When assembling my shocks/coils what's the proper order of the bushings and washers?
NOTE: If you are an install shop and you have to read this in order to know how to do the assembly correctly, there is a very good chance you probably don't know what you are doing and most likely should NOT be assembling the coil onto the front shocks. Please do not call or email us and ask us how to perform this assembly. If you have an install shop you should know how to perform this assembly and shouldn't have to waste our time to explain it.
When performing the shock and coil assembly its important to stack the hardware in the correct order. With the shock pointing up, the hardware will be placed over-top of the stem in the following order (reference below).
IMPORTANT: If your shocks came with boots, these will need to be installed as some of the boots incorporate the use of spacers (i.e. Bilstein 5100's). If the boots are not installed, the bushings will NOT be compressed properly following assembly.
Assembly order
When performing the shock and coil assembly its important to stack the hardware in the correct order. With the shock pointing up, the hardware will be placed over-top of the stem in the following order (reference below).
IMPORTANT: If your shocks came with boots, these will need to be installed as some of the boots incorporate the use of spacers (i.e. Bilstein 5100's). If the boots are not installed, the bushings will NOT be compressed properly following assembly.
Assembly order
- - Curved washer with curve facing up to "cup" underside bushing
- - Underside bushing. This bushing will often have an extended lip that will fit into the hole in the strut mount (top hat).
- - Strut mount
- - Bushing
- - Top washer
- - Regular washer that goes along with lock nut if included (N/A step if not)
- - Lock nut
Why is my strut mount (top hat) of my shock/coil assembly angled?
This is common and despite what some people might think it has nothing to do with the orientation of the mount. Instead this issue is actually caused by the inconsistency of the coils, more specifically one side of the coil might have a greater amount of resistance upon compression vs. the other side*. As a result of this the side with more resistance will want to push up on the strut mount more on that one side than on the other. Because the mounts has rubber bushings both under them and on top, there is nothing that will really keep them level when this happens. Now once the assemblies are installed into place, the strut mounts are forced level as the studs are torqued down and the mounts are installed against the vehicles upper mount.
*Keep in mind with all things manufactured there are specifications and with each specification there is an allowed tolerance. With coils there is a bow spec and in some cases the coil could be on the high end of this specification (upper tolerance) thus allowing the coil to appear bowed (not straight, but with slight curve). This bow is typically the source of the problem with slanted strut mounts. With our own coils, we manufacture ours to tighter tolerances helping to prevent this and we also have additional specifications in place to ensure the coils meet a level of quality we demand.
*Keep in mind with all things manufactured there are specifications and with each specification there is an allowed tolerance. With coils there is a bow spec and in some cases the coil could be on the high end of this specification (upper tolerance) thus allowing the coil to appear bowed (not straight, but with slight curve). This bow is typically the source of the problem with slanted strut mounts. With our own coils, we manufacture ours to tighter tolerances helping to prevent this and we also have additional specifications in place to ensure the coils meet a level of quality we demand.
