thedarkie Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 (edited) Ive been chasing a clunk somewhere in the car and it seems to happen on front left rebound. I just jacked the car up and put it back down, and noticed this (big center nut is several threads loose) Is this a loose gland nut or something? Is the whole shock sliding out of the strut tube? I redneck-checked the gland last summer but don't have a proper spanner to do it right. Is my diagnosis correct? Thanks Edited April 18, 2015 by thedarkie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarkie Posted April 18, 2015 Author Share Posted April 18, 2015 To clarify, this nut was not loose after driving the car yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 To clarify, this nut was not loose after driving the car yesterday. It tightened itself? That's the nut that holds the shock shaft. It needs to be tight. Search "gland nut" on your favorite search engine and you can learn what one is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarkie Posted April 18, 2015 Author Share Posted April 18, 2015 If it wasn't loose yesterday but came loose today then it didn't tighten itself right? I'm asking if its possible that the shaft itself slid further UP after I jacked the wheel off the ground and then lowered it down. And I know this isn't the gland nut I'm asking if a loose gland but could allow for the above situation. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 You didn't say you've only been chasing the clunk since yesterday. That's not very long. You also said that you tried to tighten the gland nut but didn't have the right spanner. But you're asking about the gland nut. Plus, you're asking if that nut in the picture needs to be tight. Sorry, it just seems like you haven't really thought through how the strut/shock assembly works. Could be that the shaft slid up when you jacked up the car. The gas-charged shocks keep the shaft extended. The nut itself looks cocked in the picture, like it's cross-threaded or too big for the shaft. Two bolts and not much meat around the strut mount looks like someone's home-made adjustable camber setup. Overall, it looks problem-prone. In the meantime though, that nut needs to be tight, to lock the top of the shaft to the strut mount. It could be your clunk. You might start a thread asking for opinions on that camber adjuster job, and how you can make it better. Might be fine, but it does look iffy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarkie Posted April 18, 2015 Author Share Posted April 18, 2015 (edited) Thanks I appreciate your help. Like I alluded to in the title, Im a bit of a tard in the suspension department. I thought that maybe a loose gland nut would allow the shock or shaft to slide up. Anyways, I've tightened the top nut and the clunk went away readily... I'll now have to keep an eye on it to see if it shifts up again, I've made note of the number of threads sticking up so I'll know if it loosened vs shifted upwards. Regarding the camber and installation of the suspension, its an Arizona Z Car coilover setup. To me it looks exactly the same as the installation procedure photos seen here: http://www.arizonazcar.com/camberplate.html It may be the angle of the pic throwing you off, nothing is cross-threaded or crooked. I was able to tighten the nut freely. Edited April 18, 2015 by thedarkie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Glad ti worked. The two missing bolts threw me. And I haven't looked at many so don't really know what's good and what's not. Carry on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyanrudger Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Replace the bolt in question. As someone else pointed out, it looks cross-threaded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Agreed with the above two comments. That nut is cross threaded and will loosen again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarkie Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 Thanks guys, but the nut moves smoothly up and down the threads. I'm a self-professed suspension tard, but I know a cross-threaded nut when I see one. Once I tightened it down to the base, it started rotating the shaft and top hat - I inserted a large screwdriver through the top of the camber plate slot and into a hole in the top hat to keep it from moving, and further tightened the top nut. I'll keep an eye on it to make sure it stays snug. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Good place for a lock nut? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarkie Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 I went with some blue loc-tite just in case.. but my suspicion was that the rod itself was extending out, not the nut loosening. Regardless, tightening the damned thing got rid of my immediate clunking problem and now its just gonna be a waiting game to see if she moves again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Try marking it with a dab of paint so that you can see it loosening early? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 (edited) I went with some blue loc-tite just in case.. but my suspicion was that the rod itself was extending out, not the nut loosening. Regardless, tightening the damned thing got rid of my immediate clunking problem and now its just gonna be a waiting game to see if she moves again. That doesn't appear to be the same shock as the one in the AZ Zcar instructions, so I can't tell exactly what the end of your strut rod shaft looks like, but there _should_ be two shoulders at the threaded end of the shaft - the first one is at the bottom of the threads, and brings the shaft's OD to the correct size to fit in the camber plate's ball joint (probably 5/8"). You can see what appears to be that shoulder in your pic: The second shoulder is a bit below the first and the bottom of the ball joint (or possibly some spacers under the ball joint) should rest on that shoulder. When you tighten the nut, it should be clamping the ball joint between the second shoulder and the nut. That's how the top nut does it's job, and this is why people are telling you that it is not the gland nut. The potential problem that I see is that in your pic the first shoulder appears to be approximately flush with the top of the ball joint. It should not be - it should always be a bit below the top of the ball joint, so that the nut can apply clamping force between it and the second shoulder. If the first shoulder is flush or a bit proud of the ball joint then the nut just bottoms out on the shaft itself and applies no clamping force to the ball joint. This allows the shaft to move vertically inside the ball joint and could pretty easily shake the nut loose as you have observed. A simple washer used as a spacer to sit between the second shoulder and the bottom of the ball joint would alleviate this problem. Hopefully that explanation made sense - it's kind of hard to describe without pics. Edited April 20, 2015 by TimZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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