Spax rear shock sliding off bushing

[FABombjoy]

Not necessarily a warning, but something you may want to keep an eye on if you're running Spax on the rear.

DeLorean problems always come in threes for me. While replacing my transmission lip seals & fixing some wandering wires, I noticed that my rear Spax shocks were sliding off of their bushings toward the rear of the car. The driver's side shock eyelet was almost completely against the nut on the lower link bolt. The passenger side had also moved although not quite as far. I whittled down some large urethane bushings to replace them, so hopefully that's end of that. I've got a few pics that I'll see if I can upload later tonight.

[FABombjoy]

11880

[DMC5180]

Your missing the Safety Retention Washer that prevents that from happening.

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You may want to review the installation component stack up shown here http://store.delorean.com/c-354-5-3-0-rear-suspension.aspx

Items 10, 11 and 12

[FABombjoy]

I did notice that, but I'm not sure how it would have prevented this from happening, unless that washer is cupped and compresses the rubber.

Looking at your photo, it appears that your shock is migrating rearward as well.

[DMC5180]

Yup, it is trying to migrate off. But, it has stopped moving because it has contacted the washer. The washer is doing it's job. If you look close the shock is slightly touching the washer at the weld. The geometry and loading of the shock will always try to do what you are seeing. That shock eye supports a lot off weight. (typical shock eye bushings are molded with flanges). I had a set of shocks on the car several years ago that had POLY bushings. Even those bushings deteriorated and the molded flange started to shear rearward.