I was reading in the service manual and they said that when replacing the shocks I need to replace the nuts on the at the top as well as the nut that goes on the bolt on the bottom pin. The shock only came with the nut at the top rod. There are three more nuts that go on the studs that hold the "spring tower" at the top. When I called the dealer they didn't have them and they seemed pretty pricey. Anyone know the sizes and types (I'm assuming they are jam nuts) so I can try an autoparts dealer? Also need to replace the nut on the control arm for the fronts according to the manual. I have the standard suspension on a 4X4

 

In nearly every manifacture's maintaince manual they always will tell you to change out self locking style nuts , especially if their fiber lock nuts. In both the aviation side of nuts and bolts as well as automotive . First , clean and perform a good visual inspection of the threads on both male & female threads.Then perform a locking or friction test. One of two ways ,by hand run the nut onto the threads on their perspective bolt,stud etc. as far down as u can . The adv, grown man can apply 6 lbs of torque with he's hands and fingers. See if any threads extend past the top of the nuts . If so replace them. Second way , run nuts down on bolt,studs with at least 3 full threads protrudining past end of nuts. An see how many pounds it requires to remove them, In general one looks at the type or direction that the working load is being applied to particular fasteners, I.e. Shear , tensile ,compression,and even their proximity to a heat source ! This simple inspection has been approved by practicely every aviation manifacture's an their subsystem componets suppliers, good luck , Oh ! A little locktight goes a long way , Circumstances dictator color to be used

 

I don't discard anything that isn't TTY (torque to yield) unless it is really shot like the threads are jacked or its rounded off/stripped out like crazy or its a nylon locking nut. The Ford manual says to replace the caliper bracket bolts (example) when doing brakes at $10/pop for $80 all the way around. Um... no Ford, I'm not paying the $80 idiot tax thanks.


We re-use hardware on the C-17 Globemasters at work too (aviation). Some stuff gets replaced but when we do a tire change on the landing gear we re-use everything. Just lots of cotter pins and safety wire to make damn sure nothing comes loose.