Bilstein B4 rear shocks question

Today I noticed that on my newly installed rear B4s that the drop link to the sway bar was loose where the drop link mounts to the bottom of the strut. Went to snug it with the wheels down and noticed that the squared off piece thar sits inside the "cup" at the bottom of the shock was spinning. I tried jolding it wihj an 18mm wrench and was able to tighten the drop link. Then it came loose again im hoping thar somehow that part isnt supposed to be welded into the strut and somehow it became detatched? Has anyone seen this and can recommend a fix? Replace the inside piece with a lock nut and fasten the drop link to it and remove the part inside that is spinning ?

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If you are talking about this, yes it supposed to welded and fixed.

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yes thats what im talking about What are my options? The droplinks do come with a nut on each end. Can that nut be used to fasten it to the shock ?

Couple pictures. Yes the nut in the insure is welded with 4 little welds. Seperated. the housing on the bottom of the shock is perfect I dont know much but it seems to me that the flanged nut that comes with the drop link would provide alot more stability than the welded in nut. Am i thinking correctly?

Whatever gets it tight and stays tight is the best. Some blue thread lock on it couldn't hurt. Most coilover setups have only the hole and use a regular nut.

Quick follow up the lock nut that comes with the meyle drop link seems to work very well in the hole at the bottom of the shock with the welded nut absent. the meyle drop link (there other posts on this) are a PITA because they only have 2 flat sides which are really designed to hold a wrench across to prevent spinning when you tighten the nut. With the welded nut in place its a terrible time to use those 2 little flat sides to secure the link. using the lockout as above, installation was a breeze because a 15mm wrench fits easily on the lock nut inside the little well at the bottom of the shock and the link can be secured easily to the shock first. Then secure it to the sway bar.

Ok thought i had this problem solved but the rear drop links at the mounting point of the shock are loose again. Very frustrating and besides myself because im hoping the problem i had with the welded nuts detatching from the 2 rear shocks isnt the problem. . . To summarize these are meyle droplinks installed into bilstein B4s with just a hole at the bottom. The threaded nut integrated in the shock came off. A nylon lock nut was used. And recommendations? I worry that the drop link threaded shaft is a little smaller than the hole in the shock and the play may be causing it to loosen the nut ? Use a lock washer behind the nut? Advice welcome...

Just removed the link again. My fear is that the hole sheared because the 10mm shaft of the link has play in it.

At this point I would consider contacting the vendor for a warranty replacement.

Seems like your wrench might not be holding on the flats enough to get a good solid torque on the nut. If you don't have a wrench that fits those flats perfectly and does not slip use a needle nose vise grip cranked down hard and torque that nut down tight with some locktite... Or another possible option if you can fit another thin nut on the shaft use that along with the lock nut to sandwich the shock hole and tighten it all down hard with a nut on each side.... Jmo

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Thats where im going. Honestly I am replaying in my head all the steps I took on installation and I believe I did everything correct. Its weird that both welded nuts busted. Applied proper torque on both sides for sure. Sucks I have to go back in and replace the shocks but shouldn't be too bad.

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Was thinking this too and you have given plenty of good advice here. But question. If there is play inside that hole will any amount of tightening help? Thinking that the bolt itself is what is supporting the whole load ?

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Well, there is always some play in the shock bolt/shaft hole. Is yours way ob-longed..? Could always spot weld on a nut on the outside of shock's link hole, and thread in link shaft thru that nut, and use a nut on inside to sandwich shock between both nuts and tighten it down tight...? The welded on nut should stop play in there if hole is fugged up. Between this post and my above post, got a few things to try, I'd do the easiest first...

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looks slightly oblonged in the up down direction. Bolt barely but noticeably wiggles. No movement at all when I torqued it down, but alas it came loose. I guess I could bring it locally here in Sarasota to see if someone can weld... What is cant wrap my head around is why plenty of people on coilovers have just a hole in the bottom and dont have this issue. I did my son's BMW and im certain there was no welded nut on the coilover

Keep in mind that the vendor or manufacturer may void your warranty if you get it welded.

Just making sure want to confirm the order of operations here when installing these 1) car up, snug the link into the shock. Leave the swaybar end disconnected and leave the swaybar loose in its mounts 2) lower car to ground and bolt the link to the swaybar 3) last torque down both ends of the link and then the 2 swaybar mounts sound right? Also. I am running the eibach adjustable sway bar (has a choice of 3 holes to mount the link). Am I looking to line up the link in a hole such that when I look at the link from the side past the rotor, its perfectly straight from the shock base to the sway bar Stock spec drop links ok with the eibach sway bar on the 996? Sorry for all the ?s but there is a lot of help to be had on here and I am appreciative.

You can torque the sway bar into its mounts in step 1. Your choice of hole on your Eibach sway bar will determine the stiffness of the sway bar. You should use the same hole positions on both ends of the bar. I would recommend you start with the outermost holes as it�s the softest setting and will set the car�s handling balance towards understeer. If you desire more oversteer characteristics, you may choose to use the holes closer to the sway bar to increase its stiffness.

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Thanks. Other concern is that the geometry of the eibach is a little different compared to stock (i stupidly discarded the old stock bar because it looked ragged). You think the standard links that fit for this car should sit correctly between the bilsteins and the eiback bar? I was reading that sometimes the aftermarket bars are a little different size wise ( and of course stiffer) and im wondering if thats what sheared the nut loose on the shock side?

The geometry of the aftermarket sway bars don�t exactly have to mimic that of the OEM bars, as long as the mounting points are within the same vicinity. You bring up a good point about the aftermarket bar being a different size. Did Eibach include any sway bar bushings with the bar, or are you expected to reuse the OE bushings? To check for any binding, I would fully torque down the sway bar to its mounts, but leave the links unattached. Then I would try to rotate the bar. The OEM bars rotate fairly easily. If you need to put an absurd amount of strength to rotate the bar, then this binding may likely be the reason why your nuts have been sheared off.

Yes I used the included bushings. The bar can be rotated by hand when both droplinks are detached. when I was talking size yeah i was thinking also the distance the oem link needs to travel to get to the sway bar when mounted. When mounted i notice the links are not straight up and down when looking from the back. Instead they travel a bit towards the midline of the car to mount to the swaybar. For what its worth the installation sheet makes it seem like it should bolt right onto whatever is already there https://eibach.com/storage/instructions/D2670.pdf

It�s good that the bar can be rotated by hand when the links are disconnected. I�m more inclined to believe that your shocks were welded poorly� probably made on a Friday, haha. As for the links connecting to the bar at an angle: I would guess that it�s probably fine. If the ball joints are able to swivel to a greater angle, then this attachment angle may not be of concern. Would you mind sharing some photos of the installed links so we can see whether it�s absurd? For photographic purposes, you can use zip ties to attach the link to the shock in a quick-n-dirty fashion, instead of struggling with the locknuts again.

What torque spec did you use for drop link to rear shock absorber? Having a torque wrench that can hold an open ended spanner isn't typically owned by the dedicated hobbyist, so measuring the torque is involving and since the welds on the square nut have failed, who is to know if the torque applied was already higher than specified? Hole bigger than bolt diameter is intentional. At proper torque both parts will be clamped together with zero movement of shank in the hole. Bolts (screws) should not be under shear or bending loads, they will fail then.