Torque settings for Fox shocks in the Dynatrac 2" Lift

A

aug0211

New member
Torque settings for Fox shocks in the Dynatrac 2" Lift

OverlanderJL said:
You all realize this is a lift kit and not a motor right? It’s really pretty easy install.


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How did your install with this kit go? Which set of instructions did you receive/follow from Dynatrac? Did you have damage as shown in the photos in post 111 and discussed throughout the thread?

I have not yet installed this kit so I would love to hear your first hand feedback as you are more confident in it than I am.


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wwood

wwood

New member
After seeing these new posts I still have concerns.

The purpose of the torque setting is to prevent the part from moving or coming loose in use. The purpose of the crush sleeve is to prevent the bracket sides from bending in and interfering with the operation of the shock. The bolt holds the crush sleeve still in the bracket and allows the proper torque to be applied. Jeep engineers spec 81 ft/lbs for the upper bolts and 74 ft/lbs for the lower bolts, front and rear. These torque specs assume that the crush sleeve will not deform at those settings. Based on my own tests I do not believe the old or the new flanged lower crush sleeves supplied by Fox will take 74 ft/lbs without significant deforming. And based on other posts here I don't believe the upper sleeves can take 81 ft/lbs without deforming. Since it does not appear that the Fox crush sleeves will handle factory torque spec, it may be that these parts could fail in use due to moving around or coming loose over time. I don't want to have to worry about that or constantly have to recheck torque.

As noted in my last post (#100) I cannot get the Fox original lower crush sleeves to hold even 65 ft/lbs. I cannot get 2 clicks on the torque wrench set at 65 without the bolt moving, it feels mushy, so I stopped after the second click. Yesterday I re-checked the torque on all 4 lower shock bolts.....all 4 of the bolts moved before the wrench clicked set at 65. This means that the crush sleeves have deformed a little more over time. I have not wheeled this new Jeep yet, just city driving. If the crush sleeves are not holding torque over a week or so of city driving what will happen in serious wheeling. And is 65 ft/lbs enough torque in the first place for daily driving or serious wheeling? Apparently Jeep engineers don't think so.

I also re-checked the torque on the 4 upper shock bolts. All 4 of them clicked solid at 65 ft/lbs with zero movement of the bolt. When I first installed the kit I did torque the upper bolts to 81 ft/lbs, given the new pics in this thread I am going to remove the shocks and check the upper sleeves as soon as I get time.

I do not know if the new Fox lower flanged crush sleeves will hold 65 ft/lbs because I have not yet installed them on our Jeep, but I doubt it because they have thinner walls than the original sleeves. The only way to know for sure is to install the new flanged sleeves and torque them to 65 ft/lbs and see if you can get 2-3 clicks without the bolt moving. Then re-torque them a few days later and see if the wrench will still click at 65 ft/lbs without the bolt moving. Then remove the bolt and take the sleeves out of the rubber bushing and see if they are deformed. Based on my test of these flanged sleeves on a bare bolt (see post #11) they deformed starting at 65 ft/lbs. There is no way in my opinion that they would handle 74 ft/lbs. Dynatrac feels that the rubber bushings will hold the flanged sleeves concentric to each other which will prevent deforming. I don't know but doubt it and would need to see actual tests. The rubber bushings do not seem firm enough to hold these sleeves concentrically, they squash easily when the sleeve deforms and the bracket sides bend inward.

Below are pics showing the main reason I am leery about the new flanged lower crush sleeves. The flanged sleeves are too loose on the bolt meaning the walls are not as thick as the original sleeves. How can the flanged sleeves be strong enough if the wall thickness is less than the originals which we know are too weak???

Fox needs to redesign these shocks so they are beefy enough for use on Jeeps and will handle factory torque spec. The wall thickness of the sleeves needs to be substantially increased. Take another look at my first post, the last pic shows the factory shocks next to the Fox shocks, you can see how much beefier the factory crush sleeves are - the difference is tremendous.


The first pic below is the new flanged sleeve on a shock bolt, you can see how much slop there is; this slop allows the 2 sleeves to move with respect to each other and mis-align which promotes deformation. The second pic is an original sleeve which fits tight on the bolt and has slightly thicker walls:
 

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wwood

wwood

New member
aug0211 said:
How did your install with this kit go? Which set of instructions did you receive/follow from Dynatrac? Did you have damage as shown in the photos in post 111 and discussed throughout the thread?

I have not yet installed this kit so I would love to hear your first hand feedback as you are more confident in it than I am.


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Don't get discouraged about the Dynatrac lift, it really works fantastically well in spite of the crush sleeve/torque issue. We absolutely love the Dynatrac lift, we have 37" Cooper STT Pros and KMC wheels and the ride is just perfect. I definitely am not happy about the crush sleeve problems but feel sure that Fox and Dynatrac will resolve them soon. Meantime the shocks still work fine, I have minimal crush sleeve distortion since I am using low torque (65 ft/lbs). I am in no rush to do any serious wheeling so I can wait for a permanent solution. I am confident that you will love the lift and see no reason why you can't install the shocks at 65 ft/lbs and take it easy until they come up with a fix.
 

JP223/3USA

JP223/3USA

Member
Torque settings for Fox shocks in the Dynatrac 2" Lift

I was able to get all upper bolts to 80 ft lbs and lower I kept at 65. I ended up pulling the front fenders off along with the shocks. I ran a bolt that fit snug against the sleeve and got it a little straighter before putting the factory bolt back in. When I torqued it with the fenders off, I was able to apply direct pressure equally without having to be inside wheel well pulling and grunting with the torque wrench. Once the fenders came off, the bolt is perfectly exposed. I’m not saying all the sleeves didn’t misalign but I got them torqued and I’m not messing with them anymore. The bottom rear sleeves are completely smashed where it’s embedded inside the rubber bushing. Now it’s time for me to go mudding.

IMG_5708.jpg


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Last edited:
ddays v2

ddays v2

Member
I find it hard to believe there are 13 pages and 126 posts (now 127 thanks to this one) devoted to the torque setting on a fucking shock bolt :crazyeyes:
 

ddays v2

ddays v2

Member
JP223/3USA said:
Not your problem so go read a different topic


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:cheesy: You're right, it's not my problem because I'd put the shock on and get the hell out and enjoy my Jeep's new parts instead of whining about torque settings on the goiddam bolt. If you see the crush sleeve deforming stop.
You're good to go. You'd think these are Jesus bolts on a helicopter or something. :rolleyes2:
 

JP223/3USA

JP223/3USA

Member
ddays v2 said:
:cheesy: You're right, it's not my problem because I'd put the shock on and get the hell out and enjoy my Jeep's new parts instead of whining about torque settings on the goiddam bolt. If you see the crush sleeve deforming stop.
You're good to go. You'd think these are Jesus bolts on a helicopter or something. :rolleyes2:
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I’m sure you wouldn’t be concerned about a bolt barely making over halfway its torque spec


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A

aug0211

New member
Torque settings for Fox shocks in the Dynatrac 2" Lift

Spoke with Dynatrac today. Very helpful and responsive, as usual.

They’re still running their JL with the rev0 crush sleeves from FOX and have not seen issues.

They have been unable to reproduce the issue. Their theory is that people are crushing by over torquing with air tools or power tools.

For everyone seeing issues, are you using a calibrated torque wrench for sure? Any chance you’re using air tools or impact drivers, etc? They questioned the ability to do the damage shown in post 111 without hearing the cracking and/or feeling it give way (unless using air/power tools).

Sounds like their next set of instructions will have notes saying not to use power tools. Could that really be what’s causing everyone’s issues?


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Last edited:
ddays v2

ddays v2

Member
JP223/3USA said:
I’m sure you wouldn’t be concerned about a bolt barely making over halfway its torque spec


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You're right, I wouldn't. If the sleeve was deforming that badly, I would back the nut off, throw some blue locktite on it, and tighten it back to where it just started to crush and then go on my merry way off wheeling somewhere.:thumb:
Seriously, this thing is getting beaten to death. I've never had a shock bolt fall off in my life.
 

A

aug0211

New member
Torque settings for Fox shocks in the Dynatrac 2" Lift

ddays v2 said:
I find it hard to believe there are 13 pages and 126 posts (now 127 thanks to this one) devoted to the torque setting on a fucking shock bolt :crazyeyes:
Click to expand...

I think part of the red flag being thrown up here is that many have asked why this kit is priced so high when considering what is included in it (compared to other kits).

The common response is that Dynatrac is a trusted, proven and reliable brand with high quality parts - and that the kit has gone through extensive R&D and tuning with a high level of precision and attention to detail.

So, many people are spending the money on this with the understanding that it has been engineered with a high level of precision and expertise and are expecting a level of reliability and dependability above other options.

Alas, when issues like this pop up, all of the remarks about precision engineering, paying for extensive R&D and testing, quality parts, etc. are called into question.

I’m still optimistic and excited for my kit to come in. I’ll be installing very carefully, and will of course plan to stop torquing when EITHER I hit the recommended settings OR I begin to question the integrity of the crush sleeves (in which case I’ll call DT to report my torque settings and ask for a recommendation).

To be 100% fair, other brands have been bashed and torn apart by some of the veterans here, with photos showing malformed/damaged/failed parts and strong comments about not buying or trusting products from companies with such issues. I believe the group who has done extensive research on JL kits has seen those posts, and also saw the veteran group her endorse DT - but now that concerns are popping up with this DT lift, the less experienced people like myself are confused and wondering what the best path forward is. After all, we were encouraged to steer clear of other products by stories and photos similar to what are popping up here.

DT has been awesome with answering my calls (and called me back multiple times today to discuss further). Their customer service has been awesome. I’m not sure if it’s good or bad that they can’t reproduce - it’s good to hear that they aren’t also having issues, but it might be better if they did have the same issue because as their track record shows, their CS is awesome and we know they’d fix any issue if they could actually find the issue.

I plan to keep an eye out here for further developments and will also post back with my findings - hopefully in the next week or two (was hoping to receive my kit today/tomorrow to install over the weekend but delivery has slipped so I may need to wait a week or even two before I can install).


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Last edited:
JP223/3USA

JP223/3USA

Member
Last edited:
notnalc68

notnalc68

That dude from Mississippi
ddays v2 said:
You're right, I wouldn't. If the sleeve was deforming that badly, I would back the nut off, throw some blue locktite on it, and tighten it back to where it just started to crush and then go on my merry way off wheeling somewhere.:thumb:
Seriously, this thing is getting beaten to death. I've never had a shock bolt fall off in my life.
Click to expand...

^^^^This


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ddays v2

ddays v2

Member
aug0211 said:
I think part of the red flag being thrown up here is that many have asked why this kit is priced so high when considering what is included in it (compared to other kits).

The common response is that Dynatrac is a trusted, proven and reliable brand with high quality parts - and that the kit has gone through extensive R&D and tuning with a high level of precision and attention to detail.

So, many people are spending the money on this with the understanding that it has been engineered with a high level of precision and expertise and are expecting a level of reliability and dependability above other options.

Alas, when issues like this pop up, all of the remarks about precision engineering, paying for extensive R&D and testing, quality parts, etc. are called into question.

I’m still optimistic and excited for my kit to come in. I’ll be installing very carefully, and will of course plan to stop torquing when EITHER I hit the recommended settings OR I begin to question the integrity of the crush sleeves (in which case I’ll call DT to report my torque settings and ask for a recommendation).

To be 100% fair, other brands have been bashed and torn apart by some of the veterans here, with photos showing malformed/damaged/failed parts and strong comments about not buying or trusting products from companies with such issues. I believe the group who has done extensive research on JL kits has seen those posts, and also saw the veteran group her endorse DT - but now that concerns are popping up with this DT lift, the less experienced people like myself are confused and wondering what the best path forward is. After all, we were encouraged to steer clear of other products by stories and photos similar to what are popping up here.

DT has been awesome with answering my calls (and called me back multiple times today to discuss further). Their customer service has been awesome. I’m not sure if it’s good or bad that they can’t reproduce - it’s good to hear that they aren’t also having issues, but it might be better if they did have the same issue because as their track record shows, their CS is awesome and we know they’d fix any issue if they could actually find the issue.

I plan to keep an eye out here for further developments and will also post back with my findings - hopefully in the next week or two (was hoping to receive my kit today/tomorrow to install over the weekend but delivery has slipped so I may need to wait a week or even two before I can install).


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I'll give you most of that, but the vets are talking about product failures and breakages, not an incorrect torque setting on a bolt. There's a big difference there.
 

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