Oops: Stripped threads on shock rod
 

After replacing a pillowball I was reassembling my left-rear shock assy.

Although I'm pretty sure I wasn't overtightening or doing things wrong, I managed to strip the top nut on the center rod of shock - the one that's visible inside the car. This holds down a rubber/metal pad. It's stripped such that I can't tighten it down further or back it off, and wedging something under it doesn't do anything either. When I lowered the car, the result is that the pad has just enough room to spin around freely.

1) Is there a way to repair it? I have GAB Super-R 8-ways and they aren't exactly common or cheap. Maybe turn the threads down one size and use a different nut?

2) I can't figure out what this pad exactly does. I'm tempted to wedge some shims under it to make it tight?

Dave

Can you hold this threadded part with a vise grip so you can get a ratchet on the nut to back it off? If so, after you get the nut off, get a re-threading kit. Re-thread and use a different nut.

There is about 2 threads showing. I tried doing this and the problem is that the nut just spins.

I think I'd need to hack off those two threads and slide the nut off to get this disassembled at all.

Dave

I'd break out a dremel with a cutting disc. Cut a slit into the nut so you can just spread it and it will just pull off. Then you can look at repairing the threads on the shaft.

just wondering what does the top bolt actually do??

I've used dremels with cutting discs quite a bit for other things. I think it's much too tight to do it that way without chewing up the rubber bumper thing it holds down. It may work if I get a smaller bit.

Anyway, I jammed some shims under the rubber thing, and I drove nearly 300mi today on very rough roads. So far nothing has budged, so I'm comfortable I can take my time and not hack it.

Dave

Which rubber thing are you referring to, the very top one? That one seems just to be there to...I dunno, prevent the whole thing from falling apart if you bottom out the suspension or something. I couldn't find any use for it. I put them on after an autox, purely because they were rattling around in the rear bin, i felt bad throwing them out, and I "borrowed" the hardware to install them from a friend's shop.

Yep, the very top one. It's the piece the takes the pull of the shock rod on extension (recovery). Which is very lightly loaded.

Dave

The shock piston rods are mounted to the large rubber hats that bolt to the underside of the tower. The only purpose I can find for the parts you describe is that if the hat were to fail completely the spring would not be able to yank the entire shock out of the car and therefore collapse that corner of the vehicle.