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Rear shock absorbers
Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2023 10:30 pm
by Ingles49
I am renewing the oil in the rear shocks, but unfortunately I cannot get the nearside shock off. Ive removed the wheel and then the two bolts that connect the shock to the mounting bracket. Ive also removed the nut that secures the lever arm to the link, but the lever arm wont slide off the link. Ive pushed, pulled, twisted but it wont budge by one millimetre. Am I missing something, shouldnt the shock just slide off the link.
Re: Rear shock absorbers
Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2023 10:58 pm
by svenedin
No unfortunately the damper lever arm will not just slide of the drop link, the joint is tapered. You need to either use a puller of some kind (ball joint puller) or disconnect the drop link from the chassis and remove the damper with the drop link attached. The top of the drop link is secured with a castle nut and split pin. It is very tricky to get a new split pin in but you can use a nyloc nut instead which is far easier. The nyloc is 3/8" BSF. It is a very good opportunity to check the bushes in the drop link and replace if necessary.
Stephen
Re: Rear shock absorbers
Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2023 11:43 pm
by Ingles49
Thanks Stephen I'll remove the whole link once I've got a nyloc
Re: Rear shock absorbers
Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 10:57 am
by oliver90owner
Do remember that nyloc nuts are, technically, single use items - although many do remove and replace with no thought of the reduced captivity. Castle nutx do not fall into that category.
Re: Rear shock absorbers
Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 11:03 am
by svenedin
oliver90owner wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2023 10:57 am
Do remember that nyloc nuts are, technically, single use items - although many do remove and replace with no thought of the reduced captivity. Castle nutx do not fall into that category.
Absolutely but split pins are also single use items and some people foolishly reuse those too!
Re: Rear shock absorbers
Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 12:02 pm
by geoberni
svenedin wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2023 11:03 am
Absolutely but split pins are also single use items and some people foolishly reuse those too!
It depends entirely on the circumstances including the material of the split pin and how it's been used.
Would I reuse one like the image on the left, yes, because it's subject to no real loading it and barely doing anything.
Would I reuse the one on the right, no, it's been heavily deformed.
- Split Pin.JPG (31.97 KiB) Viewed 1101 times
.
A split pin can be a simple retainer, such as on the left, or a safety device as on the right. It's important to understand the difference.
Incidentally, what is a 'Split Pin' in British English is a 'Cotter Pin' in American.
A British 'Cotter Pin' is just a 'Cotter' in American
oliver90owner wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2023 10:57 am
Do remember that nyloc nuts are, technically, single use items - although many do remove and replace with no thought of the reduced captivity. Castle nutx do not fall into that category.
Actually, they are often reused, even in the aviation industry, especially when they are used with a torque tool to ensure they are still working.
If you look up the different standards/design specs, they can often intended for up to a minimum of 15 reuses.
Re: Rear shock absorbers
Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 12:18 pm
by svenedin
geoberni wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2023 12:02 pm
svenedin wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2023 11:03 am
Absolutely but split pins are also single use items and some people foolishly reuse those too!
It depends entirely on the circumstances including the material of the split pin and how it's been used.
Would I reuse one like the image on the left, yes, because it's subject to no real loading it and barely doing anything.
Would I reuse the one on the right, no, it's been heavily deformed.
Split Pin.JPG
.
A split pin can be a simple retainer, such as on the left, or a safety device as on the right. It's important to understand the difference.
Incidentally, what is a 'Split Pin' in British English is a 'Cotter Pin' in American.
A British 'Cotter Pin' is just a 'Cotter' in American
oliver90owner wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2023 10:57 am
Do remember that nyloc nuts are, technically, single use items - although many do remove and replace with no thought of the reduced captivity. Castle nutx do not fall into that category.
Actually, they are often reused, even in the aviation industry, especially when they are used with a torque tool to ensure they are still working.
If you look up the different standards/design specs, they can often intended for up to a minimum of 15 reuses.
Yes fair enough but we are talking about a split pin being used to retain a castle nut. Surely they are usually too deformed to be re-used in the instance?
Re: Rear shock absorbers
Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 12:51 pm
by geoberni
svenedin wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2023 12:18 pm
Yes fair enough but we are talking about a split pin being used to retain a castle nut. Surely they are usually too deformed to be re-used in the instance?
Yes, I agree with that, as I hoped I'd illustrated in my reply, it depends on the circumstances.
Re: Rear shock absorbers
Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 1:34 pm
by Bill_qaz
"Incidentally, what is a 'Split Pin' in British English is a 'Cotter Pin' in American.
A British 'Cotter Pin' is just a 'Cotter' in American"
Surely it's a split cotter pin in English were the split pin abbreviation came from,
as a cotter pin is solid
We could have a comparison of terms Berni from Aviation to Automotive
Re: Rear shock absorbers
Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 1:47 pm
by myoldjalopy
Ingles49 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 17, 2023 11:43 pm
Thanks Stephen I'll remove the whole link once I've got a nyloc
Check the link as well, the rubber on that may have deteriorated as well as the bushes.....
Re: Rear shock absorbers
Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 1:54 pm
by svenedin
myoldjalopy wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2023 1:47 pm
Ingles49 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 17, 2023 11:43 pm
Thanks Stephen I'll remove the whole link once I've got a nyloc
Check the link as well, the rubber on that may have deteriorated as well as the bushes.....
Yes it had on mine
