Bilstein 5100 rear shock problem...

[Terracoma]

About a week ago I noticed a clunking noise coming from the rear axle. Walking out of the hardware store I spotted a problem with the driver-side shock, but I hadn't the time to fool with it, so I removed the shock to get the truck streetable again. It's my daily driver right now and it gets me where I go.

Well, went on a little jaunt last night down some washboard dirt roads and noticed on way out that my truck was riding like a boat... I figured I'd blown the passenger-side shock, as it was doing all the work by itself. Chalked it up to foolishness and a lesson learned, time to order new shocks... Well, I went out this morning to see what was going on underneath the truck and see the below, which is EXACTLY what had happened to the driver-side shock just a week before. I don't know exactly when the shocks were installed (sometime before 5/23/2006), but they have at least 45,000 miles on them, mostly highway travel but some decent off-pavement abuse.

The shocks both appear to have life remaining in them, but I'm completely unsure of how to get the lower eyelet tight on the threads of the shock shaft as I can't think of a way to secure the shaft (and keep it from rotating) without damaging the shaft... Moreover, how does something like this happen, with the shaft unthreading itself from the lower eyelet? I'd imagine my off-pavement travels have acted like an impact wrench and loosened it over time, but why? I've not seen any threads about similar problems with these shocks.

I've always tightened the mounting bolts to the proper torque per Toyota, so I can't imagine the shock bushing are bound too tightly, but aside from "beyond service life" that's the only thing I can think of being the culprit... Thoughts?

Money is tight, but I'm currently of the mind to order a set of OME 60062s and eat Top Raman for a week or two...

[CJM]

There does appear to be many threads on there anyways, maybe they sheared off cause they worked themselves loose?

I would take the shocks off to further figure it out, bilstein are warrantied afaik too

[Terracoma]

My first thought was also that they had sheared, but when I pulled the driver-side shock it was intact, just unthreaded for some reason... I had thought about calling Bilstein, but these shocks were on the truck when I bought it in August 2007 and I've just about talked myself into buying the new shocks that I had planned on buying in May anyway.

Just curious if anyone out there had seen anything like this before...... 'Cause this has me confuzzled.

[corax]

Call Bilstein and see if they'll do anything - if not, lube the threads and lightly hold the shaft with a needle nose pliers (near the eye) while threading the eye back on. add one tiny tack weld, forget it ever happened and ditch the Top Ramen

[CJM]

If you cant weld, RED locktite. If you need to remove them after that you need a torch.

[MTL_4runner]

If you cant weld, RED locktite. If you need to remove them after that you need a torch.

Red (permanent) loctite should hold it from coming undone again but you'll need vicegrips to get it tight enough for the loctite to set properly. Make sure to clean the threads off well with brake cleaner and dry them before applying the loctite.

[Seanz0rz]

a thick piece of rubber wrapped between the shaft and a pair of channel locks will aid in tightening it without scratching the surface. (think bicycle innertube folded over a few times.)

[Terracoma]

Dremel threads with a wirewheel, brake cleaner and let dry, red loctite on the threads, bicycle tube around the shaft, and vice grips clamped on the last 1/2" of shaft nearest the eyelet...... I like it.

Thanks, guys, I appreciate the feedback!

[Scuba]

Fwiw I've read that some ome shocks don't feel right on the back of a taco and make it feel looser goosey when unloaded.
But there had been a few reports of the 5100 shocks shearing from the eyelets, on ttora.

The plan you have above should be a good fix until you won have to eat ramen for a couple weeks

[Terracoma]

The good news is that the idea of applying loctite to the shock shaft and cranking the eyelet on actually worked. The bad news is that it only worked for the driver side shock......

The passenger side shock busted loose again after less than 6 minutes of driving around town. I'll let the photos do the talking, but the passenger side shock seems to have been loose for quite some time prior to my discovery and the threads have either stripped themselves or rolled over. Looking the passenger side shock over, it may only be reusable by welding the eyelet to the shock shaft as the threads on both the shaft and the eyelet are extremely buggered and only engage the last thread-and-a-half before bottoming out.









I'm beginning to think that the thicker lock washers combined with the dry, worn bushings on the Bilsteins are the culprit. The threads are all hammered pretty good, which would indicate that perhaps the bushings were binding up and preventing the shocks from moving on their bushings.

Anyway, I've removed the lock washers before installing the new shocks, tightened up the bolts to approximately 30-ft/lbs, and will keep an eye out for anything suspicious on the new shocks.