Bilstein 4600 rubber grommets too big for original shock hat?

Looks like the shock hat wants its original grommets which are smaller in size to fit. Bilstein ones don't allow enough thread to start shock nut.

Is there another way to make it fit or should I reuse the knarly original ones? I'm not sure if my dealer would even have them in stock.

To top it off I sat on my prescription reading glasses and popped out the lenses. My day is going great, how about you?

 

How close is it? Close and the shock stud should reveal more as you compress, lift at the LCA? I would be hard pressed to reuse those top hats.

 

Welcome to the forum!

Here’s my view

You see how you have a wobbled out slotted metal top mount? It’s not supposed to be that way.

It’s supposed to be a proper centered hole.

Even IF you put a new rubber bushing in there,it won’t be right.

Get a new top piece,then install everything correctly with the proper bushing and call it good

Do it right,do it once!

 

Well the dealer certainly didn't install it correctly. They were the ones who last installed replacement shocks back in 2010 and drilled that carnage of a hole.

 

I can't even see the first thread when I put everything together unless I take out the dust boot which provides an extra 1/4 inch. I've also tried reversing the Bilstein grommet but that doesn't help either.

It looks like the lip on the underside of the top hat is getting in the way of the larger Bilstein grommet.

 

Yikes! I took a look online and the rubber grommets are part of the Toyota standard shock and not ordered separately. That's not good.

How is everyone else getting this to work? I'm missing something here obviously.

 

Here it is stacked...



I'm seriously thinking of assembling it without the dust boot. There's no easy solution here.

 

You’ll probably wear out the bushings prematurely with the way those top hats look and have to RE do everything all over again

It shouldn’t have the sideways slots in it

No dust boot? Why? If you’re having issues,taking stuff off that’s supposed to be intact isn’t really making things work properly

Have you checked the local parts store for new top hats? KYB makes excellent top hats

 

Even without the botched top hat hole i shouldn't have an issue using the Bilstein grommets but I do unfortunately as no thread is visible to catch with the top shock nut to tighten down the whole assembly.

 

Anyone else have luck with aftermarket hats (strut mounts)? I see KYB SM5442s being compatible but so far they need to be ordered and are not in stock anywhere at a local chain auto parts store.

 

That's not a drilled hole, thats wear from excessive movement.

 

said someone yesterday....@Tundra2

 

Really? That blows my mind that can happen.

Too late for that unfortunately.

Currently looking for Moog K90726 replacement hats... not in stock anywhere.

How did I know my weekend would suck so much? lol

 

I hear you, been there. I'm fairly certain that when I installed similar, I had to do a loose assembly, bolt the bottom of the shock to the LCA, and jack the LCA up to compress the spring and that bushing to show threads.

 

I hate to go that route, so I'm going to do a search and see if I can find ANY strut mount locally to replace the F'd one I have first.

Hopefully leaving the spring compressed overnight won't be an issue.

 

The spring is compressed all day long when installed and the truck on the ground. No issue.

 

No its the cheap Chinese spring compressor I'm worried about. I don't want to grenade tomorrow when I work on it again.

 

those are scary. there is a video on how to compress spring safely on the truck I recall. Top hat gets bolted in, loose assembly below that, frame up and then jack LCA up to put the stem through the hole. But you need top hats.

 

Well, the decision has come down from above....

I'm to move my sh!tbox out of the driveway by the end of tomorrow so my father can finish his timing belt (he's parked behind me, BTW) and get his vehicle back on the road.

Guess I'll be driving without dust boots with that hole in the strut mount.

 

Well you can always fix it properly next weekend right? New top hats,keep the boots and all!

 

Wheelers carries the top hats Jack.

 

Unlikely, but if i run into wear issues, I may have no choice.

 

Well, 90% there on the 1st shock. Need my father to work the crowbar while I push the bolt through. I tried it myself but smacked myself in the face with the pry bar.

 

Shock 2# apart. Damn, coil was rusted to the shock seat.

 

Complete! Now only the rear shocks remain...

The $50 spring compressor held up thankfully. The trick is to only use 1/2 2200 lb rating, so I estimated 600 lbs force/inch of the springs x 1.5 inch compression = 900 lbs of force.