Annoying rattle in front end?
To all that have been plagued with the dredded clunk. Here is a remedy we have found to help with this issue.
We have worked on lots of raptors doing perch mods ect. We have found that the lower shock bolt must be tightened from the nut side only. This is due to the aluminum galling and holding the head of the bolt. Antiseize does help but ford designed the nut with a special built in washer allowing the nut to be tightened and spin at the same time while the washer is up against the aluminum We push Antiseize into the built in washer before we reinstall it and then tighten to 425 lbs which is a little over spec. Tightening this much will squeeze the control arm enough to squeeze the lower shock mount like it should be. This process has eliminated virtually all the clunking cause by the shock. Take a look at how stout the control arm is in the shock mounting area, this is why it is so hard to squeeze the mount enough to tighten the lower shock bushing causing it to move in the mount. Ever truck I have taken apart the lower bolt wasn't tightened even close to spec.
We have also found that pinion style shims can be slid in to tighten things up.
The dealers don't have a clue on this. They dont even know the bolt should be tightened from the nut side nor do they have a torque wrench that goes that high. If you have access to a good impact gun pull the nut off the back, get some Antiseize in there including the threads and tighten it as much as it will go. Hold the front of the bolt with a breaker bar and socket. This can be done with the truck sitting on the ground. Hope this helps. Dave
To all that have been plagued with the dredded clunk. Here is a remedy we have found to help with this issue.
We have worked on lots of raptors doing perch mods ect. We have found that the lower shock bolt must be tightened from the nut side only. This is due to the aluminum galling and holding the head of the bolt. Antiseize does help but ford designed the nut with a special built in washer allowing the nut to be tightened and spin at the same time while the washer is up against the aluminum We push Antiseize into the built in washer before we reinstall it and then tighten to 425 lbs which is a little over spec. Tightening this much will squeeze the control arm enough to squeeze the lower shock mount like it should be. This process has eliminated virtually all the clunking cause by the shock. Take a look at how stout the control arm is in the shock mounting area, this is why it is so hard to squeeze the mount enough to tighten the lower shock bushing causing it to move in the mount. Ever truck I have taken apart the lower bolt wasn't tightened even close to spec.
We have also found that pinion style shims can be slid in to tighten things up.
The dealers don't have a clue on this. They dont even know the bolt should be tightened from the nut side nor do they have a torque wrench that goes that high. If you have access to a good impact gun pull the nut off the back, get some Antiseize in there including the threads and tighten it as much as it will go. Hold the front of the bolt with a breaker bar and socket. This can be done with the truck sitting on the ground. Hope this helps. Dave
