Don’t over-tighten your shock bolts!<\/h2>\n
Tightening fasteners to their rated spec is second nature for most of us, especially anyone with mechanical experience.\u00a0 But tightening shock bolts to “spec” will destroy shocks on these machines.\u00a0<\/strong> I’ll explain:<\/p>\n With the M10 8.8 bolts that are typically used from the factory, full standard torque rating of the bolt itself is around 35ft\/lbs.\u00a0\u00a0 If you tighten the shock bolts to even a fraction of that, your shocks will become locked into a bind, and won’t be able to pivot on the bolts.<\/strong><\/p>\n The way these shocks are designed to work is with a snug, but un-tightened<\/strong> bolt tension.<\/p>\n Without the ability to pivot at the ends, the shock will be forced to “pivot” in the center.\u00a0 This means that the weakest part in the center, the shaft, will be forced to bend.<\/p>\n Note the galling on the surface of the plastic.\u00a0 This is not a bearing surface.\u00a0 On a properly installed shock, there shouldn’t be any movement here at all.\u00a0 Both bushing on this shock separated due to the inner metal portion being unable to pivot on the tightened bolt.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n While riding, the plastic and metal portions of the bushing are supposed to remain joined together like this:<\/p>\n First, let me show you the right bolts.\u00a0 This is a Yerf Dog GX150, but other models have the same bolts in roughly the same places.<\/p>\n If you’re looking for an official torque spec from the manufacturer, you won’t find it.\u00a0 The process is somewhat subjective, and I recommend that you to check your service manual for the full details on your specific vehicle.\u00a0 But here is the general method I use:<\/p>\n When installing new shocks, the goal is to tighten them just enough that there is no play or chattering in the suspension over bumps.\u00a0 But not so much that it adds any noticeable resistance to the shock’s pivot points.<\/p>\n After adjusting the tension on each bolt, bounce the suspension by hand.\u00a0 Do you feel resistance?\u00a0 It’s too tight.\u00a0 Or if you hear clicking at the bolt\/shock, it’s too loose.<\/p>\n Note: The bolts are secured with a nylock or similar locking nut from the factory.\u00a0 Be sure to do the same.<\/p>\n I ran into this first about 13 years ago.\u00a0 After installing new shocks, I bounced on the front suspension and found that it was locked solid.\u00a0 After loosening the bolts, the suspension worked as expected.\u00a0\u00a0 I don’t hear about this often from the community, so I believe most people go through a similar process and catch the mistake before riding as I did.<\/p>\n A recent situation highlighted this issue, and I felt it best to write a dedicated article to get the word out so you can avoid this:<\/p>\n If your brand new shock absorbers are going bad repeatedly soon after installation, overlooking this minor detail is the most likely problem.\u00a0 This information applies to all 150cc Buggy, Kart, Scooter, and ATVs. Notice something wrong with the shock absorber in the picture?\u00a0 Other than the bent shaft itself, you’ll see that the inner bushings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-front-suspension-information"],"yoast_head":"\nHow does that cause a bent shaft?<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.buggydepot.com\/tech-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/20170327_173959_resized_1-768x432.jpg\")
<\/p>\nToo much friction<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.buggydepot.com\/tech-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/20170327_173926_resized_1-768x432.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.buggydepot.com\/tech-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/20170327_174211_resized_1-768x432.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSo what is proper bolt tension?<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.buggydepot.com\/tech-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Mount-Bolts-768x514.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIs this a common problem?<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.buggydepot.com\/tech-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/IMG_20170312_191231417_HDR-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"