47 lbs, according to my Haynes manual, in case anyone is curious) if we can't reach it? (I'm just whinging, I'm not actually asking / worried.)

 

You can get a crows foot adapter or just tighten it up and call it good.

 

Crows foot works but theres math involved. Since it extends the length of the wrench, if you set your wrench to 45ftlbs you might end up closer to 50ftlbs. Whenever I take my stuff off I just use a box end and get it about as tight as my wrist (not arm) can get it. The other bolts a torque wrench will fit.

Once the shock is fully bolted in those bolts only hold it in place from moving side to side. The weight of the vehicle and tension of the spring will hold the shock in, so the torque of those bolts needs to be just enough that they don't fall out. Thanks to gravity it's unlikely.

 

Trying to go from memory, is it a 14mm? I'll have to see if I have a box wrench in that size.

While we're on the subject, what's a tool that will make the rear faster? I've heard guys can do these in 30 minutes a side. The last time I did it took me 2 hours a side. As I was trying to tighten the top nut, the shock was spinning. I've got to get better tools before I start on this.

@NomadicFrog I'm glad you asked this question as I was about to do the same. I've been doing "dry runs" as I prepare to install these ICON's and my torque wrench won't even come close to fitting on that back stud.

 

I think it is a 14. For the rear, Bilstein and most aftermarket shocks will have an allen slot in the end of the shaft so you can use a box wrench on the nut and prevent the shaft from spinning. Original Toyota shocks don't have this, you have to go into desperate actions.

For removal I have seen guys cut the shaft. Some guys rip the boot off and put big vise grips on the shaft. I tried that but couldn't get enough grip, so I used a grinder to make a flat spot on the shaft and put my vise grips on that. Spray those nuts with penetrating fluid for a few days prior to removal.

 

Thanks. The 4600's have only been on the rear for about 8 months so they should come off easily.

 

Yeah hopefully you'll be good then. I remember going to do mine thinking it would be cake compared to the front, don't even need to jack the vehicle up.


I think the first one took an hour, second one like 15 minutes.

 

Yep, 14mm.

^^^All of this! Fortunately I had the help of another first-genner who had been through this.

I had the perhaps dumb idea to try and sell the shocks, since they didn't have too many miles on them. So we tried, at first, to vise-grip the flat top of the shock shaft, but two obvious issues: it's a PITA, and at some point the nut will need to get past the vise-grips, and it still wasn't free spinning enough to do by hand without holding the shaft.

We tried to put the vise-grips on the shaft with the boot in place, but that didn't work, so we finally just cut the boot off and grabbed the shaft that way. Hey, get your mind out of the gutter!

Doing that was still slippery - I only had a dinky pair of vise-grips -and my friend would have just cut the shaft if we'd had an angle grinder with us. Anyhow, using large vise-grips on the shaft, even with the boot in place, should get 'er done.

Those were stock TRD Bilsteins (yellow with blue boot). The Bilstein 5100s I replaced them with had a nice convenient hex socket in the top for an allen wrench. Not sure why the engineers that designed the 5100s couldn't walk across the hall and tell the other engineers "Ach, dumkopf, make easy way for dumb Americans to remove shock, ja?" (Come to think of it, why were Japanese trucks using German shocks...hmm...)

Definitely get PB Blaster on the nuts a couple times in the days/weeks before the job. My friend told me to do that, too, but since I wasn't sure what nuts were what before I got in there, I didn't get them all and he cursed me the whole time we did the job.

PS: anyone want to buy a set of stock TRD shocks? The rears are bootless, and the shafts might have vise-grip marks on them. All four have about 22K miles on them.

 

Good to hear. I briefly thought about some ghetto-rigged extension on the torque wrench, but knew that would throw off the accuracy. I didn't know about crows feet, though, and that seems like the impact would be minimal, but your second paragraph is what I was going to be happy living with: I tightened 5 out of 6 to the correct torque, and got that sixth one "about the same", knowing a) it's probably just fine, and b) the shock isn't going anywhere for the reasons you mentioned. It's hard for me to let it go, but I guess I can't control everything. :-D

 

On the rear, I use a flex head ratcheting box wrench. For removal, I use a vice grip on the shaft of the old shock. I live in So Cal, so rust is not an issue.

https://www.sears.com/craftsman-7-p...MI17Wv-4vp4QIVAhx9Ch0xdAgcEAQYASABEgKOr_D_BwE

 

This cracks me up. You So Cal guys love mentioning this. It's almost like a badge of honor. "Rust? What is this rust you speak of?"

The rest of us are jealous!

 

BTW, can you try that link again. It's just taking me to their home page.

 

if ya run the crow foot off the side of the torque wrench ie 90 degree angle it will not affect the torque value because you are not extending the length of the torque wrench

 

Here is another idea for leveraging a tight nut. Use an articulating ratcheting wrench of your size choice and wrap a 1” pipe around it.

Used this for disassembling the propellor shaft.