Gland nut was loose-tightened-noise is gone

[madkaw]

I have been dealing with a clunking noise in the rear for a while, not to be confused with a diff clunking noise.

I have been doing a lot of searching and I kept coming back to the strut loose, so I took it all apart today. Looking at the gland nut it looked like it was seated well, but when I grabbed it ,I could turn it by hand:ermm:

Well I knew I found my issue, but why was it loose?

After taking out the shock, I screwed the gland nut down on the empty strut I could see that the nut was running out of thread. So I popped in a washer to space it out and bingo, the gland nut is actually doing it's job now. No more clunking over bumps:)

[Carl Beck]

GOOD TIP - When the Gland Nut is tightened down properly on the shock - you should have about 1/8" gap between the gland nut and the strut tube. Some manufacturers send new Gland Nuts with the shocks - that are thicker/thinner depending on the total lenght of the shock tube - but many times people use the old gland nuts not realizing that there is a difference. Some manufacturers send a washer..but are not clear in their instructions about the washers use or purpose.. So some people leave them out... If you run out of threads, or if the gland nut screws down to the top of the strut tube -something is not right...

FWIW,

Carl B.

[madkaw]

Well the only way I realized something waas wrong was trying the gland nut without the shock in there. I mean it wasn't much , But the nut just stop turning in and around that 1/8" gap you are talking about. It may be better advice to say that you can see atleast one or two threads. One washer and I saw atleast two threads. I can't remember now whether I used the nuts that came with the shocks, or the originals. Also, I didn't have any packing for the nut, which might make a difference. I honestly don't know what the packing even looks like, but I wish I had something to seal the shock in there.

[tlorber]

Good topic gents. I have a clunk which I know is not coming from the diff, and I suspect it is from within the shock housing. I'll have to check whether I have threads showing or not. Just to clarify here though, it seems as if the gland nut should screw all the way down with no shock in place, but have a couple threads showing when the shock IS in in place. Is that correct?

Do you happen to know the inner and outer diameters of the washers?

Thx.

[madkaw]

Let me restate that when I originally looked at the gland nut-when I first started taking it apart-I noticed how far it down in the strut tube. After removing the shock I screwed the gland nut back down and it bottomed out on the threads in the same place. That tells me that I can't be sure if the gland nut is actually touching the shock, too close to be sure. So a spacer makes sure -by showing some threads after tightening down the gland nut. As far as a washer, I just found something laying around that worked.